Aaron Eckhart: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. President Benjamin Asher - Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

Last year two films were released with the same basic premise: a group of terrorists attack and destroy the White House. One of them, White House Down, saw Roland Emmerich on full idiotic form, delivering an action thriller that was enjoyable purely for how incredibly silly it was. The other, Olympus Has Fallen, fared better commercially but is somewhat po-faced by comparison. Olympus Has Fallen begins with the President (Eckhart) losing his wife (Ashley Judd) in a car accident near Camp David at Christmas. He places the blame on Special Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) and has him removed from the Presidential Detail. Some time later, North Korean terrorists take over the White House and hold the President captive. Now Banning is the only person who can save them... Many actors have come a cropper playing the President in action films, since the role generally entails either being stupid or delivering exposition - hence why Morgan Freeman was so good at it in Deep Impact. Eckhart's performance here is indicative of the film as a whole: he's taking everything far too seriously, being intense and looking to maintain his dignity but over-egging it so much that it becomes boring and unbelievable. While this is a better-made film than White House Down, Eckhart's performance goes some way to making it a lot less fun.