It’s basically a law of Hollywood: for every great movie that’s produced, there are at least ten more that are utterly pointless, without merit, without any redemptive qualities. But what’s most shocking is when a film starring world-class actors and actresses end up being a dud. How could someone who’s won awards and accolades put in a failed performance? Here are some of the worst movies that somehow starred a world-class actor or actress—or even a star-studded cast.
7. Don’t Look Up (2021)
It’s not that Don’t Look Up was a horrendous film—it actually had a lot of merits—but it certainly fell short of what we’ve come to expect from the greatness of Leonardo DiCaprio. Over the past decade, DiCaprio has been performing at his peak. He’s reached that spot where many of his peers wished they could be—think Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in the 1970s. Between The Departed, Shutter Island, Inception, Django Unchained, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Revenant, it seemed like he was unstoppable. But with Don’t Look Up, it felt like he’d made a huge misstep. Sure, working with director Adam McKey was probably a lot of fun, especially with the cast that McKay had put together. But was it worth tarnishing his world-class reputation? Don’t Look Up is by far the worst film that Leonardo DiCaprio has made in a long time, and for that we’re including it here.
6. Jack & Jill (2011)
After Al Pacino went off the deep end in the 1990s, it seems like he doesn’t really care anymore about the films he makes. Sure, he’s made some fun movies since the turn of the millenium. He also starred in The Irishman, which was great. But come on! This is Al “Michael Corleone” Pacino we’re talking about. His recent filmography doesn’t live up to his status as an acting god, and some of his films (Gigli) have been downright awful. So, when Al Pacino signed on to Jack & Jill alongside Adam Sandler, everyone knew it wasn’t to end well. The film remains terrible, hated on by critics and regular audiences alike. To his credit, Al Pacino (who played himself) probably had a blast starring opposite Adam Sandler. Who wouldn’t love to be paid while having fun? But for the rest of us, it’s a dark chapter in the storied life of an extraordinary cinema icon.
5. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000)
See everything we wrote about Al Pacino above and copy that for the great Robert De Niro. Robert DeNiro is to acting what Jack Torrance is to madness: a stalwart of something that will never be forgotten. However, much like fellow acting icon Al Pacino, Robert De Niro apparently hit a point in the 1990s where he stopped caring about great acting and simply worked for fun and money only. The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle is guilty of being such a film, and it’s a shame that this was the film that introduced the children of the 2000s to Robert De Niro. (We all know that honor should belong to Heat.) It failed at the box office and we can only hope the experience was worth it for the man, that something good came from it.
4. Catwoman (2004)
In 2002, Halle Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Monster’s Ball. Then, in 2005, Halle Berry won the Razzie Award for Worst Actress for her performance in Catwoman. Of course, her performance in Monster’s Ball is one that deserved the recognition of her peers in the film industry with her raw look at a mother who suffered horrific loss. And yet, it’s her infamous performance in Catwoman for which she’s best remembered. The film is, of course, a disaster that never should’ve left its many years spent in development hell.
3. Passengers (2016)
Jennifer Lawrence was on a hot streak when she came to star in Passengers. She’d recently won the Oscar for Best Actress (for Silver Linings Playbook) and had a great thing going with her career by being a key piece in David O. Russell’s resurgence. However, Passengers lured her in with the prospect of a sci-fi story alongside Chris Pratt—and it didn’t go according to plan. Passengers isn’t the kind of film that’s just bad enough to be memorable, to which people point as an example of bad cinema. It’s far worse than that: a film that isn’t memorable in the slightest. The fact that a group of Hollywood producers thought it would succeed simply because it was led by two of the hottest stars at the time? It’s indicative of Hollywood’s out-of-touch shortcomings. In retrospect, Jennifer Lawrence’s career was stained by the bland sci-fi film that ushered in the end of her golden era.
2. Batman & Robin (1997)
Everybody loves George Clooney! He’s one of the kings of Hollywood, a gentleman who elicits love from everybody with whom he works. But back when he was first embarking on his film career—just after his departure from the hit series ER—George Clooney didn’t always make the best decisions, as he’s admitted himself. To this day, when Clooney is asked which film is his worst, he still always points to Batman & Robin. And you know what? He isn’t wrong. A disaster from start to finish, the superhero flick is everything wrong with superhero movies as a whole—so bad that it nearly killed the entire franchise. Fortunately, Clooney was able to laugh it off like a pro, which only endeared him further to the industry and paved the way for his eventual comeback through several great films.
1. The Holiday (2006)
Christmas films have a license to be bad as long as they’re warm, lovable, and easily rewatchable. The Holiday isn’t one of those movies. The Holiday is, at its core, just another attempt by Hollywood to promote Cameron Diaz, who never quite became the star she hoped to be. What’s worse is that The Holiday managed to rope Kate Winslet into proceedings. This film took an actress of supreme ability and reduced her to a one-dimensional wreck, with Jack Black thrown in for extra cringe. Kate Winslet is one of the greatest British actresses of all time and people revere her for her stunning performances. Her involvement in The Holiday—an awful picture with few redeeming features—is a real shame. Whatever she got from that film, I hope it was worth it. Read next: The Greatest Love Stories in Cinema History That’ll Make You Cry
