And 5 That Sucked...
5. Slim - Bubble Boy
If you've not seen this particular film, let me give you the premise. Our hero is Jake Gyllenhaal, a boy born without an immune system and thus sealed inside a sterilised plastic bubble for his own safety. This unique situation, coupled with a domineering, paranoid mother who doesn't want the world to corrupt her son, leads him into becoming something of a shut-in. Then his crush whose advances he has to turn down on account of living in a bubble goes off to marry her boyfriend at Niagra Falls. Armed with the knowledge that she would've preferred to marry her permanently entombed sweetheart instead, our hero makes a portable bubble and sets out across America, chased by his mother and encountering a colourful cast. Seriously, wasn't that just one of the most ridiculous things you've ever read? It's a bonkers plot poorly handled, and it's into this storm that Trejo wanders. Trejo plays Slim, a benevolent badass biker who aids the protagonist in his quest to the Falls, and tragically, he's just not very good. If anything, he's horribly stilted. Despite drawing himself into conflict with a strange singing cult potentially a situation one could harvest all sorts of comedy from you never get the impression that Trejo's doing anything more than reading the script aloud, and that's a shame for someone whose shown comedy chops in the past. Throw in some clichéd biker-isms and a forgettable subplot about a lost love, and you've got a lamentable performance.