Colin Firth

Once a staple of cheesy romcoms and the fantasies of female cinemagoers everywhere, Colin Firth eventually transformed his image into that of a big-time dramatic actor. The pinnacle of this metamorphosis came in 2010 when he starred as King George VI in Tom Hooper’s The King’s Speech. The film tells the story of the English monarch who, with the help of an unorthodox speech therapist, overcomes a stammer in time to deliver a key radio broadcast during World War II. Firth not only won the Oscar for ‘Best Actor’, but proved to everyone that he could helm a movie of this magnitude.

Unfortunately, Firth’s next project wasn’t so glamorous. Less than two months after The King’s Speech’s festival debut, he led the cast of Main Street, a thoroughly dull drama set in a rundown city in North Carolina. Firth plays Gus Leroy, a charismatic newcomer who turns around the town’s fortunes. It looks and feels like a Hallmark drama—like a low-budget B-movie that somehow managed to tie down Firth, Orlando Bloom, and Ellen Burstyn. It’s baffling that these stars would sign onto something so mediocre, even before one of them had won an Oscar.

Hayden Christensen

Poor Hayden Christensen. When he first landed the part of a young Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequel trilogy, he must have thought all his dreams had come true. Little did he know that he was in for years of turmoil and torment. To give the trolls a teensy bit of credit, Christensen is awful in the role. He has the screen presence of a wooden spoon, somehow displaying less emotion than a masked Darth Vader. The nadir of this comes in Revenge of the Sith, the third instalment of the prequels. What should have been the culmination of Anakin’s journey to the dark side turned into a massive joke, with Christensen very much playing the punchline.

Incredibly, just two years earlier, Christensen had given an outstanding performance in the low-budget drama Shattered Glass. Covering the story of Stephen Glass, a fraudulent journalist, the movie proved that the young star could actually get the job done. Unfortunately, by the time he was fighting Ewan McGregor on Mustafar, everyone had forgotten all about it. Still, if you’re looking to erase the memory of that ‘sand monologue’ from your mind, then this is the movie for you.

Andrew Dice Clay

Better known as a stand-up comedian, Andrew Dice Clay has made a few high-profile movie appearances across his career. He came to most people’s attention as part of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, the tale of a formerly wealthy woman (Cate Blanchett) who ends up living with her poorer sister (Sally Hawkins) after the money runs out. Clay plays Augie, the ex-husband of Hawkins’ character. His performance was one of the highlights of the movie, frequently referenced in glowing reviews, announcing his arrival as a respected actor. Alas, this glory wasn’t to last.

Cinemagoers would next see Clay in the Entourage movie. This big-screen culmination of the HBO TV show is horrible in every possible way. Unfunny, uncouth, and unforgivably misogynistic, it rightly appeared on several ‘Worst of’ lists at the end of 2015 and even found its way into decade-end retrospectives under the same umbrella. Clay only has a cameo in the movie, but the fact that he signed on for this despicable project is disgraceful. At least he was able to bounce back with A Star Is Born shortly thereafter.

Michael Caine

You can argue that any of Michael Caine’s classics from the 1960s are his best offerings. Zulu; The Ipcress File; The Italian Job; Alfie…the list goes on. But come on, we all know what his real triumph was—The Muppet Christmas Carol. A joyous holiday staple that is as funny as it is heart-warming and terrifying. The character of Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is pure nightmare fuel; the film is an out-and-out masterpiece. Caine delivers a phenomenal performance, too, bringing some serious acting heft to a movie featuring singing vegetables.

Alas, Caine’s next project wasn’t so beloved. He appeared as the villain in the Steven Seagal vehicle On Deadly Ground, playing an oil CEO guilty of environmental destruction. As well as almost killing a young Billy Bob Thornton in a freak accident, the movie was absolutely dreadful. It’s a Seagal action flick, for crying out loud. You know what you’re getting yourself in for when you stick yourself in one of these. Caine can’t even be defended for his performance or the decision to apparently dye his hair with the same oil his character was drilling out of the ground.

Adam Sandler

For the final entry in this list, we’re turning to the patron saint of ‘good movie, bad movie’, Mr Adam Sandler. Just when you think you can write him off as a past-his-prime sellout, the comedian comes out with a big hit that makes you completely reassess him. This is exactly what happened when he took the lead role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love. The love story between Barry (Sandler) and Lena (Emily Watson) is utterly inspiring. Sandler is incredibly endearing as the socially awkward protagonist, the heart and soul of a picture brimming with both. Then he flushed all that goodwill right down the swanny.

Just over a month after Punch-Drunk Love wowed audiences at Cannes, Sandler’s next major box office release hit cinemas. It was called Mr Deeds, a loose remake of the Frank Capra classic Mr Deeds Goes to Town. To call this version an insult to the original would itself be an insult. Sandler is utterly unbearable every time he steps into frame, lacking even a fraction of the charisma of original star Gary Cooper. Winona Ryder does her best to get something good out of him, but even she isn’t a miracle worker.