MovieChat Forums > First Knight (1995) Discussion > Richard Gere Miscast

Richard Gere Miscast

posted 12 years ago by Karantino
20 replies | jump to latest

I don't know why anyone thought he'd be good as Lancelot. Granted, I never thought the Lancelot/Guinevere thing was romantic like all the other girls in my English class, but I had an open mind when I started the movie.

Gere made me want to gag. They tried so hard to make him sexy and brave and tortured, but he just made me cringe. He had no chemistry whatsoever with Julia Ormond, so I did not buy that they were in love even with that "intense" kissing scene.

This just wasn't a very good movie, but it could have been saved a bit with an actor capable of elevating the Lancelot character.

[–] waynejones81 12 years ago

i couldn't disagree more with everything you said than i do. Think this film was great as was all the principal actors/actresses involved. Richard Gere was great as Lancelot playing a conflicted hero and i believed his chemistry with Julia Ormond throughout the film.

Great film

[–] kurt-2000 10 years ago

They did perfectly fine. It's the story line that needed a little improvement. I know everyone has their own sex fantasy favorite, but lets not bring it to the board and rant.

[–] LadyJEsq 11 years ago

I totally agree OP! I'm not sure better casting would improve this movie or not, but making RG look like Fabio only made me want to laugh. There was this one scene where they had a close-up of RG "riding" his horse, and his hair was "blowing" in the wind. I almost spit my wine out it was so funny to me. He also had no chemistry with JO which didn't help matters.

"What do you say to the God of Death?"
"Not today!"

[–] Karantino 11 years ago

Yeah, his look was funny to me too. Gere's much better suited for "clean cut" roles where he plays lawyers and other businessmen.

[–] Prismark10 11 years ago

Gere is good playing edgy, anti heroes which he has done well in recent years.

Its that man again!!

[–] DarcyBrandon 11 years ago

I like Gere in this movie because he is the source for all the funny moments. They are totally unintentional though.

The way he ate Ormond's face in that kiss is just so priceless

[–] meteor_storm 11 years ago

I'm sure this film has its merits when you start watching from the beginning, but turning the TV on into the middle of this show and ending up staring at a shot of him and his lanky hair, I couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he looked and how cornball cheesy this movie is. Anyway, back to flipping channels.

tinyurl.com/slurrrpy

[–] stephtastrophe 11 years ago

I watched this today and thought he was perfectly cast! He made an excellent Lancelot imo.

real human being and a real hero

[–] Blueghost 11 years ago

I think Roger Ebert said that Gere wanted to reinvent himself, and so he did this film.

[–] IceboxMovies 11 years ago

Well, Ebert thought Gere was miscast, too.

[–] Blueghost 8 years ago

Touche.

[–] lockon_stratos 10 years ago

Don't forget the nasty ass kiss he gave JO trying to eat her face.

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[–] fudgenuts101 10 years ago

His smug demeanour and fake looking coustumes ruined the whole movie - especially in contrast to Connery, who was fantastic.

[–] fishcorn 10 years ago

I think Connery totally phoned it in in this movie, but Connery phoning it in is still a thousand times better than Gere's "can't quite decide if I'm British or American" accent and squinty-eyed woodenness. Looked like he was sucking on a really bitter lemon and had constipation the entire film.

[–] Filmfanatic11 10 years ago

I couldn't get past King Arthur having a Scottish accent. Oh Sean Connery.

[–] biddle2 10 years ago

I thought Gere and JO had great chemistry. As a female- I thought they were pretty hot together.

[–] HowYaLikeDemApplesWill 9 years ago

Sean Connery - 65 years old
Richard Gere - 46 years old
Julia Ormond - 30 years old

Directed by - Jerry Zucker

Mel Gibson should thank his lucky stars he bailed on this movie to direct and star in his own sword-swinging period piece - Braveheart.

Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?