It's Like Déjà F*cking Vu All Over Again: When Actors Recycle Roles
By Joanna Robinson | Posted Under Seriously Random Lists | Comments (36)
Listen, 2011, you’re really starting to piss me off, you know, movie-wise. It’s one thing to bombard me with remakes of great movies (e.g. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Thing and Fright Night). I’m actually looking forward to all of those flicks. It’s another thing to bore me with a series of (mostly) unnecessary reborquels (e.g. *deep breath* Hangover 2, Transformers 3: Dark Of The Moon, Scre4m, Fast Five, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Rise Of The Planet Of The Preposition Of The Apes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Thrones Shadows, Pirates Of the Caribbean: On Stranger Subtitles, and, most unnecessary of all, Big Mommas: Like Father Like Son). I’m sorry to lump Harry Potter in there. Honestly. I’ve got the shakes for that movie something fierce, but it is a ridiculously crowded year for sequels. The most insulting, of course, being Hangover 2: A Plot So Nice We Charged You Twice.
So what do we do? Take refuge in the original concepts? Films like Super 8? A bland bouillabaisse made from sliced and diced Spielberg that not even the marvelous Kyle Chandler could make memorable? Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating. Hell, just this weekend there was a fresh new comedy, Horrible Bosses where Kevin Spacey plays an abusive asshole of a boss who finally pushes his mild-mannered assistant to the breaking po-NOPE. I’ve seen that movie too. It was called Swimming With Sharks and it was great. Sure, Horrible Bosses was pretty funny (and I, like Dustin, will follow Charlie Day anywhere) but it wasn’t original. Here are a few of this year’s most blatant examples of actors recycling roles. Don’t get me wrong. I loved some of them. (Two of them.) But it’s getting old. Get it together 2011.
Kevin Spacey: Swimming With Sharks (1994) vs. Horrible Bosses (2011) as the *sshole Boss Who Gets His Comeuppance
Kate Hudson: Bride Wars (2009) vs. Something Borrowed (2011) as the Bitchy Friend/Bridezilla
Michelle Rodriguez: Avatar (2009) vs. Battle Los Angeles (2011) as the Glowering Hard-As-Nails Soldier
Kevin James: Hitch (2005) vs. Zookeeper (2011) as the Bumbling Fat Man In Need Of Romantic Advice
Bobby Cannavale: The Station Agent (2003) vs. Win Win (2011) as the Irrepressible Man Child/Human Labrador
Angelina Jolie: Mr. And Mrs. Smith (2007), Wanted (2008), Salt (2010), Seriously Angie I Am Really Bored With This Role vs. The Tourist (2011) as The Spy Who Uses Both Sex As A Weapon And Weapons As A Weapon
Okay, here’s a little freshly-squeezed apple-pie-sunshine for you. Bridesmaids, Hanna, Submarine, Rango and Beginners. See them. Love them.
Joanna Robinson is wondering if she missed any repeat performances from this or any other year. Do you think Harrison Ford will be playing Han Solo in Cowboys and Aliens? She thinks it’s something a little gruffer.
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Comments
Posted by: gigi at July 11, 2011 4:19 PM
Seriously, Swimming with Sharks is just awesome. Kevin Spacey was unbelievably good in it too. The saving grace of Horrible Bosses is Charlie Day though. You cannot go wrong with someone who can do comedy that well.