13. Grace Jones
Style-icon and musician Grace Jones has had a long, successful career. She’s seen as a source of great female empowerment and entrepreneurship. Like or hate her, Jones has certainly created a brand for herself.
That’s why it was so odd seeing her shoehorned in as a Bond girl/villain in 1985’s A View to a Kill. It’s not that she doesn’t fit in with the film’s wonky casting – Christopher Walken is eccentric enough as Silicon Valley mogul Max Zorin – but her performance is off-putting and out of step with the rest of the film. Her other work in the horror movie Vamp may be more in line with her persona, but she plays it pretty broadly. She may have found a home in high camp like The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it was slightly before her time.
12. Britney Spears
Like Prince, Spears‘ film role was tailored to highlight her popular brand at the time. Crossroads, however, didn’t do her career any favours. For a road movie, it’s pretty damn incomprehensible. For a music vehicle, the songs are dull and lifeless covers. As a female empowerment message, it’s strangely sexist. As a film for young girls, it covers some pretty dark territory.
That said, as a Shonda Rhimes project (who developed it), it’s par for the course. Spears was ripped apart for her performance, with critics claiming she invested as much energy in the role as she did a Pepsi commercial. Which is mean, considering she apparently ran lines with Robert De Niro to prepare herself. Then again, this was around the time De Niro was in his “I don’t care” phase of Analyze That andGodsend.
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