Case One: How the fuck did Robert De Niro go from this.....
....to this?
The film (?) is New Year's Eve - full of pretty, vapid, talent-shy, model-cum-actors AND Robert De Niro!!?? That said, De Niro has some form with poor choices (We're No Angels, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Little Fockers and Righteous Kill for example). And so does the next perpetrator.
Case Two: From this.....
........to Journey 2: The Mysterious Island?
The near legendary Michael Caine seems to enjoy this flirting with dirge, as though he wants us to forget his roles in such classics as Get Carter (above), The Italian Job, The Man Who Would Be King, Educating Rita and Hannah and Her Sisters. In the past he has counter-balanced these with missteps like The Hand, Blame it on Rio, Jaws: The Revenge and Miss Congeniality. According to Mark Kermode on the BBC, Caine was once asked if he had seen Jaws: The Revenge and he replied "No, but I've seen the house it bought". Fair enough.
Maybe I shouldn't be so shocked with the previous two cases but the next one left me a wee bit slack-jawed.
Case Three: From this.....
That's right. Al Pacino, who made his name as Michael Corleone and appeared in quite a few solid films has joined the party. Admittedly, he has a penchant for scenery chewing (Scent of a Woman, The Devil's Advocate and Scarface to name a few) but I don't think he has wilfully chosen a role like this before. I may be wrong but he seemed less of a 'pay-cheque' style actor, more earnest and thoughtful with his choice of films....until now.
So what next? Will Ralph Fiennes pop up in a Judd Apatow movie? Terence Malick to direct the sequel to Mamma Mia? Seriously, am I missing any heavyweights who have sunk as low as these three cases? Which actor spans the widest gulf between great roles and dross?
