In honor of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" (2008) getting 13 Oscar nominations, I present to you some of the top overrated movies of all time.
Please note, overrated does not necessary mean bad. Often, the movies range from middling to halfway-decent, though they are all almost universally hailed as brilliant.
"The Shawshank Redemption" (1994): Every time I feel masochistic towards my sensibilities and go to IMDB.com's top 250 movies list, this movie is always somewhere between 1 and 1. For years, I wondered how so many people could find this movie so amazing. I couldn't even argue with them because I was so absolutely dumbfounded. After one friend got around to seeing it and loved it, I asked him what was so great. He said that it did nothing wrong. That may be true about "The Shawshank Redemption." Of course, the problem is that it does nothing right either. This movie is the O blood type of film. It takes absolutely no risks with character, story or cinematography. And thus, most people go in, see it, and like the average pre-frosh who is all too eager to please and fit in, find absolutely nothing disagreeable about it. According to IMDB's lovely raters (and sadly some people I respect as well) this is what makes a great movie.
"Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" (1989): The problem with this movie's ranking is that there are those individuals who, when discussing Indy, will either place this one on par, shortly behind or (blasphemy!) above "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (1981). Let's get a few things straight. Last Crusade is a very clear second. It's leaps and bounds above the second film in the series, and Sean Connery is the man. However, it's also miles below the genius and beauty that is "Raiders of the Lost Ark." Anyone who questions this shall be shot, whether or not they are wielding a sword.
"Finding Nemo" (2003): "The Incredibles" (2004) is wittier. "Wall-E" (2008) has more heart. And "Toy Story" (1995) has more courage ... I mean, humor. While these three Pixar films seem to be breaking down storytelling barriers every which way, "Nemo" lags behind with a rather uncompelling, unoriginal plot and bland, poorly sketched out characters. Where "Toy Story" changed the way that every kid thought about his or her bedroom when he or she was not in it and gave us the character of Buzz Lightyear who we did not know whether to hate, mock or pity, Nemo is content to play one-liners like, "Bubbles!," "P. Sherman..." and "Just keep swimming." Somehow it's hailed as Pixar's masterpiece. Yes, the animation is beautiful and it's enjoyable enough for a rainy day ... but why settle for the rest when there's a lot more of the best?
"The Sixth Sense" (1999): Some people say that M. Night Shyamalan has lost his touch. Personally, I always wondered if he ever had "touch" in the beginning. People say that "The Sixth Sense" was one of the scariest movies in a long time, Haley Joel Osmont was an acting prodigy and the twist ending was more shocking than a trip to the electric chair. If ghosts staring at you (not doing anything ... just looking) is the most frightening concept around which your mind can wrap itself, you really need to take a few more English classes. As for that crying, panting moppet, let's just say I'm not surprised his career is nonexistent now. The shock ending was really not all that shocking.
That's all for now, but there are a lot of overrated films out there -- so don't be surprised if this feature returns.
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Devin Toohey is a senior majoring in classics. He can be reached at Devin.Toohey@tufts.edu.
