Brie Larson stars in “Kong: Skull Island.”
Sally Field Sailed with “Norma Rae” and sank with “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure.”
Brie Larson took the awards circuit by storm last year with her bruising, complex performance in “Room.” It wasn’t an outlier: She had won accolades previously for her work in “Short Term 12,” among others. So naturally, her follow-up to “Room”: “Kong: Skull Island.”
Now, every actor should be so lucky to have such opportunities, to move from gutwrenching indies to massive blockbusters. The advance word on “Kong,” however, is not encouraging. She does have the well-received “Free Fire” next in the chamber.
At the very least, Larson joins the ranks of Oscar laureates to follow their big wins with … if not always cratering bombs, at least the unexpected.
Sandra Bullock: Won an Oscar for “The Blind Side” (2009); won a Razzie for “All About Steve” (2009).
Bullock is perhaps the poster child for the Oscar fall-off as she pulled off the rare feat of winning an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year. Not that this was entirely deserved — “Steve” is a bad movie, but hers was hardly the “worst” performance of that year. She even had the aplomb to accept both awards in person, tossing DVDs of “Steve” to the Razzie crowd. It should be noted, of course, that “Steve” was made well before Ms. Bullock’s gold rush, so this wasn’t exactly a designed trajectory. She did precede “Blind Side” with the ill-received “The Proposal” — but the rom-com with Ryan Reynolds made more than $300 million, so there’s that. At any rate, she seems to have done OK since, including another Oscar nomination (and stratospheric payday) for “Gravity” (2013).
Robin Williams: Won for “Good Will Hunting” (1997); squandered that goodwill with “Flubber” (1997) and “Father’s Day” (1997).
The beloved comic actor was so perfect in “Good Will,” it’s almost impossible to think of anyone else as the compassionate psychiatrist trying to help Matt Damon’s protagonist. But the remake of “The Absent Minded Professor” was probably not the Oscar bounce he was looking for (23 on Rotten Tomatoes) and the American version of an utterly hilarious French comedy (“Les Compères”) was less than magnifique. Halle Berry: Won for “Monster’s Ball” (2001); next emerged in “Die Another Day” (2002).
This one counts as more surprising than a steep drop-off — “Die” is a forgettable entry in the James Bond franchise (quick, what was the plot?), but it’s not terrible. It’s just unexpected for an actress to go from an extraordinary, soul-baring performance for the Academy Award to bikiniclad Bond Girl status. Daniel Day-Lewis: Won his second Oscar for “There Will Be Blood” (2007); followed with the very rare (for him) misfire of “Nine” (2009).
It may be that his brand of ultra-immersive, deeply connected realism didn’t mesh well with the hyperactive camerawork and editing of Rob Marshall’s adaptation of the Broadway musical (itself an adaptation of Federico Fellini’s “8½”). A strong argument for that would be that the excellence of the cast (including Marion Cotillard, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman et al) failed to elevate the film above a 38 on Rotten Tomatoes. DayLewis’ “slump” was short-lived: He was next in “Lincoln” (2012) and logged his third Oscar.
Sally Field: Sailed with “Norma Rae” (1979); sank with “Beyond the Poseidon Adventure” (1979).
The disaster sequel “Beyond” was a fishing expedition (zero on Rotten Tomatoes, though without enough reviews for an official rating). Then there was the disastrous sequel “Smokey and the Bandit II” (1980). Soon after, she was in the fine “Absence of Malice” and won her second Oscar for “Places in the Heart” (1984). So voters still liked her.
Hilary Swank: Won her second Oscar for “Million Dollar Baby”; her next theatrical release was “The Black Dahlia” (2006).
You can’t really blame her for taking the gig; Brian De Palma directed a fine cast including Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson and Aaron Eckhart. It was adapted from a James Ellroy novel. But “Dahlia” (32 on Rotten Tomatoes) is too convoluted to compel; it’s an exercise in style over substance. Since then, Swank has turned in Oscar-worthy work in “The Homesman” (2014).