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Films with perfect casting

103 replies

Blondbombsite · 01/02/2023 15:18

I rewatched School of Rock the other day and was struck by how perfect Jack Black is in the role (I know it was written for him). It just made me think of other films which whilst not necessarily being perfect are elevated by someone who is cast perfectly and whom without the film would just be mediocre at best.

I think Dick can Dyke in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is another one. Recast anyone else and it would be fine, but he makes the film.

OP posts:
Hobbesmanc · 01/02/2023 16:24

Cattenberg · 01/02/2023 15:21

I think we may have had a similar thread recently.

Wilde
The Talented Mr Ripley
Amelie

That's strange. I totally love Ripley. But I've always felt Jude Law would make a better Tom. Swap him and let Matt Damon play Dickie .

Irridescantshimmmer · 01/02/2023 16:24

Poldark (2015)

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 01/02/2023 16:27

maddy68 · 01/02/2023 15:34

Anything directed by Richard Curtis always has perfecting casting

... Andie McDowell though?

VitaminX · 01/02/2023 16:29

Almost everyone in the LOTR trilogy. Especially Ian McKellen, Viggo Mortenson and Sean Astin. I think they were always going to be good films but the casting was excellent.

mrscumberbatch11 · 01/02/2023 16:32

FuckabethFuckor · 01/02/2023 15:48

One of my favourite bits from Clue:

Wadsworth : Professor Plum, you were once a professor of psychiatry specialising in helping paranoid and homicidal lunatics suffering from delusions of grandeur.

Professor Plum : Yes, but now I work for the United Nations.

Wadsworth : So your work has not changed.

Wadsworth: "I'm the butler"

Colonel Mustard: "And what is it you do here?"

Wadsworth: "I buttle, sir"

Grin
mrscumberbatch11 · 01/02/2023 16:33

The Man with Two Brains - Steve Martin.

Hammy plot, but my god it is funny. Can't imagine anybody but Steve Martin making that enjoyable.

JamSandle · 01/02/2023 16:33

Alan Rickman as Severus Snape.

Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins.

Elijah Wood as Frodo Baggins.

Ian McKellen as Gandalf.

Ledkr · 01/02/2023 16:36

The parents in we need to talk about Kevin were exactly how i imagined them.when I read the book.

boobot1 · 01/02/2023 17:03

Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins
Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly
Ian McKellen as Gandalf

BMW6 · 01/02/2023 17:08

Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs.

Outstanding casting.

ScoobyDoNot · 01/02/2023 17:09

Love him or hate him, Johnny Depp is Captain Jack Sparrow!

TheVanguardSix · 01/02/2023 17:22

So MANY great mentions.

LOTR was/remains perfection. Amélie and Breakfast at Tiffany’s as well.
Frances McDormand in Nomadland.

Joe Pesci (and everyone really) in Goodfellas.
Jonah Hill and Leonardo di Caprio in Wolf of Wall Street.
Barbra Streisand as Fannie Brice in Funny Girl.
The Big Lebowski’s perfect, unholy trinity: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi.
Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction.
Jim Carrey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Every single cast member of Jackie Brown.
Philip Seymour Hoffman in every film he made.
Ditto Richard Burton (So brilliant in Becket and Anne of the Thousand Days).

Floofyduffypuddy · 01/02/2023 17:24

Yy re queen's gambit.

Godfather, amazing.

Gone with the wind. All.
Cat on a hot tin roof, all.

Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Justleaveitblankthen · 01/02/2023 17:59

100% Godfather and Godfather II.
Godfather III? Let's not get into that 🤐

HoldingTheDoor · 01/02/2023 18:16

Godfather III? Let's not get into that 🤐

I agree. I try to forget that film even exists.

exLtEveDallas · 01/02/2023 18:41

Robert Downey Junior IS Tony Stark, I cannot imagine anyone else, he was made for that role.

Similarly Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. Such a sarcastic asshole, he’s perfect!

purplepencilcase · 01/02/2023 18:46

FuckabethFuckor · 01/02/2023 15:37

Clue. (The 1985 one.) It's not a great movie, objectively speaking. The plot is hammy, the script is uneven and the direction a bit pedestrian.

But the cast totally sell it. All are great, but especially Eileen Brennan, Madeline Kahn, Tim Curry and Christopher Lloyd. Tremendously skilled comic actors all.

I would also say Sigourney Weaver in the Alien films. With the exception of the 1979 original, those films are absolute mince (especially Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection). But Weaver runs away with the movie, every time. She's perfect.

Clue us my favourite ever film. I LOVE Tim Curry!!

midsomermurderess · 01/02/2023 18:51

Not a film but a series. Alec Guinness as Smiley in Tinker Tailor and Smiley’s People. Gary Oldham was very good as him in the film Tinker, Tailor.

HoldingTheDoor · 01/02/2023 18:52

Casablanca also had an incredible cast.

PrincessHoneysuckle · 01/02/2023 18:53

Geena davis and susan sarandon in Thelma and Louise

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Blondbombsite · 01/02/2023 18:54

Some Like it Hot is incredible, I can’t imagine the film still being remembered today if Marilyn Monroe wasn’t in it. Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis are wonderful too.

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Blondbombsite · 01/02/2023 18:55

Speaking of Jack Lemmon, he’s brilliant in Glengarry Glen Ross too (all of the cast are) even though it’s a completely different role.

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PuppyMonkey · 01/02/2023 18:57

It’s not a film but Joffrey in Game of Thrones was genius casting - Tyrian too!

AustralianCrunch · 01/02/2023 19:00

Cold Mountain

catfunk · 01/02/2023 19:01

Not a film but Paul Mescal in Normal people.
Awkward, intense and beautiful.

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