When good actors go bad

How’d it happen that John C. Reilly’s presence in a movie automatically makes it a must-miss for me?

Roger Ebert gives Cedar Rapids the kind of enthusiastic review that usually has me looking forward to seeing it.  But Reilly’s in it and I probably won’t even watch it when it comes out on DVD.

I don’t understand it.  I used to think he was a good actor.  Now I can put up with Jonah Hill and Seth Rogen and even Adam Sandler with more equanimity.

Although a movie with Hill, Rogen, and Sandler?  Not that I have to worry about such a thing.  I mean, who’d waste their time making that movie?

Maybe it’s not him.

Maybe it’s the movies he’s made since somebody decided he was funny.

I mean, what was the chance I would have gone to see Cyrus anyway?

How about you?  Who keeps you out of the cineplex?

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Comments

[Sherry Chandler]

For me, more a matter of what gets me in. I am one of those who spends most viewing time watching classics from Netflix.

Jeff Bridges will draw me out, Kevin Spacey, George Clooney. Used to be Johnny Depp before he was completely co-opted by Disney.

Odd absence of women on that list.

No desire ever to see Cyrus though I used to admire Marissa Tomei.

[wsn]

I've never really been turned away by an actor (or director, or whatever) the way some other people do.

The phenomenon has always been weird to me. Not wrong, just very difficult to grasp.

[Lee]

Seth Rogen {shudder} is toxic to my movie going.

[Dave]

I have more than a few. Rogen and Jonah Hill are probably Public Enemies #1 and #2, though.

I can't stand even the sound of Ellen Page's voice.

Anything associated with Charlie Kaufman or Judd Apatow.

Anything featuring or starring a past or current member of SNL -- especially Sandler and Will Ferrell (Jon Lovitz and Martin Short excepted here -- but the latter gets the SCTV exemption).

Mainly, I haven't been able to take Reilly seriously since I realized he sounds exactly like Snagglepuss. (And don't even get me started on his Stanley Kowalski.)

[lisa]

Anything/anyone Judd Apatow-related; Jennifer Aniston; Katherine Heigel; J-Lo; sadly, John Cusack; Tom Cruise, of course (kinda goes without saying); Kevin Spacey; Jack Nicholson; Ben Stiller; Gwynie Paltrow ....

Actually, the list of Must Not See is waaay longer than the list of people whose work I Seek Out.

As a director, Ben Affleck is now interesting. Odd turn, that. Jeremy Renner is on the I Probably Ought To Check That Out list now. I'll go see whatever the "Winter's Bone" folks do next. And the Coens. I usually like the Coens.

[Chuck]

I actually found Cyrus to be somewhat interesting in that it played on audience discomfort in some creative ways. It wasn't great, but I think it worked against some of the typical plot devices that are played for straight comedy in Judd Apatow movies.

I won't go out of my way to see Sandler, etc, but I'm more likely to avoid Mike Myers at all costs (even though his reprisal of Wayne in Wayne's World was pretty funny).

[KC45s]

I'll second the SNL connection.

Let me add a vote for Vince Vaughn.

I'll go see movies with Ralph Fiennes, but I attend knowing I'll leave the theater depressed.

[Bob Westal]

I think John C. is pretty great, but then I actually liked "Cyrus" quite a bit, even if the camera style wasn't quite brilliant. (Funny how not being part of a backlash against a generally popular and well-reviewed movie can still leave you feeling like you're a member of a tiny minority.)

Very, very, very few actors are obnoxious enough to me to singlehandedly make me want to never see the movie but there is one and his name is Kutcher -- and then I wound up reviewing "No Strings Attached" anyway. I didn't like it, for some reason. (I confessed my dislike in the review, however.)

[Samuel]

No more Apatow movies for me. I saw Cyrus in SF well before it was released and I did like it. Must have been Marisa Tomei :-)

[Lance Mannion]

Samuel, good to see you again! Marisa Tomei is a good reason to like any movie.