The Best and Worst of Ving Rhames

The "Best and Worst of" series profiles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of "Father Figures" star Ving Rhames.

Films starring Ving Rhames that I've seen:
Pulp Fiction 
Mission: Impossible
Con Air
Entrapment
Baby Boy
Dawn of the Dead
Mission: Impossible III
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry
Day of the Dead
The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard
Surrogates
Piranha 3D
Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol
Piranha 3DD
Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2

Best Performance: Baby Boy (2001)

While Marsellus Wallace is an iconic character from my all-time favorite movie (Pulp Fiction), Rhames got overshadowed in Quentin Tarantino's breakout project by the incendiary acting of Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis and Harvey Keitel. In contrast, Baby Boy is 100% Rhames' show. His turn as Melvin, an imposing ex-con-turned successful small business owner, is not only the strongest source of comedy in John Singleton's insane yet brilliant coming-of-age drama, but his stern yet caring demeanor serves as the moral compass that helps the stubborn protagonist (Tyrese Gibson) learn the errors in his ways.  

Worst Performance: Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation (2015)

There isn't anything seriously wrong with Rhames' 5th turn as computer hacker extraordinaire Luther Stickell , it just lacks the gusto and boatloads of charisma that he usually brings to his roles.

 

Best Film: Pulp Fiction (1994)

My appreciation of Quentin Tarantino's work and film as an artform can largely be attributed to Pulp Fiction. The vivid characters, sharp dialogue, sensational acting and sharply-constructed storytelling opened my eyes to how magical movies can be when they hit all the right notes. 

Worst Film: Day of the Dead (2008)

This cheap, dumb and not even remotely entertaining entry into Hollywood's deep zombie movie canon feels like it was simply made to cash-in on the good will of both George A.Romero's iconic original Dead franchise and Zach Snyder's well-received 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead (that ironically also starred Rhames in a different role). There's not even any good gore or unintentional comedy to distract from how painfully inept the entire production is, which probably explains why it was immediately banished to the limited release/VOD/Wal-Mart $5 bin circuit.

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week's victim of my praise and ire will be "Molly's Game" star Kevin Costner.