I really like John Goodman, but I didn't like him in this film. This was an unusual film and his acting was very strange. I think he was doing an Orson Welles impersonation.
shareDear james676:
He is a good actor, but was miscast.
There were times I thought he was doing an imitation of Boris Karloff's voice.
shareIt was his accent.
He's done New York accents, Louisiana bayou accents and slight Chicago accents as Dan Conner. He is truly a great actor however he should stick to his St. Louis accent, its the only that suits him.
John Goodman had a bad start with this film. In particular with the producers, who sued him for 3 million dollars, in order to force him to be casted.
First Goodman had agreed to be cast in 'Pope Joan', then he suddenly withdrew because of other (probably more profitable) movie opportunities. That's not a good move to make for any actor. The big bucks movie business requires reliability.
So what do we know? It is certain that Goodman wanted to withdraw, AND that in the end he actually performed in 'Pope Joan'. Thus my guess is that he backed down from his withdrawal so he wouldn't have to pay the damages claimed by the film crew.
As a consequence, he didn't give them his best of performances. It so, that's unprofessional attitude if you ask me.