12 Actors Who Were Brilliant In Utterly Sh*t Movies
8. Susan Sarandon - Mr Woodcock
How Mr Woodcock evolved from a lazy dick joke into a fully-fledged cinematic release is a total mystery. This is a movie that the entire cast have subsequently disowned, Sean William Scott and Billy Bob Thornton having openly discussed how terrible it was even while they were filming it. How do you salvage any positivity from such a train wreck of a movie? Add in some Susan Sarandon of course.
The always enjoyable Sarandon is never short of work with small parts in (usually naff) movies in which she outshines the main cast. However, shes front and centre in Mr. Woodcock and thats no bad thing as her performance is the only thing which gives the film an iota of quality. She plays Scotts mother who has, unbeknownst to him, began a relationship with the gym teacher that bullied him as a child.
With Scott playing Stiffler again and Thornton putting in the least effort possible, it falls to Sarandon to give the film its emotional centre. You really do feel for the woman stuck in the middle of this ridiculous (and slightly oedipal) conflict and in the end she resolves it by somehow managing to be the most sensible character, and delivering the films most touching moment, despite the fact she does so while wearing a pink fluffy pageant dress.
Its as if the crew were seeing how far they could push her before she gave up but nobody puts Sarandon in the corner.