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Rule of Sean Connery (Sugar Wiki) (view source)

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{{quote|''"[[Sean Connery]] elevates everything he's in... Except like, you know, that one movie [[Fanon Discontinuity|we don't talk about.]] And [[Zardoz]], I guess."''|'''The Spoony One''', '''''[[The Spoony Experiment (Web Video)|The Spoony Experiment]]''''' (said movie is ''[[Highlander II the Quickening]]'')<ref>He SAID we don't talk about it!</ref>}}
 
A subtrope of the "[[Rule of Cool]]".
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== Connery Factors (YMMV, but only 1% of the time) ==
 
* ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Filmfilm)|The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''... It may be [[In Name Only]], but '''[[Sean Connery]]''' single-handedly raises it from an F to a C-.
** ''[[Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade (Film)|Indiana Jones and Thethe Last Crusade]]'', '''[[Sean Connery]]''' as Indiana Jones' ''dad''? AWESOME! Ditching the series when it started to be about Crystal Skulls? Also a good move.
** ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]''.
{{quote| '''Captain Ramius:''' We will pass through the American patrols, past their sonar nets, and lay off their largest city, and listen to their rock and roll... while we conduct missile drills.<br />
'''Captain Ramius:''' You're afraid of our fleet. Well, you should be. Personally, I'd give us one chance in three. More tea anyone? }}
** [[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]]
** ''[[Finding Forrester]]'': "[[Memetic Mutation|You're the man now, dog!]]"
** ''[[Dragonheart]]''
** ''[[The Untouchables]]''. Let's face it, not even [[Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping|terrible]] or [[Not Even Bothering Withwith the Accent|nonexistent accents]] can diminish his awesomeness multiplier. (See also ''[[The Hunt for Red October]]'' and ''[[Highlander (Film)|Highlander]]''.)
** ''[[Highlander (Film)|Highlander]]''... and ''[[Highlander II the Quickening]]''. If it existed.
** ''[[Time Bandits]]!'' Agamemnon was never so freakin' awesome.
*** [[Word of God]] states that the script notes for Agamemnon called for a Sean Connery looking actor the production could afford. After reading the script Connery was so amused by the comment he agreed to do the role at a reduced rate.
** [[So Bad It's Good|Hell, even]] ''[[Zardoz]]''.
** ''[[A Bridge Too Far]]'' shows you what happens when you multiply Connery by Hopkins and raise it to the Hackman.
** "Welcome to ''[[The Rock (Filmfilm)|The Rock]]''!" Also notable as having wildcard [[Nicolas Cage]] come out as a positive factor.
** [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1552111/ Sir Billi]... is an exception.
* '''[[Humphrey Bogart]]''' actually rivals Connery for dominion over this trope if you go back and watch his less famous roles. ''Tokyo Joe'', for example, is an absolutely horrible ''[[Casablanca]]'' retread with awful casting and a terrible script, yet Bogart somehow elevates it from "garbage" to "wow, that was pretty decent." ''The Two Mrs. Carrolls'' is another example, although even Bogie can only drag that wreck so far (though you still won't regret watching it). On a more positive note, he took ''[[The Caine Mutiny]]'' from a good-but-forgettable war movie to an Oscar nominated masterpiece, and he did it with what, twenty minutes of screen time? If that?
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* '''[[Russell Crowe]]'''
* '''[[Tim Curry]]'''
* '''Willem Dafoe''', even in that [[Spider -Man (Filmfilm)|ridiculous outfit]].
** And especially in [[The Boondock Saints|that other ridiculous outfit]].
** And doubly so in [[Streets of Fire|that other ridiculous outfit]].
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* '''[[Boris Karloff]]''' and/or '''[[Bela Lugosi]]''' although to some, [[Your Mileage May Vary|YMMV]] in regards to Lugosi.
* '''[[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]'''
* '''[[Christopher Lee]]''': Look no further than ''[[The Man With the Golden Gun (Film)|The Man Withwith the Golden Gun]]'' and ''[[The Howling|Howling II]]'' for evidence of how even total crap can be made awesome by his being there (to say nothing of his ''good'' movies, and disputed stuff such as the ''[[Star Wars]]'' prequels).
** Also that he continued soldiering on through the Hammer ''Dracula'' films as they got worse and worse solely because of how many crew jobs the studio reminded him would be lost if they stopped making the films says something for this man's character. Not to mention that he tries his hardest to make each one of them worthwhile.
* '''[[Bill Murray]]'''
* '''[[Samuel L. Jackson]]''' is synonymous with awesomeness. [[Old Shame|Except in]] ''[[Coming to America]] and ''[[Jungle Fever]]''.
* '''[[Ian McKellen]]'''
* '''[[Jack Nicholson]]''': Even when he's essentially [[Adam Westing|playing himself]], he makes everything better.
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* '''[[Vincent Price]]''' Mix carefully with [[Michael Jackson]], and you get [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|Thriller]]!
* '''[[Alan Rickman]]''': Really, the only reason to see ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'' is him [[Chewing the Scenery]] as the Sheriff Of Nottingham. It's also another example for [[Sean Connery]], who makes a uncredited cameo right at the end and [[One-Scene Wonder|steals the scene completely]].
* '''Geoffrey Rush''': Case in point, ''[[The WarriorsWarrior's Way]]''
* '''[[Patrick Stewart]]'''
* '''[[Laurence Fishburne]]'''
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* '''Gene Hackman'''
* '''[[Marlon Brando]]'''. Even when he was [[Jerkass|behaving like a dick]], demanding [[Money, Dear Boy|exorbitant salaries]], or [[Insufferable Genius|eulogizing about his own awesomeness]], he delivered a whole new level of oomph to just about every film he was in.
** Brando's standout example was [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JrK4gnNqOU his ten-minute scene] in ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' - for which he demanded ''$3.5 million dollars!'' He showed up to play the [[Authority Equals Asskicking]] warlord at the last minute [[They Just Didn't Care|at least a dozen pounds overweight and drunk as a fish]] - '''They had to have another actor play him for far-off shots.''' His scene was one long [[Closeup Onon Head]]. '''''[[Tropes Are Not Bad|And he owns the movie!]]'''''
*** So much that most of the added scenes in the ''Redux'' version feature him, including well-lit full body appearances!
* '''[[Maureen O'Hara]]''' Her synergy with [[John Wayne]] is noted above.
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* '''Charles Bronson'''
* '''[[Arnold Schwarzenegger]]'''. Especially if you like a lot of [[Narm Charm]] in your films.
** It's been said that only the [[Ham and Cheese]] performances by him and [[Uma Thurman]] put ''[[Batman and Robin (Filmfilm)|Batman and Robin]]'' into [[So Bad It's Good]] territory (plus Uma's [[Fan Service]], of course).
*** He does seem to really be enjoying himself with it. Possibly making him the only one who realized how awful that movie was going to be. His performance of Mr. Freeze was on par with the villains of Adam West's Batman. Probably BETTER than the actual Mr. Freeze actor from the 60s (of which there were three - George Sanders, Otto Preminger<ref>who Adam West ''loathed''</ref> and Eli Wallach).
*** He's also been delivering [[Bond One-Liner|absurd]] [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner|zingers]] for years, so he knew how to pull it off.
* '''[[R. Lee Ermey]]'''
* '''[[Tina Fey]].''' Even when its just [[Megamind|her]] [[Ponyo Onon the Cliff Byby Thethe Sea|voice]]...
* '''[[Mr. T]]''' pities the foo' who doesn't include him on this list!
* '''[[Helena Bonham Carter]]'''.
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** Multiply by 10 if he's working with [[The Coen Brothers]].
*** Or Quentin Tarantino
* '''[[Jean Reno]]'''. He even made parts of [[Godzilla (Filmfilm)|Godzilla]] bearable.
* '''[[Oliver Reed]]'''. The fact that he is in certain movies is often the most -- or even ''only'' -- notable thing about them.
* '''[[Tom Hanks]]'''. Used in-universe in ''[[The Simpsons Movie]]'', during a tourist attraction ad: "Hi, I'm Tom Hanks. The American Government has used up all its credibility so it's borrowing some of mine."
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* '''[[Crispin Freeman]]'''
* '''[[Bruce Willis (Creator)]]'''
* '''[[Robert Downey, Jr.]]'''
* '''[[Christopher Lloyd]]''' the best character actor in Hollywood in whatever role he may fall into, whether it's [[Back to The Future|a mad genius going through time or allowing someone else to do so]] [[Deadly Games|or as a videogame devil]] [[One Flew Over the CuckoosCuckoo's Nest|or else as a mad man in a madhouse]] [[The Addams Family (TV)|or a crazy bald uncle coming back from the Bermuda triangle]] [[The Pagemaster|or an eccentric librarian]]; whatever his role is, it's awesome thanks to him.
** And particularly [[Suburban Commando|anything in which he]] [[Large Ham|was]] [[That Guy With theThe Glasses|frozen]] [[Memetic Mutation|today]].
* '''[[Jim Carrey]]'''
* '''[[Bruce Lee]]'''
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* '''[[Claudia Black]]''': Even if it is [[Dragon Age|just]] [[Uncharted|her]] [[Mass Effect 2|voice]].
* '''[[Jennifer Hale]]''': Full stop. Has been called the [[Meryl Streep]] of video games if that's any indication.
* '''[[Jean Claude Van Damme]]''', who gives some entertainment to even the worst movies. However, many consider his performance as [[Street Fighter (Filmfilm)|Guile]] to be a massive exception to this rule, indeed -- many think that it's one of the (many, many, many) things wrong with the film.
* '''[[Peter Lorre]]''' was the master of wit, style, and vaguely sinister Eastern European accents. Inspired a song by [[Tom Smith]].
* '''[[Vladimir Vysotsky]]''' was this for the Soviet Sinema.
* '''[[David Warner]]'''. He was in both the [[Star Trek V|fifth Star Trek film]] and the [[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Filmfilm)|second Ninja Turtles film]], and he is arguably the best thing in both films.
** [[Tron|End of line.]]
* '''Christoph Waltz'''
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* '''[[Kevin Conroy]]''', so good he's played Batman more times than any other actor living or otherwise.
* '''[[Kevin Spacey]]'''
* '''[[Raul Julia]]''', whose performance in the notoriously awful ''[[Street Fighter (Filmfilm)|Street Fighter]]'' movie is widely regarded as the only part of the movie which is truly good (as opposed to merely [[So Bad It's Good]]).
** His virtuoso turn as [[The Addams Family (TV)|Gomez Addams]] is beyond reproach; he didn't make a bad film good, he took what could have been a rough film and polished it to a high sheen.
* '''Idris Elba''', who from a guest shot on the American version of ''[[The Office]]'' to [[Luther]] to [[Thor (Filmfilm)|Heimdall]], and everything in between, will always raise the quality of anything he is in.
** Though he will always be [[The Wire|Stringer Bell]] to us.
* '''John Candy''', the man who reeks of comic gold and silvery awesomeness.
** ''[[Volunteers]]'', especially his interrogation by the Thailand Commies before he's brainwashed. ([[Irony|"That will be]] [[Gilligan Cut|a challenge."]])
** ''[[Splash]]''.
** ''[[Spaceballs (Film)|Spaceballs]]''.
** ''[[Summer Rental]]''. ([[Makes Sense in Context|"I'd take those over a power tool any day."]])
** ''[[Uncle Buck]]''. Oh god, Uncle Buck.
*** "Nyi-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi ... ever heard of a ritual killing" (beat) "nyi-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi."
*** The cordless drill break-in, with the most epic lighting and camera angles ever seen in a John Hughes movie. [[Oh Crap|Then Buck realizes his mistake]]. But he keeps going. And all without dialogue, carried by John Candy's impeccably-timed facial expressions.
** ''[[JFK (Filmfilm)|JFK]]'', even though he's a bad guy. ("I was on drugs at the hospital.")
** [[Planes, Trains and Automobiles (Film)|Those aren't PILLOWS!!!!!!!!!!11111111oneoneoneone]]
* '''Nick Nolte'''.
* '''[[Philip Seymour Hoffman]]'''
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* '''[[Keith David]]'''. And his voice even more.
* '''Bill Nighy'''. The best part of many a bad film.
* '''[[Ellen Page]]'''. Not a lot of people liked ''[[X -Men: theThe Last Stand]]'', but they did like Kitty Pryde taking down the Juggernaut.
* '''[[Pierce Brosnan]]''', widely considered the definitive [[James Bond]] after the trope namer. Even if the Bond movies he did after ''[[Goldeneye (Film)|Goldeneye]]'' weren't that well written, Brosnan in the very least made them watchable, if not more so. And then there's [[Remington Steele|his]] [[The Thomas Crown Affair|other]] [[The Tailor Of Panama|work]].
* Voice actor '''[[Bastion|Logan Cunningham]]'''.
* '''[[Martin Sheen]]'''
* '''Sam Neill'''
* How about '''[[Betty White]]'''???
* [[Roger Ebert]] has what's called the "Stanton-Walsh Rule" which states that nothing featuring [[Harry Dean Stanton]] (''[[Alien (Filmfranchise)|Alien]]'', ''Paris, Texas'', ''Repo Man'' and TV's ''[[Big Love]]'') or M. Emmett Walsh (''[[Blood Simple]]'', ''[[The Jerk]]'', ''[[Blade Runner (Film)|Blade Runner]]'') in a supporting role can be altogether bad. However when ''[[Wild Wild West (Filmfilm)|Wild Wild West]]'' (Walsh) and ''[[Dream A Little Dream]]'' (Stanton) came out Ebert had to recant.
* '''[[Al Pacino]]'''
* '''[[Amanda Tapping]]'''
** Or, for that matter, her [[Stargate SG -1]] co-star '''Richard Dean Anderson'''. Stargate series aside, there's also a voice-acting turn as himself on [[The Simpsons]], a stint in soap operas, and of course his ''other'' most famous role, [[MacGyver]].
* '''[[Joe Pesci]]''' - Friend [[George Carlin]] claimed that he prayed to Joe because he looked like a man that 'could get things done'. If that doesn't say anything about how convincing he is, nothing will.
* '''[[Jason Statham]]'''
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* '''[[Jackie Earle Haley]]''' in everything he's made since his 2006 comeback.
* '''[[Jeffrey Combs]]'''
* '''[[Jeremy Irons]]''': Even in the godawful ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Filmfilm)|Dungeons and Dragons]]'', he was the one redeeming factor.
* '''[[Peter Weller]]''': The man was [[The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension|cool]] before it was [[Robo CopRoboCop|cool]]. He worked with some rough material; some more [[Fringe|easier to get away with]], some [[Star Trek: Enterprise|harder]]. [[Your Mileage May Vary]], of course.
* '''[[Orson Welles]]''': [[The Third Man|Enough]] [[A Man for All Seasons|said]].
* '''[[James Earl Jones]]''': The voice.
* '''[[Reese Witherspoon]]''': She was in ''[[Freeway]]'' and ''[[Election]]''. She will forever be awesome!
* '''[[George Clooney]]''' (except on ''[[Batman and Robin (Filmfilm)|Batman and Robin]]'', where his Batman is - unfortunately, as he even looks like Bruce Wayne - a negative factor)
* '''[[Will Smith]]''', to many people.
* '''[[Tilda Swinton]]''' [http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/64047251.html who is a goddess that can do no wrong.] It's the exact reason she's become obligated to appear in every one of the ''[[Narnia]]'' movies despite her character only being present in two of the books!
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== Reeves Factors ([[Your Mileage May Vary]] on the following) ==
 
* '''[[Keanu Reeves]]''' in pretty much anything not called ''[[Speed (Film)|Speed]]'', ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure]]'', ''[[The Matrix]]'' or ''[[A Scanner Darkly]]''.
** He actually does a pretty good job in ''[[Constantine (Film)|Constantine]]'', as long as you're not familiar with [[Hellblazer (Comic Book)|the comics]] (but inaccuracies to the comic are not the man's fault, take that up with the writers).
** People are rather divided on whether his involvement in a Hollywood ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' will help or harm it, though it's somewhat hard to tell the difference between hate for Reeves and standard hate for an American movie adaption of an anime.
** ''[[Point Break]], [[Bram StokersStoker's Dracula (Film)|Bram Stokers Dracula]], [[The DevilsDevil's Advocate]]''...
*** ''[[Parenthood (Filmfilm)|Parenthood]]'' was a good film.
*** And so were ''[[Rivers Edge|River's Edge]]'', ''[[Dangerous Liaisons (Literature)|Dangerous Liaisons]]'', and ''[[My Own Private Idaho (Film)|My Own Private Idaho]]''.
*** No love for ''[[Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre)|Much Ado About Nothing]]''?
*** ''[[Chain Reaction (Filmfilm)|Chain Reaction]]'' was also quite good, as he tends to drop his usual '[[Dull Surprise|monotone aloof man]]' in that movie. It also helps he plays opposite of [[Morgan Freeman]], who carries the Connery Effect as noted above.
* '''Rob Schneider''': If this man is in your movie for more than five minutes with more than one line, your movie automatically sucks, and requires either [[Adam Sandler|serious funny]] or [[Jackie Chan|serious]] [[Steve Coogan|star]] [[Around the World Inin Eighty Days|power]] to salvage it.
* '''Pauly Shore''', who is basically Rob Schneider with a stoner tilt. When one considers the fact he [[Pauly Shore Is Dead|made a movie about him faking his own death to revitalize his career]] and shortly thereafter fell right back out of the public eye anyway... it speaks volumes about how genuinely unfunny, unmemorable, and just generally bad he is, doesn't it?
* '''[[Shia La BeoufLaBeouf]]'''. Nobody ever walks out of a film regretting that this guy wasn't in it.
** With the exception of the ''[[Saw]]'' movies.
** [[Transformers (Filmfilm)|"No, no, no, nonononono, NO! NO!!!"]]
** He was quite good in ''[[Holes]]''.
** This troper kind of enjoyed the second Wall Street movie.
* '''Kevin James'''. ''[[I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry]]'' and ''[[Paul Blart: Mall Cop]]'' plain sucked. ''[[Grown Ups]]'' has the double suck factor of [[Up to Eleven|starring Rob Schneider also]].
* Director examples: '''[[M. Night Shyamalan]]''', '''Uwe Boll''', '''[[Seltzer and Friedberg|Aaron Seltzer and Jason Friedberg]]'''.
 
----
== Cage Factors ([[Your Mileage May Vary]]) ==
 
* '''[[Nicolas Cage]]''' can elevate films like ''[[Wild Atat Heart]]'', ''[[Leaving Las Vegas]]'', ''[[Adaptation]]'', and ''[[Kick-Ass (Filmfilm)|Kick-Ass]]'', but when it comes to ''[[Ghost Rider]]'' or ''[[The Wicker Man]]'', well, he brings it down.
** [[Nicolas Cage]] is best described as good in good movies, and hilarious in bad movies.
*** So much that ''The Wicker Man'' can be a GREAT movie [[Narm|as long as you view it as a comedy.]] I mean, how else are you supposed to view him punching a woman out while dressed in a bear costume, or the infamous "Not the bees"?
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** Definitely a +5 (at the very least) for playing [[Cluster F-Bomb|a certain role]] in [[Tropic Thunder|a certain movie]].
* '''[[Jack Black]]'''. His [[Large Ham]] can be positive (''[[Kung Fu Panda]]''), and he can even be subdued and rather sweet (''[[The Holiday]]'', ''[[Shallow Hal]]''). But other times is just plain annoying (''[[Orange County]]'') or irrelevant (''[[King Kong]]'').
* '''[[Sylvester Stallone]]''', who despite ''[[Rocky (Filmfilm)|Rocky]]'' and ''[[Rambo]]'' under his belt, has taken home more Razzie Awards than anyone due to ''many'' unsalvageable films.
* '''[[Ben Stiller]]''' has certainly become this if he wasn't this already. In most of the [[Kafka Komedy]] flicks he works in he could be easily replaced. On other hand, Stiller helps ''[[A Night At The Museum]]'' and ''Tower Heist'', and when he's directing himself in a film like ''[[Tropic Thunder]]'' or is starring in an art house film like [[The Royal Tenenbaums]] he's more successful.
** Consider the irony given that his dad Jerry Stiller certainly follows Rule of Sean Connery as far as his role and delivery in [[Seinfeld]] is concerned.
* '''[[Sandra Bullock]]''' is the only actress to win an Oscar for Best Actress (for ''[[The Blind Side]]'') and a Razzie for Worst Actress (for ''[[All About Steve]]'') in the same year. She even [[Medal of Dishonor|attended the 2010 Razzie ceremony to collect her "award".]]
* '''[[Michael Cera]]''': As this trope applies only to film, ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' will be disregarded here (as will ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]'' for the time being).
** What about ''[[Nick and NorahsNorah's Infinite Playlist]]''?
** And ''[[Juno]]''! Surely his effect is trumped by [[Ellen Page]]?
** What, no love for ''[[Superbad]]''?
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* With the possible exception of Cage, the thing these actors have in common is [[I Am Not Leonard Nimoy|playing every role the same way.]] When it works, it really works. When it doesn't, it can ruin the picture.
** Another thing these actors have in common is that their hits are usually films where their abilities are put to best use, for example if one considers Tom Cruise 'good' in [[Rain Man]], it's because his acting style is minimalistic and doesn't clash with Dustin Hoffman's more extravagant performance.
* '''[[Matthew Broderick]]''', depending on whether he's in [[The Lion King|Simba]] mode or [[Godzilla (Filmfilm)|"That's a lot of fish"]] mode.
* '''[[Kevin Costner]]'''. He makes great westerns, and helps films such as ''JFK''. However, he made ''[[Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves]]'' painful at times, ''[[Waterworld]]'' much more forgettable than it should have been, and ''[[The Postman (Filmfilm)|The Postman]]'' bad enough to sink his career.
* '''[[Jennifer Aniston]]''' has an acting range that stretches all the way from A to B, but sometimes (''[[Friends]]'', ''The Good Girl'') is helpful to what she's working on.
** ''[[Horrible Bosses]]'' where she plays against type. It works.
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