Gary Oldman: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

And 5 That Sucked...

5. Count Dracula €“ Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

It's a career that's had its fair share of lows as well as highs, mind you. There was that guest appearance on an episode of Friends where he was employed mainly to spit on Matt LeBlanc's face, his genuinely (and awful) scenery chewing turn as the villain in Air Force One, and an uncommonly hollow performance in that RoboCop remake that nobody in their right mind would ask for. All of those pale in comparison, however, to the likes of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Effectively the final nail in Francis Ford Coppola's directorial career after jumping the shark with The Godfather: Part III, his ill-advised €“ and crazy expensive €“ retelling of the first vampire story for some reason cast the wooden, impossibly Californian Keanu Reeves as doomed Brit Jonathan Harker. Winona Ryder and Anthony Hopkins were surprisingly naff as Mina Harker and Van Helsing, respectively, but the real disappointment comes in Oldman as the Count himself. His Dracula is centuries old, with a motivation (seeking his long lost love) one that's admittedly difficult to essay when you've also got that ridiculous costume on and goofy fake spiky teeth in. More style than substance.