MovieChat Forums > Surveillance (2008) Discussion > How bad is Bill Pullman in this

How bad is Bill Pullman in this

posted 15 years ago by markgb-1
27 replies | jump to latest

He's just horrible. And not so much in a fun over-the-top way Nic Cage can be. He just delivers such a horrific, hammy performance.

[–] BloomingLilac 14 years ago

I liked his performance, especially towards the end.

He was also good in The Serpent and the Rainbow, While You Were Sleeping, and Lake Placid. I haven't seen any of his other movies.

[–] trilbynhiss 13 years ago

I first saw him in "Ruthless People" as 'the stupidest man in the world' with a really bad bleach job... he was HILARIOUS. So I guess I've liked him since 1984!

[–] K_kugelis 14 years ago

I have to say it is all the directors fault, because his role was to act the way he did. He looked like he was too old to move.

[–] intexor 13 years ago

I have to say Pullman wasn't exactly fantastic in this one, but going by what I've seen of him before he certainly isn't a bad actor. I'd say it's probably a safe bet that David Lynch pushed for him being in the movie, but this wasn't the best role for a guy like Pullman. More than his performance, I was shocked by how aged he looks. I still have this image of Pullman in movies like Independence Day and Lost Highway. I guess it has been a long while since I've seen him in any movies.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] angsty_otaku 13 years ago

At one point it seemed like he was channeling Vincent D'Onofrio's Bobby Goren from L&O:CI. And then he just added more ham and went horrendously over the top. Method acting gone astray I guess. Then again, he probably didn't care because it just added to the layers of "I can't believe I'm watching this" to the movie.

It does make you wonder though, who is to blame? Is it purely Pullman's fault for overacting? Is it the director not doing her job in focusing the actor? Is it just a poorly written script? Or did the editors just choose the worst takes?

[–] hopls 10 years ago

This is an old post, but I've watched the movie for the first time, so...

I don't understand so many people saying he was bad. I thought he did a really great job.

[–] chuggliams 9 years ago

Same here. I loved him in this and he was brilliant in 'The Last Seduction' (-although that's one of my favourite films ever, so I'm probably a bit biased!)