Some of the Best Films That Didn’t Fare Too Well
When the Film Critics and Box Office Don’t Have the Last Word
Growing up, one of my favorite films was House Arrest. Featuring a strong cast and comedic storyline, the film portrays a typical 1990s teenager who resorts to unconventional methods to help save his parents’ marriage. When it came out on VHS, I chose it when it was my turn to select our Saturday night family film. While my parents agreed it was entertaining, my siblings thought it left some things to be desired. Film critics and moviegoers offered a similar conclusion. However, the film was significant for many reasons. For one, it helped cement the career of Jennifer Love Hewitt and other actors.
Over the years, I have found numerous films that may have hit low marks at the box office or with many critics but were still valued as some of the best films by many. Here are a few such films you may want to peruse.
A Good Person(2023) Really Was a Grand Film
What film starring Morgan Freeman is not going to be grand? The 2023 film A Good Person proved that Freeman is still at the top of his game, even though the plot and themes are quite controversial. The film features Allison(played by Florence Pugh), a once happily engaged musician who falls into a pit of drug addiction and depression following an unthinkable tragedy. While on the way to an AA support group, she runs into Daniel (Freeman), her former fiancee’s father, who blames her for the car accident that took the lives of his daughter and son-in-law. The three were going to a dress fitting for Allison’s and then-fiancee Nathan’s wedding. After the accident, Daniel has now been forced to raise his granddaughter.
Daniel reluctantly agrees to sponsor Allison on her road to recovery. In return, she offers him guidance in handling conflicts with his teenage granddaughter and attempting to reconcile with Nathan. The two become close and struggle to work through their trauma and grief. While the film can be a bit overloaded with excessive melodrama(that one Seattle Times review criticized it as offering the “subtlety of a sledgehammer”), both Pugh and Freeman make their characters loveable and all too human. The Amazon Prime spectacle is very “Freeman-esque” in a fashion similar to The Shawshank Redemption.
Mall Cop 2: Box Office Disagreed With Critics
How is it that Metacritic reviews for Mall Cop 2 average at 2.8 out of 10? When my wife and I went to see this film in theaters, we were rolling with laughter at many comical scenes. For the second installment of America’s favorite mall security action film, Kevin James reprises his loveable role as security officer Paul Blart while Raini Rodriguez makes a commanding return as Blart’s daughter Maya. The setting of a security officers’ convention at the luxury Wynn Resorts is ideal. The plot of a deranged criminal’s heist of the resort's rare art pieces is suspenseful (if not believable). The scenes are as comical and parodic as the first film(which also did not pan well with critics).
Critics are critical by nature. Thank goodness that moviegoers often have a different viewpoint. The film raked in over $100 million at the box office. Many viewers will probably revisit some of the most remarkable scenes, including the garden scene where Blart gets beaten up by an exotic bird while a piano player plays a moving piano ballad. While some elements are simply outrageous(maybe we could have done without the whole Blart, resort manager, and resort security chief romantic triangle thing), the film certainly deserves a mark for one of the most successful sequels ever. Considering the franchise’s parodic themes, this was difficult to achieve.
People Like Us Is An Amazing Human Story
The 2012 film People Like Us fared poorly at the box office and not so well with critics. However, this larger-than-life drama tugs at viewers’ heartstrings and is an all-too-human story. In the film, aspiring New York trader Sam Harper(Chris Pine) must visit his mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) in Los Angeles after his father passes away from cancer. While settling the estate, he learns he has a half sister named Frankie(Elizabeth Banks) and a nephew named Josh.
Although parts of the film may be a bit dry and the characters sometimes appear less than three-dimensional, the main stars are all at their best. Also, given that the plot is based on screenwriter Alex Kurtzman’s personal experience of discovering a long-lost half-sister, the film feels strangely real. In the wake of tragedy and decades of secrets, the main characters, Frankie, Lillian, and Josh, find healing and forgiveness. They start a new chapter and reunite as a family. The writers and stars in this film prove that although movies do not always perform well at the box office or win awards, they are often still quite extraordinary.
We have explored a few films with remarkable qualities, even if mainstream metrics gave them poor ratings. In film(as in other domains), value is often revealed through factors not probed by typical frameworks. Sometimes, these factors are easier to identify, like how hard the film makes us laugh or how the scenes linger in viewers’ collective memory. However, sometimes, the factors are not as easy to scope, like our tendency to revisit films over years.
