The worst movie performances of 2024

It is possible to enjoy a good bad film, but it is impossible to watch a good actor give a bad performance and not wonder, “What they were thinking?” or “How did this happen?” Good intentions can go horribly wrong when stars make passion projects or they take a role that may look like a good fit for their talents, but is, in fact, a misuse of them.

It’s one thing for an actor to be enjoyably hammy like Jeremy Irons hamming it up in the Jason Statham vehicle, “The Beekeeper,”  early this year, but it is another thing for the once promising Jason Patric to appear as a cop in the recent human trafficking drama, “City of Dreams.” But these are not bad performances, just talent being squandered. 

There is nothing wrong with taking a big swing, only to whiff it, like Glenn Close does, camping it up in Lee Daniel’s “The Deliverance.” What is worse is when an actor is perfectly cast in a role — as Channing Tatum was in this summer’s “Fly Me to the Moon” —  only to be as charmless as the film he was in.

Still these aforementioned offenders fall short of some of the year’s worst performances in films that deserved better. Here are this year’s 10 dubious achievers across eight films.

Dakota Johnson in “Madame Web” (Sony Pictures)

No one goes to a superhero movie for the acting. But when a film is as bad as “Madame Web,” one kind of wants the actors to at least go big if not camp it up. Instead, Dakota Johnson is painfully earnest and flat — even her deadpan is dead on arrival. As Cassandra Webb, a paramedic who discovers after a near-death experience that she can see the future, Johnson is a total blank. She shifts her eyes to indicate she is puzzling out her abilities, but it feels like she is asking for direction. She speaks her lines, such as “I know it sounds crazy, but I don’t understand what is happening,” with zero emotion or inflection, as if unaware she was being filmed. (Viewers will have the same experience of miscomprehension.) A scene of her training a trio of young women on CPR is lifeless, and when she shouts the warning, “Get down, NOW!” it feels lazy. Johnson, who was soooo good in “Daddio,” also out this year, is sleepwalking through in her performance here, and delivers a big yawn in a film that is sure to clean up at the Razzies.

Olivia Colman in “Wicked Little Letters” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Crikey! The great Olivia Colman gives a big, bad and way too broad performance as Edith Swan, a repressed spinster who is the recipient of the titular epistles — an unending series of rude and crude insults. Colman exaggerates just how shocked Edith is at the wild behavior of her neighbor Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley), who she claims is sending the poison-penned missives. Edith is sanctimonious, smug and even shamefaced as she is repeatedly scandalized by the letters, and Colman portrays her with an appropriately pinched expression when her mouth is not agape and aghast or pursed in horror. But the problem here is that Colman is trying too hard. She overdoes her swooning when Edith is insulted, and when Edith herself swears, the joy she gets from it feels forced. What should be fun, or even funny, is as foul as it is foul-mouthed. All the hand-wringing here about bad behavior should be directed at Colman who overcompensates and as a result, is painfully overbearing.

Johnny Depp in “Jeanne Du Barry” (Vertical Entertainment)

The biggest drawback of this sumptuous and starchy costume drama is the stunt-casting of Johnny Depp as King Louis XV. Appearing puffy, rouged and bewigged, Depp looks like he would rather be anywhere else than giving his only onscreen performance in the past few years. His King Louis has more personality, charm and sex appeal as he lies on his deathbed succumbing to smallpox than he does in any other scene. He has zero chemistry with King Louis’ mistress, Jeanne (director and cowriter Maïwenn); their relationship is scandalous, but Depp appears bored, and that makes him boring. Their relationship feels like the antipode of seduction. The layers of makeup can’t quite hide his vacant eyes, which are meant to express lust, depression and regret but mostly convey indifference. Depp’s performance here is so low-key his King is more resigned than regal.

Henry Cavill in “Argylle” (Universal Pictures/Apple Original Films)

While many of the cast members get to play double roles in Matthew Vaughn’s joyless action comedy “Argylle,” Henry Cavill gets double-crossed, As the title spy, a fictional figment of writer Elly Conway’s (Bryce Dallas Howard) imagination (in the James Bond mold), Cavill does not get much to do — and he does nothing much. He is two-dimensional going through the motions of bantering with a female rival or pursuing her in a ludicrous chase scene. Lacking verve and nerve, he gives a truly passive performance in an action role. In contrast, his alter ego, Aidan Wilde (Sam Rockwell) has almost too much charisma, emphasizing just how stiff Cavill is here. At one point, Cavill’s Argylle says, “God, that was bad. The whole tone was off.” Surely, he must be referring to his subpar performance.

Ed Skrein in “Rebel Moon” (Netflix)

If a film is only as good as its villain, Ed Skrein is one big reason why Zack Snyder’s space opera is so awful. As the evil Admiral Atticus Noble, he is neither admirable nor noble; and he’s not especially menacing when he threatens to “destroy the insurgents once and for all.” Skrein aims for quietly sinister, but he lacks the insouciance that say, Malcolm McDowell, would bring to the role. Moreover, he frequently looks like he is imitating Zoolander’s “Blue Steel” pose whether he is dressed like a Nazi stormtrooper or like a Mormon. And when Noble is resurrected after possible death, he looks like he is about to be the Emcee at “Cabaret’s” Kit Kat Club rather than fight the rebels. Skrein exudes neither passion nor delight even when he gets to dispatch some victims. Skrein’s baddie is simply wan when he should be chilling.

Andrew Garfield in “We Live in Time” (A24)

Trying for affable, Andrew Garfield is mostly hapless in this tedious drama that shows different periods of time in the life of a couple, Almut (Florence Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield). He is appropriately mopey because Almut has cancer, or as flashbacks show, he is processing a divorce. But Tobias’ lack of confidence in almost every scene drags this film down. Garfield speaks every line as if he is asking a question, which becomes wearying, not endearing. He hesitancy in his relationship with Almut, is insufferable. Tobias often swallows his anger, responding apathetically to Almut’s discussion about treatment following her diagnosis; or becoming frustrated when he wants to talk about kids, or even when Tobias catches Almut in a lie. Garfield’s performance is mostly wooden that he generates pity less for Tobias’ situation, and more for wasting viewers’ time.

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Cate Blanchett in “Borderlands” (Lionsgate)

As a scarlet-haired bounty hunter, Cate Blanchett cracks wise and throws punches, but neither her sarcasm nor her fists land well. The formidable actress is slumming here, unable to connect with the thin character or material. (It is based on a video game.) Lilith is hired to recover Tiny Tina (Ariana Greenblatt), the daughter of Atlas (Edgar Ramírez), who has been kidnapped and taken to Lilith’s home planet, Pandora. Lilith doesn’t like Pandora, the worst planet in the galaxy, but the contempt she has should be for Eli Roth, who cowrote and directed this noisy, busy bomb. Roth doesn’t showcase Blanchett well; she looks exasperated (fans will be, too) as she banters badly with an annoying talking robot named Claptrap (Jack Black) or is annoyed by a bus driver who delivers her to a rendezvous point. When Lilith teams up, reluctantly, with Roland (Kevin Hart), Krieg (Florian Munteanu), and Tannis (Jamie Lee Curtis), the crew battle rivals, drive into the mouths of monsters and get doused with urine, and shot through an elevator shaft that causes her to vomit. Blanchett grits her teeth and rolls her eyes through it all, but even as she accesses memories of her late mother, or becomes empowered as a firehawk, she is dull and as dreary as the not-so-special effects often overwhelm her. It is hard to root for Lilith or Blanchett to succeed since the film and her performance are both such failures. 

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