6. Rachel Ferrier - War Of The Worlds
Spielberg's 2005 update of the classic chose to focus on your common-or-garden family, in order to humanise the story a little more. Child actors who can actually act are, in Hollywood, worth their weight in gold: Chloe Moretz, Asa Butterfield.... the list is perilously short these days. Dakota Fanning, 10 years ago, would have topped that list with ease. This is part of the reason her character is so painful; as Rachel Ferrier, her job is to shriek and cry and be carried by Tom Cruise. Essentially cast as a fire-alarm on legs, she was given so little to do with her talents that watching her will always be a reminder of what could have been.