Even more so than a good script and firm direction, chemistry is the most important thing in a movie romance; without it, audiences will be left unconvinced that they should even care about the love story unfolding on screen, and it can result in some extremely awkward cinematic moments.
Plenty of sub-standard rom-coms have survived on the basis of their chemistry, and in many cases – see: The Adjustment Bureau – the sizzling frisson between the two stars has elevated an otherwise pretty flat film.
However, sometimes Hollywood, so unwaveringly confident in the box office bankability of its leads, forgets to screen-test them together or even begins to entertain the thought that, you know, they might not be all that well suited.
Whether it’s down to the casting department or the simple fact that these actors simply weren’t attracted to each other in real life, the result is the same – a stale, flaccid movie romance that flounders around on screen for all of us to mock.
Here are 10 awful movie couples who have no chemistry…
5. Dan Aykroyd & Rosie O’Donnell – Exit To Eden
Rosie O’Donnell and Dan Aykroyd are horrendously mis-cast in Exit to Eden, though given how terrible the film is on a conceptual level alone – two detectives investigating a diamond heist end up at an S&M resort – it’s a surprise the film wasn’t even worse. Apparently director Garry Marshall hoped that we’d be so entranced by the full frontal female nudity that we’d forget about all of the film’s short-comings – oh, how wrong he was.
If seeing O’Donnell strutting around in S&M gear isn’t enough to turn just about anyone’s stomach, the complete lack of sex appeal that the premise begets when occupied by these two actors makes the result a sterile curio and little more. They simply don’t have a spark, and their lack of appeal as a couple to audiences doesn’t help things either.
4. Matthew McConaughey & Kate Hudson – Fool’s Gold
I have to admit, I was really surprised that this pairing didn’t work; Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson seem like a great personality match – they both seem chilled out and down-to-Earth – and, of course, are both extremely good-looking.
Somehow, it doesn’t translate into romantic chemistry on screen, however; though the script is anything but good, it at least puts the pair in enough argumentative situations and tight spots that their innate chemistry should shine through. Alas, despite making for a great movie poster, the two being paired together results in an oddly sexless film.
Furthermore, given that the majority of the film’s production saw the pair frolicking in the sun and being paid for it, you’d think their sheer joy at that predicament would translate to something that feels real. Instead, they both seem like they have other people on their minds.
3. Nick Nolte & Julia Roberts – I Love Trouble
Granted, Nick Nolte didn’t look quite as haggard in 1994 as he does now, but that doesn’t mean his pairing with Julia Roberts for this old-school screwball comedy is in any way convincing. The story follows veteran reporter Peter Brackett (Nolte) and newbie Sabrina Peterson (Roberts) as they both compete to score the same big scoop, and soon undercover a bigger conspiracy that, you guessed it, brings them closer together.
Harkening back to classic romantic comedies from the early-to-mid 20th century is fine, but it’s hard to imagine matching up two greater, more polar opposites than Nolte and Roberts; not only does the age difference make this one hard to believe, but their total lack of chemistry seals the deal. Neither actor really seems to care, instead content that their natural charisma and previous successes will see them through. Try and find a review that doesn’t decry their lack of chemistry – I dare you.
2. Johnny Depp & Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
Here’s one that just doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever; you take two of the most physically attractive actors on the planet, put them in one of the most beautiful locations in the world (Vienna), and what’s more, you’ve got the director of an Oscar-winning foreign film at the helm – what can possibly go wrong?
Though the limp script doesn’t really help things, the truly startling thing about The Tourist is that it proves you can’t just throw together people you think will have explosive sexual chemistry on screen – you need to screen test them first!
Depp plays a grungy character much like himself, while Jolie is the epitome of class; like so many other films on this list, it fails to reconcile their differences and explain why they would fall for each other. Plus, the love scenes – probably the main appeal for many viewers – are among some of the most sterile and dull you could possibly imagine. It’s staggering proof of how a project with even the most potential can crash and burn without due care.
1. Hayden Christensen & Natalie Portman – Star Wars Episodes 2 & 3
But still, they’ve got nothing on the number one spot – Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman as Anakin Skywalker and Padme in Episodes 2 & 3 of George Lucas’ “new trilogy” of Star Wars films.
Though Natalie Portman tries her hardest while working with Lucas’ woefully melodramatic script, she’s essentially powerless against both it and her dull-as-dishwater romantic interest; Christensen’s infamous performance was widely derided in both films, and this transpires through to how he interacts with Portman’s Padme.
Take the above scene from Episode 2; sure, Lucas’ dialogue about sand is dreadful and hardly lends itself to forging a romantic connection between the actors, but Christensen’s performance is so bland it could cure insomnia. For all of its visual splendour, these films lacked character as far as the relationships go; it’s especially important in these films given that the Anakin-Padme relationship is essentially what results in Anakin rising as Darth Vader. Just awful, awful, awful.
Source.
Plenty of sub-standard rom-coms have survived on the basis of their chemistry, and in many cases – see: The Adjustment Bureau – the sizzling frisson between the two stars has elevated an otherwise pretty flat film.
However, sometimes Hollywood, so unwaveringly confident in the box office bankability of its leads, forgets to screen-test them together or even begins to entertain the thought that, you know, they might not be all that well suited.
Whether it’s down to the casting department or the simple fact that these actors simply weren’t attracted to each other in real life, the result is the same – a stale, flaccid movie romance that flounders around on screen for all of us to mock.
Here are 10 awful movie couples who have no chemistry…
5. Dan Aykroyd & Rosie O’Donnell – Exit To Eden
Rosie O’Donnell and Dan Aykroyd are horrendously mis-cast in Exit to Eden, though given how terrible the film is on a conceptual level alone – two detectives investigating a diamond heist end up at an S&M resort – it’s a surprise the film wasn’t even worse. Apparently director Garry Marshall hoped that we’d be so entranced by the full frontal female nudity that we’d forget about all of the film’s short-comings – oh, how wrong he was.
If seeing O’Donnell strutting around in S&M gear isn’t enough to turn just about anyone’s stomach, the complete lack of sex appeal that the premise begets when occupied by these two actors makes the result a sterile curio and little more. They simply don’t have a spark, and their lack of appeal as a couple to audiences doesn’t help things either.
4. Matthew McConaughey & Kate Hudson – Fool’s Gold
I have to admit, I was really surprised that this pairing didn’t work; Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson seem like a great personality match – they both seem chilled out and down-to-Earth – and, of course, are both extremely good-looking.
Somehow, it doesn’t translate into romantic chemistry on screen, however; though the script is anything but good, it at least puts the pair in enough argumentative situations and tight spots that their innate chemistry should shine through. Alas, despite making for a great movie poster, the two being paired together results in an oddly sexless film.
Furthermore, given that the majority of the film’s production saw the pair frolicking in the sun and being paid for it, you’d think their sheer joy at that predicament would translate to something that feels real. Instead, they both seem like they have other people on their minds.
3. Nick Nolte & Julia Roberts – I Love Trouble
Granted, Nick Nolte didn’t look quite as haggard in 1994 as he does now, but that doesn’t mean his pairing with Julia Roberts for this old-school screwball comedy is in any way convincing. The story follows veteran reporter Peter Brackett (Nolte) and newbie Sabrina Peterson (Roberts) as they both compete to score the same big scoop, and soon undercover a bigger conspiracy that, you guessed it, brings them closer together.
Harkening back to classic romantic comedies from the early-to-mid 20th century is fine, but it’s hard to imagine matching up two greater, more polar opposites than Nolte and Roberts; not only does the age difference make this one hard to believe, but their total lack of chemistry seals the deal. Neither actor really seems to care, instead content that their natural charisma and previous successes will see them through. Try and find a review that doesn’t decry their lack of chemistry – I dare you.
2. Johnny Depp & Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
Here’s one that just doesn’t make any sense to me whatsoever; you take two of the most physically attractive actors on the planet, put them in one of the most beautiful locations in the world (Vienna), and what’s more, you’ve got the director of an Oscar-winning foreign film at the helm – what can possibly go wrong?
Though the limp script doesn’t really help things, the truly startling thing about The Tourist is that it proves you can’t just throw together people you think will have explosive sexual chemistry on screen – you need to screen test them first!
Depp plays a grungy character much like himself, while Jolie is the epitome of class; like so many other films on this list, it fails to reconcile their differences and explain why they would fall for each other. Plus, the love scenes – probably the main appeal for many viewers – are among some of the most sterile and dull you could possibly imagine. It’s staggering proof of how a project with even the most potential can crash and burn without due care.
1. Hayden Christensen & Natalie Portman – Star Wars Episodes 2 & 3
But still, they’ve got nothing on the number one spot – Hayden Christensen and Natalie Portman as Anakin Skywalker and Padme in Episodes 2 & 3 of George Lucas’ “new trilogy” of Star Wars films.
Though Natalie Portman tries her hardest while working with Lucas’ woefully melodramatic script, she’s essentially powerless against both it and her dull-as-dishwater romantic interest; Christensen’s infamous performance was widely derided in both films, and this transpires through to how he interacts with Portman’s Padme.
Take the above scene from Episode 2; sure, Lucas’ dialogue about sand is dreadful and hardly lends itself to forging a romantic connection between the actors, but Christensen’s performance is so bland it could cure insomnia. For all of its visual splendour, these films lacked character as far as the relationships go; it’s especially important in these films given that the Anakin-Padme relationship is essentially what results in Anakin rising as Darth Vader. Just awful, awful, awful.
Source.