There are some films that critics and audiences loved that I could not get into. They were either too long, unfunny or just poorly developed in my mind. Here are my ten overrated films.
1. “Titanic” (1997)
Cast: Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, Billy Zaze, Kathy Bates, Frances Fisher, Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton and Victor Garber.
Director: James Cameron (“The Terminator” “Avatar”)
Writer: James Cameron
What it won: 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Director.
Why it’s overrated: It’s a long and boring film that has a ridiculous romance and ending. Not one of my favorites.
2. “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
Cast: Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel and Margo Martindale.
Director: Clint Eastwood (“American Sniper” “J. Edgar” “Mystic River”)
Writer: Paul Haggis (“Crash” “Third Person” “Casino Royale”)
What it won: 7 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.
Why it’s overrated: The story is bland, Hilary Swank is not that good, and it’s too long.
3. “Lost in Translation” (2003)
Cast: Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson.
Director: Sofia Coppola (“Somewhere” “Marie Antoinette” “The Virgin Suicides”)
Writer: Sofia Coppola
What it won: The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay (also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor).
Why it’s overrated: One of the most boring films that I have ever seen, with no chemistry between Murray and Johansson.
4. “The Hurt Locker” (2008)
Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes.
Director: Kathryn Bigelow (“Zero Dark Thirty” “K-19: The Widowmaker”)
Writer: Mark Boal (“Zero Dark Thirty”)
What it won: 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay.
Why it’s overrated: For a film that should have been intense, it was too drawn out and uninteresting. I prefer “Zero Dark Thirty” so much more.
5. “Napoleon Dynamite” (2004)
Cast: Jon Heder, Tina Majorino and Efren Ramirez.
Director: Jared Hess (“Nacho Libre”)
Writer: Jared Hess and Jerusha Hess (“Nacho Libre” “Austenland”)
What it won: Nothing at the Academy (wasn’t nominated), but it still landed a 71% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes and was one of the most quoted films of 2004.
Why it’s overrated: It’s stupid, unfunny and poorly acted.
6. “Gravity” (2013)
Cast: Sandra Bullock and George Clooney.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón (“Children of Men” “Y Tu Mamá También” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”)
Writers: Alfonso Cuarón and Jonás Cuarón (“Desierto” “Year of the Nail”
What it won: 7 Academy Awards including Best Director.
Why it’s overrated: It’s not a terrible film, but it received too much buzz. It should have never been nominated for Best Picture or won Best Director. Plus, Sandra Bullock breathed heavily the whole film, making it a poor screenplay.
7. “Sideways” (2004)
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Hayden Church, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh.
Director: Alexander Payne (“About Schmidt” “Election” “The Descendants”)
Writers: Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor (“Election” “About Schmidt” “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry”)
What it won: The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (also nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Director).
Why it’s overrated: I really wanted to like this film because I like Alexander Payne. However, I found the film to be overlong and didn’t care for Paul Giamatti.
8. “The Hangover” (2009)
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Justin Bartha, Zach Galifianakis, Heather Graham, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike Tyson and Ken Jeong.
Director: Todd Phillips (“Old School” “Road Trip” “The Hangover Part II” “The Hangover Part III”)
Writers: Jon Lucas (“Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past” “21 & Over” “The Change-Up” “The Hangover Part II” “The Hangover Part III”) and Scott Moore (“Ghosts of Girlfriend’s Past” “21 & Over” “The Change-Up” “The Hangover Part II” “The Hangover Part III”)
What it won: No Academy Award nominations, but it won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.
Why it’s overrated: People quoted the film too much, and it became annoying. Plus it’s really not that well written or funny. 2010 was a bad year for comedies, but “(500) Days of Summer” should have won.
9. “Forrest Gump” (1994)
Cast: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Sally Field and Gary Sinise.
Director: Robert Zemeckis (“Cast Away” “Flight” “The Walk” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” “Back to the Future”)
Writer: Eric Roth (“Ali” “Munich” “Lucky You” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” “The Good Shepherd”)
What it won: 6 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Why it’s overrated: Forgive me Robert Zemeckis, but I honestly thought this film was drawn out. Whenever it’s on TV, I have to be doing something else, or I would fall asleep.
10. “The Imitation Game” (2014)
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Mark Strong.
Director: Morten Tyldum (“Headhunters”)
Writer: Graham Moore
What it won: The Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay (was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress.
Why it’s overrated: I could not get into it. I thought it was a mediocre film, and I honestly did not understand why everyone loved Keira Knightley’s performance. I didn’t think she was that much of a stand out.
Film Glamour 