Billy Bob Thornton: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked
4. Jasper Woodcock - Mr. Woodcock
Mr. Woodcock was an easy paycheck role for Thornton, where he played an abusive P.E. teacher who comes into conflict with an old student. Everyone from Thornton to the director disowned the final product, and Seann William Scott admitted he and Billy Bob would regularly sit around onset discussing how terrible the movie was. This translates to Thorntons low energy performance, where hes clearly not engaged by anything going on around him. His non-reaction to the zany antics has less to do with playing it straight than him simply not caring, leaving it up to Scott to try to sell the jokes. The film manages a couple of snickers despite itself, but it mostly coasts along on tired bad taste gags. When Thornton is on form he can make people engaged with even the lamest movie; here, he's just bored and grumpy, like everyone else in the audience.
