Films that work despite themselves

Pigman II

eg Silence of the Lambs.

Everything about this movie appears to be lacking. In my personal opinion it's very badly blocked shot and contains a lot of uninspiring and even questionable casting choices (particularily in supporting roles - Chris Isaak anyone?). The director is someone I've never regarded very highly and the original source material quite pulpy. The producer (Dino De Laurentiis) is someone with a track record of mostly bad expoition & 'franchise' type movies and even one of the two main leads (Hopkins) is someone who wasn't exactly a 'name' at the time. Just look at all the components and one could easily envision it being just another average "2 hours to kill" pot-boiler. Yet when everything comes together what you get is a classic thriller that IMHO deservedly swept the boards at the Acadamy awards .

Has anyone else got examples of movies that 'on paper' shouldn't work yet when the finished product is deliver it turns out to be something special?

Guy:Incognito

Wrong forum by any chance?

Pigman II

D'oh

(Feel free to include footy films if you like. Mean Machine and Escape to Victory probably the highlights of this subgenre).

Guy:Incognito

Pigman II wrote: »

D'oh

It's grand, sure we can all let the excitement of a Liverpool win get too us from time to time.

dr.bollocko

I have to mention Escape to Victory now, to try and bridge the gap between soccer and cinema.

Xavi6

Guy:Incognito

dr.bollocko wrote: »

I have to mention Escape to Victory now, to try and bridge the gap between soccer and cinema.

Dont forget Mean Machiine.(The Vinnie Jones one)

Actually why not save this trhread and turn it into a football films thread.

RuggieBear

Moved from Soccer(:eek:) forum!

Pigman II

Stekelly wrote: »

Dont forget Mean Machiine.(The Vinnie Jones one)

Actually why not save this trhread and turn it into a football films thread.

agreed

faceman

Pigman II wrote: »

Has anyone else got examples of movies that 'on paper' shouldn't work yet when the finished product is deliver it turns out to be something special?

Hmm, how about Lost in Translation? Not sure, need to think about this one.

Re Silence of the Lambs, once you watch Manhunter you realise how inferior SOTL is.

Pigman II

faceman wrote: »

Hmm, how about Lost in Translation? Not sure, need to think about this one.

Re Silence of the Lambs, once you watch Manhunter you realise how inferior SOTL is.

I don't rate Manhunter myself. It has the general problem I have will all Michael Mann movies in that they're all mood and no move.

chopperbyrne

Being John Malkovic shouldn't work at all, but it does.

frag4

Groundhog day
you'd think that this film would fall flat on its face with all the repeating of the scenes. But what a little gem of a movie.

Galvasean

The Man.
Has no right to be in anyway funny, but somehow manages to be apretty decent movie.

Most Michael Bay films have no right to be as entertaining as they are.

johnny_ultimate

Any good rom-com: Jerry Maguire, Lost in Translation, Garden State etc...
They stay annoyingly close to formula, and yet there is something beautifully appealing about them at the same time.

Probably the genre that has the narrowest gap between good and bad.

pickarooney

The Godfather - a mediocre genre novel stretched out to over 6 hours (part three was just an extended outtake) starring a Marlon Brando who hadn't had a hit in ten years and an unheard of Al Pacino and made by a director most recently remembered for Finnian's Rainbow should never have made it to the cinema, let alone enthrall millions of Joe No-Attention-Spans for decades to come.