Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

Stacy Keach's performance in "Fat City" directed by John Huston.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._DVD_cover.jpg

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

Julianne Moore in The Fugitive for the five minutes she was onscreen. I did not like her one bit in Hannibal, which is the only movie I remember having previously seen her in. It's amazing how five minutes of screen time can change the way you see a previously disliked actor.

Agree with all of these.

Tom Cruise in Magnolia. Knowing him only for his action and some romantic comedy-ish stuff, he blew me away. Oh, and Collateral was an interesting role for him too.

Paul Walker in Running Scared. Not top of the line peformance, but really good especially for someone I was certain could only do react-acting and charm-acting...

Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine. Edward Norton in American History X. Jake Gyllenhaal in Nightcrawler. Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love.

Well that's a few... some was more than others. I feel like I have some really good ones but I can't quite think of them....

Totally agree with all of these.

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

I would have to say Vince Vaughn in True Detective season 2. I can't really say if he was good or not, maybe a mix of the two, but it was a step in the right direction for him, I believe.

I thought he was terrible but he definitely tried.

I don't know, I guess it's hard giving a good performance when you're given lines like "it's like... blue balls... in your heart."

I'm constantly surprised at how well Michael Shannon plays "average" people in Jeff Nichols' films. He's too odd, like this generation's Dafoe or something but he delivers some endearing performances in Take Shelter and Midnight Special.

Robert Pattinson in The Rover...

https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/HO...V4jYMWYzc8R4P4

Judging Julianne Moore from The Fugitive is kind of unfair...what other performances of her have you seen? I'd love to recommend some. OK, I just re-read your post and realized that you liked Moore in The Fugitive...my bad.

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

I've mentioned this before, but I might as well repeat it in this thread. Vince Vaughn is one of the biggest surprises for me. I really hated him at first and thought he was just a bad, unfunny actor. Somewhere along the way, I got used to him and started to hate him a little less. :) I remember watching Dodgeball (2004) and thinking how his deadpan acting is actually quite appropriate. Then I watched the Wedding Crashers (2005) and at one point stumbled upon the good old Swingers (1996). After watching this film, I came to understand who he was and why he acts the way he does. The film somehow explains it all.
Then I got to the True Detective and came to a conclusion that he has a lot more potential than the movies let him show. I still think that. Hopefully, he'll prove me right anytime soon (before he retires).

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder.

I recommend checking out Clay Pigeons and Return to Paradise. Those were the movies that changed my opinion of him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySk5beQvAis

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wYJWTFPpc4

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

All of the actors in the Social Network.

Funny story: before watching Pulp Fiction, I had only seen Samuel L. Jackson in those terrible Star Wars prequels and some action films. My opinion of him as a mediocre and overused token black guy #4 changed overnight. :lol:

;D:yup::cool:

I was thinking today about how mediocre he was in Star Wars, and that's a shame because I really like the character.

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

Seconded. It's a shame no one seems to know how to utilize them that well again.

Well, I haven't seen Garfield in Hacksaw Ridge so, maybe Gibson.

I saw a bit of Lay the Favourite again the other day and cast my mind back to finding it one evening – I was stunned when I realized I was watching Rebecca Hall. American members will be able to say whether or not her accent was good enough (it sounded okay to me) but her behaviour in the role seemed so well observed it came over as Gary Oldman-level talent. It tickles me to watch her and Bruce Willis playing these parts :p.

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook. As most of you may already know this film was my "real" introduction to Jennifer Lawrence and her abilities. I didn't know who she was (or cared to find out) when I saw X-Men First Class because I found her work in that film (along with DOFP & Apocalypse) to be mediocre at best and she wasn't that memorable at all, but then I saw SLP, that's when I decided to look her up and went on to watch her work in Winter's Bone, Poker House, The Burning Plain, etc. And while the only one of those films I actually enjoyed as a whole was Winter's Bone her performances were still phenomenal at such a young age. (Since I've been getting into Felicity Jones more lately I'll probably get around to watching Like Crazy finally)

I still haven't seen Silver Linings Playbook. I saw a bit of The Hunger Games and liked her but I think Elizabeth Banks upstaged the hell out of everyone anyway :p:).

On the subject of X-Men, I've never really liked Lawrence's version of Mystique although I didn't mind her in First Class, which is my favourite. I think it's when they began to make her a more significant presence, in the next two films, similar to Halle Berry in The Last Stand, that I got a little impatient :). Looking back to Rebecca Romijn I think everything about her in the role worked, especially her more elongated body shape but also the lack of dialogue she had which made the character really ominous. Lawrence's Mystique is like a really obvious, non-mysterious figure who has lots to say, and I think it was a shame to go so far the other way with the character.

Re: Acting performances that surprised you
 

Yeah, Winter's Bone is Lawrence's best. I was kind of surprised to look over her work. The only other movie I really like from her is American Hustle and that one I'm only so-so about.

I think she's done with X-Men (which she always seemed happier to be rid of) and seems to be moving towards more serious, challenging stuff.