Thursday, August 22, 2019

Thursday Movie Picks: Actors in Multiple Roles

So yeah, hanging out with you guys on Thursday has been kind of a random thing this year. Of course I'm here this week because the topic has to do with actors in multiple roles. Thanks to our host, Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves for such a great subject. At first, I took this as yet another opportunity to talk about Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall in my beloved Coming to America. If you know anything about me, you're expecting that. I'm throwing you a curveball. I'm not talking about it at all. I won't even mention that Murphy and Hall play about a dozen roles between them. Won't do it. I'm not saying how I laugh my ass off every one of the I don't know how many times I've watched it. You don't want to hear about that stuff. I'm not even going to tell you that everyone in my family loves this movie. I won't bore you with those gory details. What I will do is talk about some times when actors tackling multiple roles in a film doesn't go as well. In fact, it can go gloriously wrong. 



Black Fist
(1974)
This is a little-known Blaxploitation flick about a guy who makes his living as a street fighter, but is eventually out to get revenge against the gangsters who killed his woman. We're not talking about him. We're talking about a supporting character named Fletch, at first. He's played by Philip Michael Thomas, who would make his claim to fame a decade later as co-lead on the legendary 80s cop show Miami Vice. About halfway through the movie, Fletch dies. Guess who shows up as another character a little while later. Why, Philip Michael Thomas be-bops onto the screen as Boom Boom. Part of the issue is that it's obvious that the filmmakers are trying to slip this fact by us, not with a wink and a nod, as in that movie I'm not talking about. It does tickle us, but in a 'oh my, that's so bad' kind of way.


I Know Who Killed Me
(2007)
Way back in 1998 little Lindsay Lohan stole all of our hearts while playing both of the twins featured in the remake to The Parent Trap. I'll even say it's better than the original. Shoot forward nine years. Ms. Lohan is going through some issues in her personal life and trying to transition into being taken seriously as an adult actor. Of course, that means playing another dual role. This time it's a virginal bookworm and a slutty stripper. That's one way to show your range. Well, it would be, except she's really bad at both. It doesn't help the movie is flat out bonkers. If this isn't the pinnacle of bad movie-making, it's pretty damn close.


Norbit
(2007)
This is one of the movies my previous pick is battling it out for supremacy of awfulness. And yeah, it stars the same guy who headlined that film I'm not discussing in this post, Eddie Murphy. This time, he plays the titular character. For better or...no, no better, just worse, he plays the most memorable character, Norbit's wife Rasputia. The character people forget he plays is Hangten Wong, the owner of an orphanage. This dude...phew. He's channeling Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's in all the worst ways. The whole movie is crap from the word go. I think I'm gonna go watch that other movie again.



17 comments:

  1. I haven't seen Black Fist as I've never heard of it. I don't think I want to see it. I have the unfortunate of seeing both Norbit and I Know Who Killed Me on TV. Yeah, both of them are crap. The former is just bad and unfunny while the latter is a poor man's version of The Double Life of Veronique but without its existentialism, exploration of identity, and richness that is expected from Krzysztof Kieslowski.

    I also had Eddie Murphy in mind for my picks since it's likely he's about to make his comeback.

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    1. Only see Black Fist if you're in the mood for something really awful and full of unintentional laughs.

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  2. We played every character ourselves in Self Made Maids.

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  3. I haven't seen any of these but I'm surprised I missed I Know Who Killed Me since I had a huge crush on Lindsay Lohan.

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    1. Don't be. It came out very deep into the 'troubled Lindsay' stage and was released pretty quietly because everyone knew it was trash.

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  4. Omg I Know Who Killed Me. That came out when I was still in the denial phase about Lindsay Lohan becoming a trainwreck so I went to bat for her on the IMDb forums saying she was going to be really good in it...and then I saw it. Yikes.

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  5. If you ever get the hankering for a classic film, check out Kind Hearts and Coronets in which Alec Guinness plays eight members of the same family.

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    1. I need to get to that sooner rather than later. It's been recommended to me on a few occasions.

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  6. I actually liked Norbit (gasp)! But, I definitely need to check out the other movies!

    Here’s my Thursday Movie Picks!

    Ronyell @ The Surreal Movies and TV Blog

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  7. I somehow missed this cinematic masterpieces Dell!

    The first I've never heard of but I'm sure it has some sort of cheese appeal as almost all the blaxploitation movies do.

    I've definitely heard of the others and avoided them most purposely. Lohan is such a Sorry Sadie.

    I sort of stumbled upon mine when I used one a little while ago when you did 1991 films and realized there were two others with similar titles that worked for this.

    Dead Ringer (1964)-Bette Davis plays identical twin sisters, poor Edith Phillips and wealthy Margaret DeLorca who have been estranged for decades because Margaret married Edith’s boyfriend after stealing him from her. Reunited at the man’s funeral Edith discovers that Margaret manipulated the marriage years before and enraged kills her and takes her place. All seems well until Edith uncovers secrets that may prove fatal.

    Dead Ringers (1988)-Jeremy Irons plays Elliot (Jeremy Irons), a successful gynecologist, who works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly (Irons as well). Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire (Geneviève Bujold), but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness. Strange, chilly film directed by David Cronenberg goes to several very dark places.

    Dead Again (1991)-A mute amnesiac (Emma Thompson) arrives at the gates of an old orphanage and private investigator Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) is asked to find out who she is. With the help of a hypnotist (Derek Jacobi), the woman regains her voice and recalls vivid past memories of a couple (also played by Emma & Branagh) from the 1940s torn apart by murder. Church begins to develop feelings for the woman, whom he calls Grace then discovers he has a connection to the tragic couple from the 40s. Atmospheric noir shot at the time that the pair were married in real life.

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    1. Yup, Black Fist definitely has cheese appeal.

      Love your theme within the theme! Strangely, I've not seen any of these, though I have been meaning to watch Dead Ringers.

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  8. I looked up I Know Who Killed Me! 3.6 on IMDB and 9% on RT. Yikes! Lindsay looks hot though.

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  9. I love this approach! When I first saw I Know Who Killed Me listed here, I was so confused haha. But yeah, that is bad filmmaking personified. Poor Neal McDonough.

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