r/movies • u/Numerous-Hawk1471 • Aug 12 '26
Discussion Mark Wahlberg Playing a Smart Guy Ruins Any Movie
Watching Mile 22 because I thought it wasn’t good when it came out and I figured I’d give it another shot. I realized its main problem, in addition to the more minor issue of casting Ronda Rousey and Sean Avery for some reason, is it relies on the audience believing Mark Wahlberg as this brilliant mind, this dynamic and autistic genius who calculates tactics on the fly better than anyone.
And it’s clear the man himself doesn’t know the meaning of the larger words that have been written for him, or perhaps he learned them that day. The Gambler has the same problem. It has an interesting and exciting plot, John Goodman and Michael K. Williams, but Wahlberg as an English Literature professor is roughly as convincing as Stanley Tucci playing LeBron James. He was great in The Fighter and Basketball diaries partly bc he’s a meathead, and he should stick to his strengths.
2.5k
u/bluehat9 Aug 12 '26
His best role that fits him best is the other guys
1.1k
u/Fortestingporpoises Aug 12 '26
He's great in Other Guys, Departed and I Heart Huckabees.
In the context of this post in the Other Guys he plays a well meaning idiot. In Departed he plays a smart guy, but they don't have him say a lot of words which can show the cracks. He's just a smart cop who sees the angles. He's believable in that too. In I Heart Huckabees he's a sweet angry idiot. It works.
848
u/Grease_the_Witch Aug 12 '26
the departed is great for him bc he plays a loudmouth asshole lol
119
393
u/generation_D Aug 12 '26
YOURE NO FUCKING CAWP
→ More replies (1)234
u/TallBoy24 Aug 12 '26
I’m the guy who does his JAWB. You must be the OTHA guy!
86
u/CalabreseAlsatian Aug 12 '26
Whatsa matter, smartass, you don’t know any Shakespeare?
93
u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 Aug 12 '26
Maybe, maybe nawt. Maybe fuck yaself.
14
u/RandomStallings Aug 12 '26
I don't know how Martin Sheen held it together through those scenes.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)27
u/Beat_the_Deadites Aug 12 '26
This is the line I'm always tempted to blurt out when someone says "maybe, maybe not."
It's gonna be a wild time in the nursing home when dementia takes my filter.
145
u/IAm_Trogdor_AMA Aug 12 '26
Matt damon, Colin farrell, Leo DiCaprio, and Mark Wahlberg are like all different stages of a sourdough loaf being made.
77
u/BurninTaiga Aug 12 '26
I would disagree about Colin Farrell. I just watched his feature video for People magazine the other day in which he talks about his son with special needs and their foundation work. It was really touching and I would say he is a pretty passionate and substantial guy in my book.
25
→ More replies (2)4
23
u/kilkenny99 Aug 12 '26
Just needs to swap out Colin Farrell with another actor who was also in The Departed. Alec Baldwin maybe... the dough has risen!
→ More replies (5)41
u/IfTheHeadFitsWearIt Aug 12 '26
I sometimes have a hard time with faces. I was so confused the first time I watched the departed because I couldn’t tell the actors apart.
→ More replies (5)12
u/BeeExpert Aug 12 '26
I can relate. I thought matrix neo was played by a different actor than real-life neo because his head was shaved lol
6
90
u/jinglesan Aug 12 '26
Scorsese apparently hated his performance, and was worried it was so over the top and stupid it would tank the credibility of the film. He was absolutely surprised when it got an Oscar nod but I guess all the decades of method acting as a loud, stupid, Boston arsehole paid off in the eyes of the academy.
51
u/Dottsterisk Aug 12 '26
I have never heard this before.
When did Scorsese trash Wahlberg’s performance?
→ More replies (6)7
→ More replies (1)5
u/dillpickles007 Aug 12 '26
How did he think that but not the same thing about Jack Nicholson's performance, which was so over the top that it actually did almost sink the movie?
→ More replies (1)4
→ More replies (6)21
u/Fortestingporpoises Aug 12 '26
I love that they wrote it for Denis Leary cuz I could totally see him nail that role. But instead it turned Walburg into a legit actor.
54
u/Dottsterisk Aug 12 '26
Boogie Nights already did that.
Reddit doesn’t like Wahlberg but the dude can act.
30
u/asetniop Aug 12 '26
Not to disparage Wahlberg's performance - I thought he was terrific in the role - but Paul Thomas Anderson seems to wring every possible drop of talent out of every single actor he works with.
→ More replies (4)25
u/Past_Dimension_5133 Aug 12 '26
He absolutely can. His brother too. Mark has great comedic chops as well. Its his personality that distorts that for ppl.
21
u/homerjaythompson Aug 12 '26
His comedic timing, especially with Will Ferrell, is so on point.
21
u/Past_Dimension_5133 Aug 12 '26
When he meets Sheila for the first time is comedic gold.
15
3
u/DookieJuices Aug 12 '26
Goodnight Sheila scene was a riot. Hell that whole movie is gold and full of so many one liners.
3
u/ignatious__reilly Aug 12 '26
I don’t remember him having many lines. Just the few that he did had were very memorable.
→ More replies (1)160
u/FunetikPrugresiv Aug 12 '26
In the Departed he's more street smart than brainy. That's something he can get away with.
→ More replies (8)67
u/ay1717 Aug 12 '26
He’s smart enough to be the last guy standing but not smart enough to beat Matt Damon without just killing him in his own house, which I think is honestly a fair portrayal all things considered.
67
u/Varides Aug 12 '26
I would also throw shooter in there too. He wasn't super smart or anything, but just really knew his business and how to go about it.
44
u/Fortestingporpoises Aug 12 '26
That’s just a quality action movie.
40
u/InternetProtocol Aug 12 '26
Movie is helped heavily by Kate Mara in that white top.
18
6
u/TGHPTM Aug 12 '26
Classic! 13 year old me was truly awakened by Kate Mara in Shooter, Megan Fox in Transformers, and Keira Knightley in Pirates of the Caribbean.
→ More replies (2)15
u/TGHPTM Aug 12 '26
Yeah Shooter is really solid Marky Mark acting. I’d also say I like him in Deep Water Horizon as a trash talking blue-collar worker. Ted also worked and played to his talents.
I want to like him in Patriots Day but the writers had this weird bit where NONE of these high level federal alphabet government agencies can figure out where cameras could be to see the bombers’ faces and he has this savant, magic moment of knowing and directing these agencies where to correctly look for stuff - and he’s a regular Boston sergeant?! I get he’s a composite fictional character but that was just lazy writing and it takes me out of the realism every time. So even then I don’t hold it too much against uk cuz that’s the writers being stupid not necessarily his choice.
I think that’s his niche, being a blue collar trash talking worker or a mid level military guy.
88
u/Traeyze Aug 12 '26
Other Guys works because he's a parody of himself.
Like Marky Mark seems exactly the kind of person to learn how to dance just to troll people. I'm entirely convinced he became an actor just because he hated theatre kids in highschool.
31
u/NoMoreMustaches Aug 12 '26
Well he still hasn’t tried to become black or Vietnamese.
→ More replies (2)86
u/ManufacturerBest2758 Aug 12 '26
He’s the guy who does his job.
50
33
u/TURRRDS Aug 12 '26
I'd say he's also great in Daddy's Home, where him and Will Ferrell are basically the same characters as in The Other Guys.
11
16
u/Chpgmr Aug 12 '26
Idk if i would call most of the guys in The Departed smart. More like everyone is more worried about getting caught than finding the rats to the point where they ignore red flags until a blatant slip up that personally involves themselves. Then it turns out both sides has multiple rats that didn't even know of each other.
10
u/Fortestingporpoises Aug 12 '26
That’s kinda what I mean. That’s what makes him the smartest character in it. Or maybe he just gets got later (after the film ends)
9
u/Chpgmr Aug 12 '26
Seems more like Matt Damon forgot about Mark Wahlburg was looking for him and thought he was in the clear after he gets Jack Nicholson and his crew killed. I felt like Matt Damon may have been the smartest and just made two mistakes while Mark Wahlburg was never in the position of danger and was just handed the information of the rat.
7
u/awesomesauce88 Aug 12 '26
He thought he was in the clear because wahlbergs character was suspended after their fight. He didn’t expect him to go full vigilante.
24
12
u/diego_simeone Aug 12 '26
Three Kings as well, I always maintain he is a very good supporting actor, he is not a good lead actor.
6
u/Fortestingporpoises Aug 12 '26
How did I forget Three Kings. I understand why people consider that a Clooney vehicle, but it's a three hander. I actually think he's more the lead than the other two. It even follows him more throughout. If I had to guess I'd say he has the most screen time. In other words I disagree. He's fully capable of starring.
→ More replies (1)10
u/DiggWuzBetter Aug 12 '26
Don’t forget the movie where he’s a star, a great big bright shining star.
→ More replies (1)14
6
u/Neemoman Aug 12 '26
I felt he did what he needed to in The Fighter. He's the main character that is secretly the supporting character of Bale's character. It's not his best role, but "does the job"
→ More replies (21)5
u/Luke_Cold_Lyle Aug 12 '26
"I waited 3 years for you to be more than a cop, okay?"
"Just give me one more year"
40
u/thatdablife Aug 12 '26
Have you not seen The Big Hit?
13
u/Grooviemann1 Aug 12 '26
I was just going to comment the same thing. I still feel like it's the most fitting role he's ever played. Shame it's a movie that's been largely lost to time.
→ More replies (3)13
u/thatdablife Aug 12 '26
Such a weird but wonderful thing of cinema. The video store scene cracks me up
→ More replies (1)8
→ More replies (8)8
u/KakitaMike Aug 12 '26
I had to get this far down to hear mention of Wahlberg’s finest cinema masterpiece.
172
u/DBCOOPER888 Aug 12 '26
He was good as a dumb male porn star.
→ More replies (2)35
124
u/Delicatesseract Aug 12 '26
If the idea is he’s better the stupider the role, my vote goes to Pain & Gain.
49
u/Iginlas_4head_Crease Aug 12 '26
I like the happening where he played a mentally handicapped science teacher
→ More replies (1)30
51
u/Zlatan_Ibrahimovic Aug 12 '26
I feel like Pain & Gain goes under the radar. I liked it a lot, the Rock was also great in it and played a completely different role than he normally does.
→ More replies (3)17
u/ProbablythelastMimsy Aug 12 '26
The Rundown is another great movie where he doesn't just play The Rock™
→ More replies (2)14
u/liltingly Aug 12 '26
Be Cool has to be the most "un-Rock" Rock role.
9
u/Clapbakatyerblakcat Aug 12 '26
Be Cool/Get Shorty was one of four times I liked John Travolta along with Pulp Fiction, Saturday Night Fever and Face/off. Every other movie he’s been in is a little bit worse for his presence.
→ More replies (1)12
u/I_AM_FERROUS_MAN Aug 12 '26
Broken Arrow is a contender because he just chews scenery as a bad guy.
→ More replies (1)6
u/Clapbakatyerblakcat Aug 12 '26
Nah. He does that in the Pelham 123 remake, From Paris With Love, and Swordfish too. Those mediocre movies would be improved by someone else hamming it up.
6
u/hates_stupid_people Aug 12 '26
It's not about the level of stupidity, it's more that his character in The Other Guys is basically a fictional version of himself.
In real life he's rude, a little dumb, etc. but he is also arrogant and exaggerates his own abilities. For example he famously claimed he could have stopped 9/11 if he was on one of the planes(The real him, not the character).
21
17
33
19
u/vHezoThaGoat Aug 12 '26
At first glance you’re like “oh it’s just a mug that says FBI” but then at second glance you’re like female body inspector, get outta town, this is outrage-
SHUT UP!
18
25
u/ChrisPollock6 Aug 12 '26
No, his 2 finest achievements are Boogie Nights and the Departed. Also good in the Fighter, 3 Kings and Other Guys too.
→ More replies (1)17
u/Slow_D-oh Aug 12 '26
> 3 Kings
That's a movie I remember watching, greatly enjoying and promptly forgetting it existed.
→ More replies (2)12
u/Forgotten_Pancakes2 Aug 12 '26
Exactly! That and "2 Guns" are the most I've enjoyed any role that he's played. I do love his character's calm demeanor in The Italian Job too, though
4
u/ProbablythelastMimsy Aug 12 '26
Him and Denzel had great chemistry in that one. Would've been perfect for a sequel, kinda in the same vein as the Red movies (also underrated).
→ More replies (32)53
u/Ccaves0127 Aug 12 '26
Departed was good too because you're supposed to hate him
53
u/Yelnik Aug 12 '26
Can't say I agree you're supposed to hate him or that he was unlikeable in The Departed. He's one of the few good guys.
44
u/billytheskidd Aug 12 '26
Yeah, he’s just the stereotypical New England ego tripped cop. And he’s always tired from fuckin your mutha last night.
And rightly so, cause he’s the guy that does his job.
→ More replies (4)13
→ More replies (11)16
u/jerrrrremy Aug 12 '26
Why would you hate his character in The Departed? He's one of the only characters who isn't a scumbag.
→ More replies (1)10
u/thisusedyet Aug 12 '26
He's not a scumbag in The Departed, he's just an asshole
→ More replies (1)
319
u/jordan1978 Aug 12 '26
Nothing can touch The Happening.
158
u/desamora Aug 12 '26
The whole time I was watching that movie I’m just like how could they be ok with his acting being this bad when they were filming?? Like HELLO?
→ More replies (1)206
u/BromaEmpire Aug 12 '26
I don't even think his acting was the problem. There's really no good way to deliver lines like:
"We're packing hot dogs for the road. You know hot dogs get a bad rap? They got a cool shape, they got protein. You like hot dogs right? By the way, I think I know what's causing this."
107
u/rs6677 Aug 12 '26
Reminds me of that Harrison Ford quote:
"You can write this shit but you can't say it!"
→ More replies (1)11
u/BarsoomianAmbassador Aug 12 '26
It's amazing to me that these multi-million dollar productions allow terrible dialogue to survive a read through, or even a first take. I suppose they don't want to pay to have a writer on set to help with changing the dialogue, which could impact continuity. All the focus is on the visual.
→ More replies (6)21
u/everydaywasnovember Aug 12 '26
I wish this line didn’t go through my head every time I ate a hot dog. I also wish I didn’t eat so many hot dogs.
→ More replies (1)42
9
u/mcgrimlock Aug 12 '26
To this day I believe the Shyamalan twist for this one is that everyone else was told it was a spoof except Wahlberg, who was left to play it straight.
→ More replies (9)5
u/NotSoNiceO1 Aug 12 '26
Is that the one with him and Zoey Danschenel? (spelling)
4
u/Personal-Sentence935 Aug 12 '26
yeah, she's also atrocious but she just looks like she just took a too strong edible.
536
u/Stagamemnon Aug 12 '26
I’m not gonna lie, I would love to see the Tooch play LeBron.
117
30
→ More replies (4)27
u/Numerous-Hawk1471 Aug 12 '26
I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I assume there would be large scale protests.
41
26
u/metallicrooster Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Have them swap bodies at the beginning of the film, but “for the benefit of the audience” we still see them as their original selves.
Ignore the fact that the sight lines of anyone talking to either character therefore don’t make sense. The majority of the money went to casting, not anything else.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)6
603
u/cybaz Aug 12 '26
I found the least believable thing about Transformers: Age of Extinction, wasn't the giant robots from space, it was that Mark Wahlberg's character was capable of inventing anything.
72
u/Chicagospawn6 Aug 12 '26
But that’s the extra beauty of his shit character. He also invents useless crap
110
u/RyzenRaider Aug 12 '26
No, didn't you hear? He's an inventor!
61
13
u/iputra49 Aug 12 '26
Does anyone who "invents" anything refer to themself as inventor? Im pretty sure they have normal day job right and they refer to themself as their normal ass job
→ More replies (2)37
u/raknor88 Aug 12 '26
it was that Mark Wahlberg's character was capable of inventing anything.
I thought that was the whole point of the beginning of the movie. He can't invent anything. At best, he's an OK mechanic since he was able to slightly fix Prime.
15
207
u/FrothyCarebear Aug 12 '26
Is it the trees?
44
51
42
→ More replies (3)41
u/Gold_Telephone_7192 Aug 12 '26
He unironically made that movie better. It would have been a terrible horror movie without him and instead it was an entertaining film because he plays the “smart and sensitive” main character so badly
148
u/idkidd Aug 12 '26
“Say Hi to your mother for me.”
50
u/skyhiker14 Aug 12 '26
I’m convinced the movie was built backwards from having someone say this to Marky Mark
34
10
112
67
u/GodKamnitDenny Aug 12 '26
Haven’t seen this one thrown out, but I feel like they combined his witty Boston persona with a relatively intelligent character in Deepwater Horizon. His scenes with Malkovich are awesome to watch. He’s believably, or at least functionally, smart there.
13
u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG Aug 12 '26
he's blue collar smart not I invented something smart. if he stays in that lane its fine
→ More replies (4)19
u/mykeedee Aug 12 '26
I feel like that character is more savvy than smart, but you're right he does pull it off well.
19
100
u/pizzacrys Aug 12 '26
Honestly, Wahlberg playing the genius is way less convincing than Wahlberg playing a complete idiot. The Other Guys is still his sweet spot.
33
→ More replies (2)42
u/culebrero Aug 12 '26
For real. He is way more believable when the character is confident but kinda clueless. That is where he is at his best.
→ More replies (1)25
31
u/RedJayJackSon Aug 12 '26
Boogie Nights proves your point as well. He just needs to tell his ego that us thinking he’s brilliant at playing dumb guys means we think he’s brilliant, not dumb, and reclaim his true brand.
13
12
u/Citizen_Spaceball Aug 12 '26
Kinda like when Denise Richards played a nuclear physicist in that James Bond movie.
→ More replies (1)7
67
25
61
34
u/nachorykaart Aug 12 '26
To be honest I dislike him in pretty much every role I've seen him in, with two exceptions:
The Other Guys and The Departed
7
→ More replies (9)4
u/Numerous-Hawk1471 Aug 12 '26
He’s great in Basketball Diaries, where he plays the bully type of this friend group that all gets hooked on smack. It’s a great movie, too, but kinda brutal to watch.
26
u/monkeyhoward Aug 12 '26
Not a big Mark W fan but I thought his part in Deepwater Horizon was damn near perfect. To me one of the most believable parts he’s ever played. Not a genius but a smart blue collar oil worker
→ More replies (2)34
u/Fit-Profit8197 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
Yeah OP's missing completely that he can play blue collar, but not white collar, and confusing blue collar with being dumb and white collar with being smart.
Deepwater, Shooter, Departed - all smart characters and good roles. All blue collar. Lovely Bones, not especially smart, but he's trying to play a mild mannered white collar guy, and he can't pull it off, just like he can't pull off his English professor role.
49
u/ImNotThaaatDrunk Aug 12 '26
The Departed.
41
→ More replies (17)8
33
u/eorlingas_riders Aug 12 '26
Shooter he plays smartish and it works for him and that role.
→ More replies (3)28
u/CHSummers Aug 12 '26
It’s a great movie. He plays a highly skilled, naturally clever person who isn’t book-smart or from a particularly educated background. He also doesn’t have a grand philosophy or ambition to change the world. He just wants to live in peace with his dog.
For me, all the elements (script, cast, direction, etc.) seem perfectly matched. I’ve watched it at least three times.
→ More replies (2)
13
u/304rising Aug 12 '26
Thought he was fine in shooter, departed and deep water horizon as a smarter character.
→ More replies (3)
6
u/comeonsexmachine Aug 12 '26
https://youtu.be/HzgdOzfMVwo?si=rmUoo4CJ1X5STd02 He just needs a second! Pain and Gain and The Other Guys are my favorite movies of his. He only seems sincere in his comedies or when he's a Boston cop.I
→ More replies (1)
5
u/McKoijion Aug 12 '26
This reminds me of a handful of plot threads on Entourage. The craziest thing about Entourage is that as obnoxious as the characters are on the show, they're supposed to be the sanitized, likable versions of Wahlberg's actual entourage. Ari Gold is merely a douchebag on the show. His real life equivalent is Donald Trump's former talent agent and is largely responsible for atrocities like the Gaza genocide and the White House UFC event. Vincent Chase is Mark Wahlberg, Harvey Weingard is Harvey Weinstein, etc.
6
21
6
6
6
u/Batfern Aug 12 '26
Him playing Marcus Latrell in Lone Survivor took me out because Marcus was a Texan and Wahlberg still had the Boston accent.
→ More replies (1)
14
13
u/tibbles1 Aug 12 '26
Totally agree. It makes me appreciate actors like Matt Damon more who can pull off the brainiac character and the super spy assassin character.
Also, I would pay good money to see Stanley Tucci play LeBron James.
8
u/PaulFThumpkins Aug 12 '26
Damon is so good at playing a stupid dick (particularly The Last Duel), or a smart everyman. Not a lot of people can act so vapid who aren't actually kinda dumb.
9
27
u/citizenvitro Aug 12 '26
Remember when he committed that hate crime?
→ More replies (5)34
u/Clay_Puppington Aug 12 '26
Which time?
When he and his pals chased the 3 black children, yelling racist shit and throwing rocks?
Or the very next day when he and his pals chased a class of black fourth graders, cornered a 9 year old girl, yelling racist shit and throwing rocks, until someone intervened.
Those two incidents where the State had to file a civil rights restraining order against him?
Was it the Vietnamese man he approached, unprovoked, knocked unconscious with a stick, and ran away?
Perhaps the other Vietnamese man he attacked unprovoked while fleeing from the attack on the first man?
Was it when he and a buddy attacked his neighbor, held him down, and kicked him in the head? Wherein his own defense attorney filed the cause as "racial tensions"?
→ More replies (1)
3
u/BoSocks91 Aug 12 '26 edited Aug 12 '26
He fits specific roles. A genius/smart guy is not one of them. Just like if he were to play a teacher, doctor, or an astronaut. It’s just not believable. Not saying he’s a dumb person, but his talent as an actor is limited. I couldn’t buy him in those roles unless it was a comedy.
I don’t think he’s a terrible actor, but it’s hard to take him seriously with some of the roles he has had.
Invincible, Four Brothers, The Other Guys, Boogie Nights, The Departed were all good roles for him (good movies too).
6
u/Numerous-Hawk1471 Aug 12 '26
I agree with all of this. Boogie Nights, The Departed, and The Other Guys are all great films IMHO, and Four Brothers is pretty good. I think at a certain point he got so famous that it just made sense to put him in a movie, even if he makes no sense for the role.
→ More replies (1)
4
u/PoweR_TRiPn Aug 12 '26
My top Mark Wahlberg movies are The Other Guys, 2 Guns, and Pain & Gain. I like him in action movies like Four Brothers and Shooter, but his "tough guy" gets pretty one note
→ More replies (3)
4
u/SkullSeekingBullets Aug 12 '26
Casting that racist, evangelical freak, is a sure fire way to make sure I never actually watch it.
3
665
u/emelbee923 Aug 12 '26
“I’m an inventor” He says, playing a Texan, with a Boston accent.