The Best and Worst of Octavia Spencer

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles 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 “Instant Family” star Octavia Spencer.

Films starring Octavia Spencer that I've seen:
Blue Streak
Big Momma's House
Bad Santa
Coach Carter
Seven Pounds
Drag Me to Hell
Dinner for Schmucks
The Help
Smashed
Fruitvale Station
Snowpiercer 
Get on Up
Insurgent 
Zootopia
Allegiant
Bad Santa 2 
Hidden Figures
Gifted 
The Shape of Water

Best Performance: Fruitvale Station (2013)
Spencer has done a lot of fantastic work (Get on Up, Smashed, her Oscar-winning turn in The Help) since she achieved her long-awaited breakout in the industry roughly 9 years ago, but her powerhouse performance in Fruitvale Station is the clear best of the bunch. As the mother of Oscar Grant, Spencer captures the unfathomable shock, grief and anger that overcomes a parent when their child dies unexpectedly in a thoroughly convincing and completely heartbreaking fashion.

Worst Performance: Allegiant (2016)
There's not much of a difference in quality of performance between either Divergent film she appeared in, but I ended up going with Allegiant because it's easily the weakest entry in the franchise. While she isn't exactly terrible, her character isn't overly important to the narrative and that relative lack of screen time prevents Spencer from making her usual impact.

Best Film: Fruitvale Station (2013)
Indie drama Fruitvale Station introduced most of the world to the immense talent of Ryan Coogler and eventually opened the door for him to direct massive films like Creed and Black Panther. This biopic about Oscar Grant, a 22-year old black man who was fatally shot by transit police in Oakland on New Year's Day 2009 following a scuffle on a train, is an authentic, engaging and ultimately devastating portrait of an ex-con who was in the process of trying to turn his life around before a senseless, disgusting overreaction by an armed officer robbed him of that opportunity.    

Worst Film: Seven Pounds (2008)
Seven Pounds is about as painful and forced as tearjerker melodramas can possibly be. This story about a man (Will Smith, in a rare terrible performance) compelled to do seven good deeds after being involved in a horrific car crash caused by his own negligence only gets only more heavy-handed as it progresses and eventually arrives at such an absurd conclusion that I couldn't help but laugh my ass off as it played out.  

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Ralph Breaks the Internet” star Sarah Silverman.