And the Klebbie goes to...Worst execution of a good idea page 147

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  • Posts: 1,630
    Seeing Connery in his introductory scene reminds me how this role is so TOUGH to cast ! Connery presented a terrific combination of handsome, smooth, brutal, and more. Not necessarily Fleming's Bond, but, for the movies, better.
  • thedovethedove hiding in the Greek underworld
    Posts: 5,426
    Agreed @Since62 and now with all the baggage of the character and the men who have played him before it becomes even more difficult. Connery was an inspired choice, if being true to Fleming he'd never be considered. Scottish, working class, rough and tough with a rugged handsome face. Everything would have had the producers casting another actor.

    Craig's casting way back caused a fury of activity, and I am sure the next feller will have the same reaction.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    I must say that I find all those "hammy" performances quite ok in context, with the possible exception of Tanya Roberts. But those actors were all obviously requested by the director to act in that way. And I enjoy the results, whether it be Berkoff (the best element of Octopussy, bar none, in an otherwise inferior fairy-tale Bond movie), Pryce (who I don't find credible when he hacks on his computer keyboard with one hand only, but quite delicious in other regards, including his stand-off with Wai Lin), Dencik (the comic relief - along with some scenes of Ana de Armas - of NTTD) or Joe Don Baker's Whitaker - the reactionary belligerent and greedy American idiot everybody loves to hate (I prefer this over his role as Jack Wade). It's only Tanya where I wonder whether her show is due to a lack of prowess in acting, and I reluctantly (de mortuis nihil nisi bene) vote for her in this round.
  • ProfJoeButcherProfJoeButcher Bless your heart
    Posts: 1,711
    I'm pretty sure Berkoff isn’t even the hammiest villain in Octopussy... :-?
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    I'm pretty sure Berkoff isn’t even the hammiest villain in Octopussy... :-?

    Well...I guess he's overacting more than Louis Jourdan at least, but hey, that's his role. What do you expect from a guy who is ordered to drive a Mercedes on railroad tracks?
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,253
    Berkoff plays a Russian general and they generally don't react like Orlov does, on the contrary, they act restrained mostly to protect themselves. It doesn't mean it doesn't fit the film though, and even though it isn't a correct portrayal, it still is a good portrayal.
    Price is just fantastic, the media mogul bar none. full of himself, loud and arrogant, it fits the character perfectly and personally I like him as the best Brosnan-villain. He may not be a regular one, but the story and perforrmance fit perfectly fine.
    Tanya Roberts isn't over-acting, her acting is just not that convincing.
    Jo Don Baker in TLD is a typical American arms dealer. Again his portrayal fits the character.
    Obruchev, however, I have a problem with. Somehow the performance doesn't work. I don't find the character funny nor convincing. His timing isn't good, hence the funny moments fall flat (compare that to Anna's performence, her timing is impeccable).

    So for me the Klebbie should go to Obruchev.
  • echoecho 007 in New York
    Posts: 6,297
    Berkoff plays a Russian general and they generally don't react like Orlov does, on the contrary, they act restrained mostly to protect themselves. It doesn't mean it doesn't fit the film though, and even though it isn't a correct portrayal, it still is a good portrayal.

    We don't know what Putin is like in private meetings with his generals.

    For me, Berkoff is strategic, petulant, and spot on, and prescient of the world's evil we are unfortunately facing today.

  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,253
    echo wrote: »
    Berkoff plays a Russian general and they generally don't react like Orlov does, on the contrary, they act restrained mostly to protect themselves. It doesn't mean it doesn't fit the film though, and even though it isn't a correct portrayal, it still is a good portrayal.

    We don't know what Putin is like in private meetings with his generals.

    For me, Berkoff is strategic, petulant, and spot on, and prescient of the world's evil we are unfortunately facing today.

    The Soviet Union was infamous for its backstabbing and scheming, and that still happens in its current military. Hence, nothing was written down and people (high-ranking officials) usually kept (keep?) a low profile and say as little as possible.
  • MooseWithFleasMooseWithFleas Philadelphia
    Posts: 3,369
    I'll throw an honorable mention of the taxi driver from A View to a Kill.
    OHHH MY CAR!!! MAH CAR MAH CAR!!!! *wild arm gestures, followed by losing control of legs when getting pushed into table*
  • Posts: 7,507
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited November 2022 Posts: 3,789
    jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    I'M INVINCIBLEEEE!!!!!!

    Because of its characters (like Boris and Xenia) I don't think Goldeneye was as grounded as people making it out to be.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    edited November 2022 Posts: 9,030
    Never thought it was grounded, though I still like it best among the Brosnan films (well, TND keeps trying for a tie...with the remainder being abysmal). But you can't take any of the Russian characters seriously anyway...speaking English with a fake Russian accent among themselves. And Boris is just the cream on the cake in that regard.

    5d9c891e-0f72-4f16-a32d-05c0b8cfaa84_text.gif
    PS: Oops, wrong movie :-)
  • VenutiusVenutius Yorkshire
    Posts: 3,152
    Yes, GE is more of a grand romp - I just take it for what it is and go with it. :D
  • ThunderfingerThunderfinger Das Boot Hill
    Posts: 45,489
    jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    Is there anyone who isn t hammy in that film, except for Karyo?
  • jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    Boris is the least hammiest of all the Bond characters, but a vote is a vote. Mine goes to Jonathan Pryce.
  • Posts: 7,507
    jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    Boris is the least hammiest of all the Bond characters, but a vote is a vote. Mine goes to Jonathan Pryce.

    Maybe I don't understand the meaning of the word 'hammy', but it's a bad performance anyway
  • CraigMooreOHMSSCraigMooreOHMSS Dublin, Ireland
    Posts: 8,216
    jobo wrote: »
    jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    Boris is the least hammiest of all the Bond characters, but a vote is a vote. Mine goes to Jonathan Pryce.

    Maybe I don't understand the meaning of the word 'hammy', but it's a bad performance anyway

    It seems to me that the character was written to be that type, so he actually really did exactly what he was supposed to.
  • jobo wrote: »
    jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    Boris is the least hammiest of all the Bond characters, but a vote is a vote. Mine goes to Jonathan Pryce.

    Maybe I don't understand the meaning of the word 'hammy', but it's a bad performance anyway

    It seems to me that the character was written to be that type, so he actually really did exactly what he was supposed to.

    Agreed, I don’t think we’re supposed to warm up to Boris at all. He’s genuinely dislikable from the moment he’s introduced in the sense that he’s an arrogant two-faced jerk, and I think Cumming played that perfectly.
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited November 2022 Posts: 3,789
    My other nominations for Hammy (overacting) characters:

    1. Clifton James as JW Pepper - he tends to overact at some point, especially in The Man With The Golden Gun, or even in LALD, but in TMWTGG is where his hammy performance began to show.

    2. Rami Malek as Safin - Hammy? Yes, particularly his attempt at accents, it's like he's trying hard to do a Russian-Japanese accents, he's even whispering to the point that his dialogues gets boring, it's like trying hard at best, it's not natural, remember "peop-el" and his expression at the end when Bond shot him after infecting him with nanobots ("Madeleine! And yes M-M-Maathildeee!")

    3. Talisa Soto as Lupe Lamora - given already in my other post ("I love James so much!", "I don't wanna go back!", "Can I live with you, I think I will be safe with you?"), In the first act of the film, she's fine, but near the climax, at the third act, once she's reunited with Dalton's Bond, that's where her hammy performance shows.

    4. Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver - A Hammy character combined with a hammy acting, then it's all hammy all the way, she's acting weird and anxious in an unconvincing and unnatural way, she's trying hard to be this clumsy, naive, anxious woman, but it comes off as overacting, she's even not convincing as an agent or double agent, would it work had they gotten a different actress? Maybe, the concept would work.
  • Posts: 7,507
    jobo wrote: »
    jobo wrote: »
    My vote goes to Alan Cumming's horrible and annoying performance as Boris in Goldeneye.

    Boris is the least hammiest of all the Bond characters, but a vote is a vote. Mine goes to Jonathan Pryce.

    Maybe I don't understand the meaning of the word 'hammy', but it's a bad performance anyway

    It seems to me that the character was written to be that type, so he actually really did exactly what he was supposed to.

    Agreed, I don’t think we’re supposed to warm up to Boris at all. He’s genuinely dislikable from the moment he’s introduced in the sense that he’s an arrogant two-faced jerk, and I think Cumming played that perfectly.

    Of course he is meant to be a jerk, that doesn't mean the performance can't be hammy
  • Posts: 1,917
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    My other nominations for Hammy (overacting) characters:

    1. Clifton James as JW Pepper - he tends to overact at some point, especially in The Man With The Golden Gun, or even in LALD, but in TMWTGG is where his hammy performance began to show.

    2. Rami Malek as Safin - Hammy? Yes, particularly his attempt at accents, it's like he's trying hard to do a Russian-Japanese accents, he's even whispering to the point that his dialogues gets boring, it's like trying hard at best, it's not natural, remember "peop-el" and his expression at the end when Bond shot him after infecting him with nanobots ("Madeleine! And yes M-M-Maathildeee!")

    3. Talisa Soto as Lupe Lamora - given already in my other post ("I love James so much!", "I don't wanna go back!", "Can I live with you, I think I will be safe with you?"), In the first act of the film, she's fine, but near the climax, at the third act, once she's reunited with Dalton's Bond, that's where her hammy performance shows.

    4. Gloria Hendry as Rosie Carver - A Hammy character combined with a hammy acting, then it's all hammy all the way, she's acting weird and anxious in an unconvincing and unnatural way, she's trying hard to be this clumsy, naive, anxious woman, but it comes off as overacting, she's even not convincing as an agent or double agent, would it work had they gotten a different actress? Maybe, the concept would work.

    I think it's not so much hammy, but the two women just turned in poor performances. Soto has always been among the worst. I could never buy that Sanchez would go to so much trouble for her.
  • Posts: 5,993
    Not a question of him wanting her, but rather of him not wanting anyone else to have her, I think.

    As for my vote, it would go to Carver.
  • Posts: 15,116
    How about Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves?
  • SIS_HQSIS_HQ At the Vauxhall Headquarters
    edited November 2022 Posts: 3,789
    Ludovico wrote: »
    How about Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves?

    "You can't kill my dreams!"

    I think he's a great actor, not his fault, I think the bad thing there was the script, he just did what the script demanded him to do.
  • CommanderRossCommanderRoss The bottom of a pitch lake in Eastern Trinidad, place called La Brea
    Posts: 8,253
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    How about Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves?

    "You can't kill my dreams!"

    I think he's a great actor, not his fault, I think the bad thing there was the script, he just did what the script demanded him to do.

    I wouldn't be surprised if that was Tamahori's doing tbh. He's definately overacting.

    I really don't get the backlash against Soto. She's one of the most convincing golddiggers I've seen on film, including the dramatic 'I love him sooo much!'. We're not supposed to buy it for real, and the irritation with Lowell's Pam is utterly justified and fun, and wouldn't work so well if Talisa hadn't made it so dramatic.
  • Posts: 15,116
    MI6HQ wrote: »
    Ludovico wrote: »
    How about Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves?

    "You can't kill my dreams!"

    I think he's a great actor, not his fault, I think the bad thing there was the script, he just did what the script demanded him to do.

    He's a good actor. But he was too young and terribly directed, like a parody of a Bond villain. Playing Dr Armstrong in that Agatha Christie adaptation, he looked more like a classic Bond villain (Hugo Drax from the novel) than he did in the Bond movie he was in!
  • Posts: 7,507
    Ludovico wrote: »
    How about Toby Stephens as Gustav Graves?

    +1
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    Come on, people! How are you supposed to play someone that has been converted from being a Korean to a British "upper class" snob by way of DNA exchange? If you don't "ham" that performance to an extent that everyone realizes you don't mean it seriously, you're automatically a loser. DAD is a dud, but Tobey Stevens did just the job that was expected. Same goes, by the way, for most of the "hammy" performances discussed in this thread. Let's face it: By design, there are almost always exaggerated characters for comic relief, who simply have to overact and are instructed by the director to do so or have even already been conceived in the script to do so. There are very few actors who "hammed" because they just were not up to their job. I'd count Tania Mallet, Talisa Soto and probably Tanya Roberts. Must have something to do with the first initial.

  • Posts: 15,116
    j_w_pepper wrote: »
    Come on, people! How are you supposed to play someone that has been converted from being a Korean to a British "upper class" snob by way of DNA exchange? If you don't "ham" that performance to an extent that everyone realizes you don't mean it seriously, you're automatically a loser. DAD is a dud, but Tobey Stevens did just the job that was expected. Same goes, by the way, for most of the "hammy" performances discussed in this thread. Let's face it: By design, there are almost always exaggerated characters for comic relief, who simply have to overact and are instructed by the director to do so or have even already been conceived in the script to do so. There are very few actors who "hammed" because they just were not up to their job. I'd count Tania Mallet, Talisa Soto and probably Tanya Roberts. Must have something to do with the first initial.

    Whether or not the hamming up is justified is completely irrelevant. Fact of the matter is, Stephens plays it like a suckling pig with a bad attitude. Large ham indeed. And, on a side note, I'd say the deus ex machina filled background of Graves/Moon is utterly implausible even for a Bond film and pretty ridiculous.
  • j_w_pepperj_w_pepper Born on the bayou, but I now hear a new dog barkin'
    Posts: 9,030
    Ludovico wrote: »
    And, on a side note, I'd say the deus ex machina filled background of Graves/Moon is utterly implausible even for a Bond film and pretty ridiculous.
    That's what I'm saying, and have been for twenty years. It's much more than a side note, but one of the central problems of this mess of a movie. But nevertheless Tobey, like most of the others in the race, did what the script and the directors ordered them to do. And if they managed to follow suit, it doesn't really warrant a negative award.

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