13 Incredible Performances By Otherwise Terrible Actors

1. Adam Sandler - Funny People

Most people will tell you that Punch Drunk Love is Adam Sandler's best performance and while they have a fairly compelling case, his turn in Funny People is even more impressive. And it all comes down to context and self-awareness.

Funny People isn't just a good character creation by Sandler, it's a riff on himself - willingly taking aim at the cash-in comedies he's made and suggesting quietly that he's not all that proud of what he's known for. On top of that there's the pathos of a dying man struggling with an identity crisis and his compulsion to alienate himself, as well as a clever comment on the price of fame. It's subtle and smart and impressively self-aware.

And to think this is the same actor who is currently attempting to make Netflix pay for as much terrible content as possible (The Meyerowitz Stories aside) and who genuinely looked at Grown Ups 2 and thought "yeah, that'll do." That's the great frustration of Sandler: he does terrible work, but he's capable of so much more - it's just a shame he spends so much more time proving the former than the latter.

Which other performances belong on this list? Share your favourites below in the comments thread.