Sometimes a movie can have a good script, but everything goes wrong in production, especially in casting actors.
People always think that combining the two best actors in a movie is a good idea. Because when two big-name actors collaborate, audiences are excited to see how the film works, and studios also know that this casting immediately increases the appeal of their project. In fact, over the decades, there have been countless examples of talented actors working together on screen. For example, Paul Newman and Robert Redford made "The Sting" a hit, or the excellent performance of Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank in "Million Dollar Baby" earned the film 4 Oscars.
On the contrary, there are also many cases where the combination of famous Hollywood stars makes the film an unbelievable failure! There are many reasons leading to a catastrophic failure, despite the participation of two talented actors. Sometimes, it's as simple as they couldn't create onscreen chemistry. Other times, the script is essentially bad and the actors are expected to enhance it somehow. Whatever the reason, when you watch a movie with two stellar actors but it doesn't work, you can't help but feel terrible.
Today, we give you 15 times pairs of a-list actors teamed pp despite having many great stars! What do you think about these movies? Are they really that bad?
#1 "City Heat" starred Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood were two of the most sought-after actors around in the 1980s. They both frequently played tough characters, so combining them in an action comedy seemed like a good idea. But 1984’s "City Heat" ended up satisfying neither actor’s fan base. How could this high-profile pairing be so disastrous? The behind-the-scenes troubles are partially to blame. After taking over as director when Edwards was sacked, Richard Benjamin significantly changed Blake Edwards's screenplay. And the plot became all over the place, making it difficult to keep up with. Who wants to watch Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood insult and hurl at each other for two hours? All of this combined to utterly sink "City Heat."
#2 "Grudge Match" starred Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Robert De Niro and Sylvester Stallone have something in common. Each of them played in a classic boxing movie. What could be better than pairing these two famous fighters for a movie about boxing, "Grudge Match"? Pretty much anything. In "Grudge Match", Henry "Razor" Sharp (played by Sylvester Stallone) and Billy "The Kid" McDonnen (played by Robert De Niro) are former boxers who step back into the ring to determine once and for all who the champion is. That may have been exciting, but the movie spends too much time on the dull domestic dramas that the protagonists deal with. For example, Stallone trying to get to know the son he fathered from an old fling. But no one cares about it. We want to see Stallone and De Niro trading punches. Simply put, "Grudge Match" didn't offer enough of that!
#3 "Righteous Kill" starred Robert De Niro and Al Pacino
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are two of the greatest actors of all time. And the two had excellent performances in "The Godfather Part II", making it one of the greatest films ever made. Therefore, it was reasonable to anticipate 2008 "Righteous Kill" a big hit when they worked together again. But instead, the film disappointed the audience completely. These two actors portray detectives trying to find a serial killer whose victims are all guilty-as-sin losers who have evaded justice. It ought to have been a gritty police drama like Pacino's "Serpico". Unfortunately, since it's hard to follow the hints in a complicated plot, the audience gets bored rather than excited. Moreover, even the stars aren’t good in it. Pacino overreacted significantly, and De Niro showed no interest. These factors make "Righteous Kill" the impression of being a cheap direct-to-DVD cash-in rather than the meeting of two Hollywood stars.
#4 "Fathers' Day" starred Robin Williams and Billy Crystal
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Billy Crystal and Robin Williams are two of the most beloved comedians of all time. Although their styles are different, they share a common sensibility, often combining outrageous laughs with some heart-wrenching moments in their films. In real life, the two are also good friends, which makes their on-screen pairing in "Fathers' Day" seem like a big expectation of audiences at that time. Therefore, fans were shocked to know that the film was practically devoid of laughter. In the movie, both men are dating the same woman and when she gives birth to a child, they don't know who the child's father is. "Fathers' Day" is a shambles, even with a talented filmmaker like Ivan Reitman from "Ghostbusters" in charge. We never feel like we're watching a comedy- we're just watching two successful comedians managed in front of the camera.
#5 "The Mexican" starred Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
"The Mexican" is a great example of what happens when you advertise one thing and then offer something completely different. The trailers for the 2001 film depict the romance between stars Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts, giving the impression that the plot revolved around a pair of romantic adventurers in Mexico. But "The Mexican" is actually an eccentric crime story about a mafia bagman who is ordered by his boss to fetch a priceless antique weapon. And his girlfriend spends much of the movie angry at him. Therefore, spectators swiftly rejected the film after news spread that it wasn't even close to what it was made of in the trailers.
#6 "Showtime" starred Robert De Niro and Eddie Murphy
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Combining dramatic, live-action comedian Eddie Murphy with hyper-serious drama actor Robert De Niro would have made for the ideal humorous quirky couple. The problem is that "Showtime" doesn't know how to capitalize on either of its strengths. In the film, De Niro played a top-as-nails LAPD detective who is forced to star in a reality TV show. Murphy is an aspiring patrolman who sees being on the show as his dream ticket. The two clash incessantly while tracking down a weapons manufacturer who is bringing to market a dangerous weapon. In fact, it was not an excellent script. It tries to strike a balance between action and comedy, but it fails miserably. If flip-flop them (Murphy plays the tough officer and De Niro plays the attention-seeking patrolman), the film would have been much more fun. "Showtime" really needed something to change its old recipe.
#7 "Loose Cannons" starred Gene Hackman and Dan Aykroyd
Source: Tri-Star Pictures
Watching an all-time great actor work with an all-time great comedian can be a great experience. But with "Loose Cannons" (1990), that wasn't the case. Any light
Entertainment that tries to get Hitler in is wrong in terms of tastelessness. Aykroyd is miscast in the kind of manic role that would have been more suited to someone like Robin Williams. And Hackman appears bored and as though he is aware that his situation is hopeless. In addition, any potential sense of humor is undermined by Bob Clark's slow directing. Given all of these factors, the movie struggled to find an audience. And finally, the studio pulled it from theaters after just two weeks.
#8 "Bad Company" starred Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock
Source: Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Anthony Hopkins, an Oscar-winning actor with classical training, and edgy comedienne Chris Rock might have collaborated on a million appealing movies. The guys decided to work together on the clichéd spy thriller "Bad Company", which didn't provide any of them the opportunity to shine. In addition to a conspiracy to strain credibility, "Bad Company" was baffled by an unfocused tone. On one hand, it wanted to be the sort of intense espionage drama you'd expect to find Hopkins in. On the other hand, not wanting to disappoint comedy fans, the film allowed Rock to make a lot of his trademark break even though it didn't fit everything. By trying to please two completely different fan bases, the film ends up pleasing no one.
#9 "Larry Crowne" starred Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts
Source: Universal Pictures
Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts are Oscar winners and always storm the box office around the world. But the 2011 film "Larry Crowne," where they combined, was one of the two stars' lower-grossing films. "Larry Crowne," co-written and directed by Hanks, is about an unemployed middle-aged man who enrolls in college again and ends up falling in love with a teacher who is experiencing marital problems. Despite showcasing two revered actors, "Larry Crowne" wasn't high-quality enough to make it an awards contender, and it lacked the high concept to be a huge hit.
#10 "The Tourist" starred Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie
Source: Sony Pictures Releasing
It's interesting to know that Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie are together in a romantic thriller. But "The Tourist" did the opposite, lowering fans' expectations. In the movie, Depp stars as an American math teacher on vacation in Venice while Jolie portrays an enigmatic woman who travels the world in search of her sweetheart after taking millions of dollars from a criminal. They go on a perilous expedition together as they draw closer to one another. It sounds great, but the problem is that Depp and Jolie have an amazing lack of chemistry. They may be well-known celebrities and have good appearances, but they don't generate a single spark. As a result, everything that's romantic in the movie doesn't work. Other than that, the plot is chaotic, with some rogue turns that will literally pull the rug away from you. Given the beautiful scenery, Jolie and Depp probably had fun making "The Tourist" but audiences weren't fun watching it at all.
#11 "The Campaign" starred Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Over the past 20 years, Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis have become big comedy stars. They have a similar style, overly humorous performances but have different serving styles. For 2012’s "The Campaign", they took on the ever-fruitful subject of politics. Ferrell is a humiliated incumbent congressman facing his opponent, a travel director who has been invited to run for office by several wealthy CEOs (played by Galifianakis). This political farce received generally positive reviews from critics and was a moderate success for the film. However, considering that it starred two comedic titans, "The Campaign" had a relatively underwhelming response. On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie only has a 51% audience rating. People are probably not in the mood to laugh at such things because it was released right during the 2012 election campaign, which was escalating political tensions in the US.
#12 "Cowboys & Aliens" starred Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford
Source: Universal Pictures
It looked as though "Cowboys & Aliens" couldn't possibly fail. It was based on a popular comic book, and it starred action legend Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig, who had just been appointed 007 at the time. The picture, as the title implies, is a genre hybrid, with a group of hostile extraterrestrials invading the Wild West. But the film couldn't blend this genre-bending picture. Ford and Craig both have laconic, glum on-screen personalities, which lends the movie a certain amount of repetition. It would have been a good idea if they cast one of them against a character with a completely contrasting appearance.
#13 "Basic" starred Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta
Source: Sony Pictures Releasing
"Pulp Fiction" was the first film that Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta collaborated on and became a hit. But the second time they filmed together was in the 2003 TV series "Basic", which was the complete opposite of "Pulp Fiction". In the movie, Travolta played a military detective trying to figure out what happened to an Army sergeant (Jackson) following a training mission that claimed the lives of four soldiers. The survivors of the expedition each told a different version of what happened. The actors weren't helped by this film's script. The film is constantly changing its own rules in order to throw big twists at the viewer. We couldn't see Jackson and Travolta interact on-screen because Jackson's role was only shown in flashbacks.
#14 "The Lake House" starred Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
In the 2006 film "The Lake House", Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves played lonely people who live in the same lakeside home at two distinct times. Exchanging letters and depositing them in the front magic mailbox is a way they communicate. The things they write in those letters spark a relationship. An obvious problem here is that, by putting the characters in different time periods, Bullock and Reeves rarely get to share the screen. But we want to see them together at the same moment, falling in love. We don't want to watch them apart for two years. The fact that Bullock and Reeves rarely share the screen due to the characters being in separate time periods is an obvious issue in this situation. We want to see them together at the same moment, falling in love. We don't want to watch them apart for two years. Beyond that, the movie's hokey time-warp plot was too confusing. To sum up, "The Lake House" was a typical example of how to raise an audience's expectations before quickly lowering them.
#15 "The Bucket List" starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman
Source: Warner Bros. Pictures
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman are veteran actors, admired and respected by viewers of multiple generations. Both have produced films worthy of legendary status and received Academy Awards. There is no reason not to anticipate a fantastic movie when those two actors are together. One can only wonder what led them to team up with "The Bucket List," a maudlin "comedy" about two boys with a terminal illness who together do a bunch of wild things. before shuffling this vital coil. The movie has one basic joke, which is "old guys do something crazy like skydiving." One fundamental joke, "old guys do something crazy like skydiving" runs through the entire film. It keeps coming up in conversation. Both viewers and critics concurred that the film was not up to their abilities.