Top Ten Overrated Films

Published on December 3, 2009 by Martyn Conterio   ·   View Comments

Overrated films are an interesting breed. They are essentially the type that everybody goes crazy for until consideration, time, thought and retrospect force us to reassess the situation. They are, by and large, the product of Hollywood: though by no means exclusive. However, Hollywood films are the most hyped; the most seen; the most heard. They are garnered with awards and flattery and the cycle begins again. Is it genius of deception or commerce?

Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane is often labelled as “the greatest film ever made”. It will not appear in this list. It is not an overrated film. Even now, in the sixty-plus years since its release, Welles’ masterpiece remains inimitable. Searching for something to dislike in it is pointless. Yes, critics go ga-ga for Orson, and so they should. He was a true maverick.

If one looks at the history of the Best Film award at the Oscars, one sees a litany of mishaps, bizarre choices and (in some cases) total loss of judgement. Overrated films do tend to rule award ceremonies. Others earn vast amounts after conning the public of their worth as entertainment or art. Some languish in anonymity before being selected for reappraisal. Here is a selection of “overrated films”. Please feel free to leave a comment or add your own.

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Casino Royale
(dir: Martin Campbell, 2006)

Jason Bourne’s global shenanigans gave 007’s producers cause for concern. The increasingly outlandish series looked rather silly compared to the cool amnesiac assassin’s exploits. Not before too long Bond was re-Bourne. Yes, old Bond (Pierce Brosnan) was out, and new Bond was in. Daniel Craig’s “serious”-acting chops gave the iconic character a new lease of life. The producers, envious of Bourne’s box office clout, decided to revamp the franchise and make it…more gritty.

Ian Fleming’s debut book Casino Royale was chosen to re-launch the series (apparently Quentin Tarantino’s idea) and critics and fans marvelled at the more down-to-earth approach and bruising violence. Craig’s take on matters was more old school than Connery’s. The James Bond horse has been flogged to death for years and still manages to revive itself at key moments. It is a very deceptive film. Nothing too radical was attempted. Indeed, the sharpest and finest feature of Casino Royale is 007’s exquisite tailoring and “to be continued” ending. Everything else is same old, same old.

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American Beauty
(dir: Sam Mendes, 1999)

Upon his cinematic debut Sam Mendes was hailed by some critics as: “the new Orson Welles”. Ten years into his career, one needs only to look at his bland, America-obsessed filmography to know how ridiculous the comment is/was.

Critics and audiences seemed to be spellbound by a plastic bag floating in the wind. Kevin Spacey’s deadpan performance channels the cynical spirit of Billy Wilder films and Annette Bening’s cheating, manic housewife is hilarious. As a black comedy it works well. Alan Ball’s script dishes out some brilliant dialogue and observations, but its self-importance and yearning for profundity have made it look very dated – very quickly.

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Titanic
(dir: James Cameron, 1997)

This is the kind of film many people said they loathed, but still went back time and time again, making James Cameron our King of the World. Yes, his smug-gloating at the Oscars was ammo for critics. But quite frankly, he is one of the most visionary filmmakers working today. A bit like a grown-up George Lucas, Cameron has fashioned a career from out-doing every Hollywood filmmaker…he’s only now in competition with himself.

The major problem with Titanic, like all Cameron movies after The Terminator, is the script. It stinks to high heaven. Titanic is full of stereotypes and maybe, just maybe, it is the weight of the clichés that sank the ill-fated boat. The film threatened Leonardo DiCaprio’s career before it even took off. Turning him from showcasing teen actor into the late 1990s R. Pattz, one felt very sorry for him when he was chased everywhere by paps and teenage girls all because he played a poor working class kid who gave it all up for a posh bird. How romantic. A Marxist reading of the film would see things very differently.

It is still one of the largest grossing pictures ever made and won awards left, right and centre. Kate Winslet went off and started making indie films to get away from “the boat movie” and DiCaprio went underground until he came back as an adult in The Beach.

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Saving Private Ryan
(dir: Steven Spielberg, 1998)

Sitting through the first twenty-five minutes of Spielberg’s war flick is a bit like being inside a washing machine whilst it is rolling down a hill. Or something like that. Yes, the opening sequence is masterful, emotional and sad. But one of the greatest war (film) crimes committed by Spielberg’s epic is its insistency on punching us senselessly with horrific violence, and for it then to give way to a boy’s own adventure about daring-do.

There are some superb moments in Saving Private Ryan: Tom Hanks gives the performance of his career, and he’s ably backed by indie kids Jeremy Davies and Giovanni Ribisi. Its queasy violence and mournful tone, more than resonates with WW1 war poet Wilfred Owen’s “Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.” Yet Spielberg essentially romanticises war, combat and brotherhood without questioning all the prevalent themes in between. And that prologue and epilogue was a terrible idea.

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Life is Beautiful
(dir: Roberto Benigni, 1997)

Who remembers Italian actor and comic, Robert Benigni, winning the Best Actor at the Oscars in 1998? When he jumped around like a lunatic and talked a stream-of-consciousness load of rubbish and had the audience utterly bemused? Some clapped, some smiled…how many were cringing? The reason for this unctuous display was the Italian-language (Weinstein distributed) Holocaust comedy La Vita e Bella (Life is Beautiful).

Benigni plays Italian Jew Guido who woos a local girl and they have a son. When WW2 interrupts their happiness, Guido, clowns around in a death camp trying to mask the harsh reality of their fates. Of course, it ends with the audience weeping. That’s the whole point. At the time only American screenwriting legend, William Goldman, voiced his concerns about this dreadful film. People didn’t get the time to run around death camps making others laugh. Using it as a basis for a saccharine drama is really quite beyond the pale.

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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(dir: Ang Lee, 2000)

This entry almost didn’t make it. In many ways, it is a wonderful film. Ang Lee likes to make stately, serious dramas. A lot of people were quite surprised when he ventured into “action” territory. Yes, the fighting scenes are spectacular, inventive and awe-inspiring upon first viewing. Yet Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the most boring films of the modern age. It was mistakenly identified as a masterpiece upon its release.

Its obvious merits lie in the exquisite choreography and cinematography, but Lee’s penchant for stateliness and prestige, mean a lot of talking (at long stretches) needs to occur before the fisticuffs start. The audience is about to fall asleep before the fun begins. It can be argued the filmmakers wanted the expectation to be palpable. Ang Lee and his co-writer James Schamus got a taste for big budget action flicks and went on to ruin Marvel’s The Incredible Hulk. Lee compared his Hollywood dud-buster to a Greek tragedy. No, Ang, it’s only the latter.

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Fight Club
(dir: David Fincher, 1999)

Smack. Thump. Whack. Do you feel it – those psychic blows? You’re stood in a queue at your local Argos waiting for a new kettle. You look around you and see rampant commercialism eroding the souls of everyday people. Is this society? Is this living? You’ve got an over-developed sense of individuality. You’re in an existentialist funk because your job is shit and you haven’t got a nice girlfriend. You’re a timid mouse with the soul of a lion. You feel the compunction to destroy everything and talk in aphorisms: “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.” You proceed to punch yourself in the face and then laugh, repeatedly. Does it hurt? Yes. Does it feel pleasurable? Not as much as the first time.

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The Departed
(Dir: Martin Scorsese, 2006)

St. Martin Scorsese, patron saint of cinema, is one of the greatest living filmmakers. That is not disputed. It is an atomic fact. Just as night follows day and the moon controls the tides. That Scorsese finally bagged an Oscar for directing this flick is an utter insult to everybody’s intelligent and Scorsese’s talent. Why didn’t they just give him it back in 1981 for Raging Bull, instead of Robert Redford’s yawn-fest, Ordinary People? Sympathy awards cannot mask the fact The Departed is an above average gangster picture and nothing more.

The film is also guilty of atrociously mangling the Boston accent. Whether its Jack Nicholson’s hammy performance, silly contrived narrative or Mark Wahlberg’s “look at me, I’m an authentic Bostonian” mannerisms – The Departed isn’t vintage Scorsese – by any stretch of the imagination. Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon ultimately save it from its worst excesses.

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The Royal Tenenbaums
(dir: Wes Anderson, 2000)

Wes Anderson is the king of quirk. He makes quirky, good-looking movies. There’s quirky dialogue, quirky performances and quirky costume design. There is a great emptiness in all his films.

They are like advertisements promising something unique yet fail to deliver. The Coen Brothers are a similar proposition, but once in a while they manage to produce a masterpiece. One asks, “So where’s Anderson’s?” Alas, he has his fans. A great question mark hangs over the head of this director. Will he ever produce anything genuinely moving? As with the advertising world: style over substance reigns.

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Moulin Rouge
(dir: Baz Lurhmann, 2001)

A “Spectacular Spectacular” that isn’t as spectacular as it thinks it is. Aussie director Baz Lurhmann does not do subtly. He likes a broad canvas and an even broader range of larger-than-life characters. But that’s the point of it all, isn’t it? Post-post modernist cinema! It is ever so smarmy and ridiculous. Breaking the boundaries of the musical is a wonderful undertaking, but in the end, Moulin Rouge comes across as flatulent – with zero passion (bit like The X Factor). Nicole Kidman cannot do comedy. Ewan McGregor cannot sing. And never the twain shall meet.

Tags: American Beauty, casino royale, Crouching Tiger, Fight Club, Hidden Dragon, Life is Beautiful, Moulin Rouge, Saving Private Ryan, The Departed, The Royal Tenenbaums, titanic

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