When the whole isn't greater than the sum of its parts
Posted Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 4:25 PM Central
Last updated Thursday, November 19, 2009 at 4:28 PM Central
by John Couture
We've all heard the old sports adage, "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts." Usually, it refers to a team that comes together and plays better than their collective talent would suggest that they are capable of playing.
Think George Mason making it to the Final Four. Think Joe Namath and his Jets.
Sometimes, this adage holds true in film as well. You look at the box office success of such films as Paranormal Activity, The Blair Witch Project and The Hangover and scratch your head at how movies lacking serious A-list talent could attain such glory.
Of course, the opposite is also true. And that's the point of today's little exercise. Back in the day, a pairing of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez should've had blockbuster written all over it, but sadly the pair imploded so hard that not only did it take down Gigli, but it also unfairly affected the otherwise excellent Jersey Girl.
So, we've come up with a few of our favorite "More is Less" movies and listed them below. In fact, we're even making a game out of it. We'll list the cast and you have to come up with the answer. If you're stumped, roll over our spoiler text and the answer will become very clear.
- John Candy, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Demi Moore
- Dustin Hoffman, Bruce Willis, Nicole Kidman, Steve Buscemi
- Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk, Ron Perlman
- Burt Reynolds, John Rhys-Davies, Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, Ray Liotta, Claire Forlani
- Morgan Freeman, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Melanie Griffith
- Benjamin Bratt, Sharon Stone, Halle Berry
- Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, J.J. Abrams
- Ben Kingsley, Val Kilmer, Mike Myers, Jessica Alba
- Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. So, which of your favorite flops that should've done better did I forget? Tell us what you think of this list.