Bad movies that Meryl is great in.
September 29, 2007 2:02 AM

Movietalkfilter: Let's talk a bit about the brilliance of Meryl Streep. Particularly in bad movies.

I've started to notice recently what a friggin' genius Meryl Streep is. Not that I haven't always known it, but lately I've noticed that she's even brilliant in bad movies. Real stinkers. Give her the worst dialog in the world, and she alway seems to find a way to make it real, fresh, right and true. She's NEVER boring. I always want to see what she's going to say next.

This is in stark contrast to performances like Ralph Fiennes in Strange Days. It's clear that he despises many of the (awful) lines he's being paid to speak.

So let's posit a film festival of films that Meryl is in that are good examples of this: bad movie/ great Meryl.

I'm happy to entertain other great performers who've made lemonade from a shitty script. I've just noticed it most keenly with Meryl. She's amazing.

Suggestions?
posted by asavage to Media & Arts (14 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Hey, internet guy, there's a little thing around here called Chatfilter that you might want to read ab—oh. Hello, Mr. Savage. Sorry about all this, but "let's chat about Meryl Streep, and good actors in bad movies in general while we're at it" is kind of out of bounds, great goddam actress or not.

(Your question might get deleted as chatfilter, but here goes...)

Death Becomes Her
and
She-Devil
posted by amyms at 2:50 AM on September 29, 2007


The Devil Wears Prada, which I only watched because it was playing on a 12-hour flight. I had never had the urge to see it but was presently surprised by it, mostly due to her.

Man, I love She Devil. I'll drop almost anything if I catch that on late-night cable.

Also, it's not entirely her doing, but Adaptation is pretty remarkable too.
posted by Brittanie at 3:02 AM on September 29, 2007


Sorry dude, you have a cool show, but this breaks the rules.
posted by blacklite at 3:47 AM on September 29, 2007


As long as she stays away from foreign accents, for which she is inexplicably lavished with unwarranted praise, I'm fine with her.

Best piece o' fluff was easily: "Defending Your Life" with Albert Brooks.
posted by RavinDave at 4:13 AM on September 29, 2007


It's not a bad movie at all, but I'm in awe of her preformance(s) in Angels in America.
posted by brevator at 5:54 AM on September 29, 2007


At first reading I thought the question was snark. I can't stand to hear her utter a single line in any movie. Count my answer as "You're wrong, Adam," but I'll also cast my vote for not minding these kinds of questions in the green, either.
posted by monkeymadness at 6:18 AM on September 29, 2007


The River Wild was pretty bad but I think it had some good Meryl. Plus, it has Kevin Bacon, so, you know, there.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 6:22 AM on September 29, 2007


there's no question meryl streep is the best actor of our time.
posted by brandz at 7:07 AM on September 29, 2007


I love the movie she did with Robert DeNiro, "Falling in Love," but lots of people think it's terrible. "Plenty" was also a sinker, IMHO.
posted by HotPatatta at 7:41 AM on September 29, 2007


brandz: agreed, both sex included.

An interesting question would be: has she acted badly in any role?
posted by bru at 7:45 AM on September 29, 2007


Personally, I really wanted with every fiber of my being to HATE Bridges of Madison County. I wanted to LOATHE it. I wanted to mock it and everything about it. But then they put Meryl in it, and so of course I ended up crying like a baby as she sat there in that damned truck, missing out on lost love with craggy ol' Clint.

Oh... wait. I just admitted that out loud, didn't I?

BTW, I just went onto imdb and it looks like she has SEVEN movies coming up. My God that woman is a workaholic!
posted by miss lynnster at 7:51 AM on September 29, 2007


In order to do a decent job with a bad script, you may have to take issue with the premise. Like here, for example.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:07 AM on September 29, 2007


This one promises to be crap.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:17 AM on September 29, 2007


As I am a hopeless romantic, I loved her in "Heartburn" and "Falling in Love", both of which, despite the presence of Jack Nicholson and Robert de Niro, were bits of fluff.
posted by essexjan at 8:35 AM on September 29, 2007


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