Josh Brolin: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
2. Jonah Hex - Jonah Hex (2010)
For all the efforts of its stellar cast, which included the likes of Michael Fassbender, John Malkovich and Michael Shannon, and the huge potential of the source material, Jonah Hex suffered from an unfocused narrative that rendered it virtually unwatchable. Loosely based on DC's graphic novel of the same name, it followed Jonah Hex, a Confederate cavalryman who is betrayed and left for dead by his commanding officer, before being granted rebirth by a Native American magic man, and apparently also licence to get involved in all manner of distasteful ridiculousness. The saddest thing to note here is that Brolin initially hated the script and wanted nothing to do with it, which was a sensible response, but for some bizarre reason, he changed his mind, fostering some bewildering affection for its tongue-in-cheek tone (the self-conscious label of bad film-makers looking for excuses) and deciding to just go for it, which definitely wasn't sensible. While he does his best with the awful material, there isn't much that can be done to salvage the narrative, and that reflects horribly on an actor who should never have debased himself by agreeing to the role. This is generally true of all the actors involved, as their performances were sabotaged by the cinematic shambles, and it's a small mercy that Brolin and his co-stars are still largely taken seriously as leading men after this debacle.
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For all the efforts of its stellar cast, which included the likes of Michael Fassbender, John Malkovich and Michael Shannon, and the huge potential of the source material, Jonah Hex suffered from an unfocused narrative that rendered it virtually unwatchable. Loosely based on DC's graphic novel of the same name, it followed Jonah Hex, a Confederate cavalryman who is betrayed and left for dead by his commanding officer, before being granted rebirth by a Native American magic man, and apparently also licence to get involved in all manner of distasteful ridiculousness. The saddest thing to note here is that Brolin initially hated the script and wanted nothing to do with it, which was a sensible response, but for some bizarre reason, he changed his mind, fostering some bewildering affection for its tongue-in-cheek tone (the self-conscious label of bad film-makers looking for excuses) and deciding to just go for it, which definitely wasn't sensible. While he does his best with the awful material, there isn't much that can be done to salvage the narrative, and that reflects horribly on an actor who should never have debased himself by agreeing to the role. This is generally true of all the actors involved, as their performances were sabotaged by the cinematic shambles, and it's a small mercy that Brolin and his co-stars are still largely taken seriously as leading men after this debacle.