The Jeff Bridges movie that left him “underwhelmed”
Undoubtedly among the most beloved actors of his generation, Jeff Bridges has made several culturally significant contributions to the world of cinema. Ranging from his impressive appearance in Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show to his iconic role in the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski, the American actor’s body of work is a delightful mixture of widely acclaimed masterpieces and lesser-known gems.
Although Bridges’ career was put on hold due to a battle with cancer, he returned last year with a new FX show called The Old Man. Based on the eponymous novel by Thomas Perry, Bridges’ work on the series garnered praise from fans and critics alike. He picked up a ‘Best Television Actor in a Drama Series’ nomination at the Golden Globes, eventually losing out to Kevin Costner for his incredible performance on Yellowstone.
While Bridges has many fond memories associated with his extensive and illustrious career, there are some projects that ended up disappointing him. One such movie is the 2013 action comedy R.I.P.D., where he starred alongside the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Kevin Bacon. It follows the bizarre journey of a detective who finds a job in the afterlife, assigned with the task of hunting down dead souls who attempt to evade moral judgement.
During a conversation with GQ, Bridges claimed that the production was extremely enjoyable, but it was painful to see how much the studio altered the vision of the creative team who worked on it. The actor began: “I had such a great time working on that movie. I remember what we were doing. I thought: This could be fun to see. And when I saw it, I was a little underwhelmed. For my mind, the studio made some, uh, choices that I wouldn’t have made.
Bridges added: “It’s kind of fun when the movie’s coming out. It’s like having a horse in the race. And they’re lining up, and they’re off! And you’re rooting for your horse. And in this case, the jockey fell off the horse, and you came in last. Ha ha ha. You know. That happens sometimes.” The analogy is definitely appropriate since the movie ended up as a critical and commercial failure, bombing at the box office in a terrible manner.
The legacy of the movie was further complicated by the release of R.I.P.D. 2: Rise of the Damned, which ended up getting a far worse critical reception than the original. The marketing team even tried to salvage it with a video game adaptation, but the uninspired product was also heavily panned, resulting in further deterioration of the franchise.
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