I’ve always thought that Hollywood makes sometimes horrible casting decisions for a couple reasons: 1) Save a buck, 2) Sell more tickets. Hollywood is notorious for making bad movies that sell a lot of tickets. Much of that can be attributed to casting. Bigger stars = bigger box office = bad movies. Sometimes. Here are 10 of the most egregious offenders:

1. Tom Hanks as Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci Code
   I definitely would have this one on my list, considering I’ve ranted about it before. I understand the producers of the movie wanted a really big opening weekend and hiring Tom “Mr. Opening Weekend” Hanks as one of the most charismatic fictional characters of recent years, Robert Langdon (maybe behind Harry Potter), but the truth is that anyone who read the books knew that Hanks was totally wrong for the character. Langdon was written for one person and one person only: George Clooney. There are others that would have done a better job than Hanks, but I’ll give him some credit… at least he didn’t ruin the movie.
   
   Re-Cast: George Clooney. If not him, Hugh Jackman would have done a serviceable job.
2. Billy Crystal as Harry in When Harry Met Sally
   I will probably never buy Billy Crystal as a romantic lead. When Harry Met Sally is the quintessential “buddy love” movie – one that probably is up there with Sleepless in Seattle as a classic for Valentine’s Day viewing across the nation. I even think that the movie is good and Billy Crystal is charming and all that, but I can’t stand looking at him. Perhaps When Harry Met Sally would have made more sense if Sally were blind – Billy Crystal was wrong for that part for a couple of reasons.
   1. He was considered a “player” near the beginning of the movie. Are you kidding me? That’s just downright ridiculous.
   2. I would say with a lot of confidence that in real-life, you’d call Billy Crystal a “step-down” for Meg Ryan. Now, Meg Ryan got more attractive the older she got (save the last few years when she didn’t meet a plastic surgeon she didn’t like), but even in this movie, she was clearly the more attractive of the two main characters.
   3. His age. In the beginning of the movie, he and Sally are supposedly on their way back to New York from college. College. Billy Crystal was probably at least 15 or 20 obvious years out of college in that movie. Give me a break. But for some reason Bruno Kirby was one of his best friends.

   Re-Cast: Harrison Ford. Look at the amount of charm the dude had in the Indiana Jones movies and the cheekiness he had as Han Solo. I think that would have been pretty good.

3. Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
   OK, before all you fan-boys and fan-girls get all up in a tizzy, be honest with yourself for a second and answer this question. Has there ever in the history of movies been a more annoying, more crucial to the story character than Luke Skywalker? I mean, really. He comes off as such a whiny little punk (which, in turn makes Hayden Christensen’s casting as his dad make sense). Now, I can understand it for one movie, but by the time we get to Empire, he should be well on his way to “bringing balance to the force” not crying to Yoda in the swamp about what he CAN’T do. Look, I love Star Wars as much as the next guy, but this is really an unfortunate casting job.Re-Cast: If the movie were made today, I’d cast Matt Damon in a heartbeat. If I was going with someone who would have been close to the same age, I’d cast Bruce Willis. He would have been 22 in 1977. Hamill was 26.
4. Sandra Bullock as Sarah Lewis in Forces of Nature
   There’s no doubt that the producers of this movie sat down and thought to themselves, who are two attractive people that haven’t been in a movie together? They came up with Ben Affleck and Sandra Bullock. There certainly was potential for a decent movie there and it seemed from the trailers that it might even be good. However, unfortunate writing and a completely mis-cast Sandra Bullock as the “wild child” Sarah RUINED this movie and was the first in a series of missteps in roles by Ben Affleck.Affleck is a guy who is a much better actor than people give him credit for, but this movie was doomed from the start. Since Speed, Sandra Bullock has been America’s darling, so obviously the blame will fall directly on the shoulders of Mr. Affleck. It’s unfortunate, since Sandra Bullock standing on top of the train beating her chest and howling at the moon was just about the most ridiculous scene in the whole movie. And it was a testament to just how ridiculous she was in that role.Re-Cast: Courtney Cox or someone a little less sweet.
5. Brendan Fraser as Rick Cabot in Crash
   He was Encino Man. Granted, I loved With Honors, but that was more because of the story and the writing, not Fraser’s acting. Stick to The Mummy, dude. His wooden performance is just plain dominated by Sandra Bullock’s great acting as his domineering, somewhat racist wife.Re-Cast: Just about anyone. But if I had to pick, I think that the guy from Law & Order would have been good…Christopher Meloni.
6. Chevy Chase and Zach Braff as Fletch in Fletch and Fletch Won
   This might be the most painful on this list for me, given my absolute adoration for Fletch, Fletch Lives and all other things Fletch. I enjoy Zach Braff on Scrubs and I loved his movie, Garden State. HOWEVER, I have to say that neither of them captures what Irwin M. Fletcher is all about, according to the books. Fletch is a bit of a loner, somewhat listless, and a true womanizer. I don’t buy either of these guys as that. Sure, Chevy has charm, particularly in this movie, but that is mostly due to the great job they did of STICKING TO THE BOOK.Evidence that he is a train wreck can be found in the follow-up, which didn’t follow any of the books at all, Fletch Lives. Don’t get me wrong…Fletch is a top 3 movie for me. But after reading all 11 of the Fletch books, I must say that Chevy is totally wrong for it.Which leads me to Braff. After hearing that they were going to update the story and make Fletch, Won, a concept that was originally supposed to be executed by Kevin Smith, I was psyched. Fletch is such a great character and I was really looking forward to the re-imagining of the character. A lot of people went through my mind. Zach Braff was not one of them.I really like Scrubs. But Braff can’t do the character justice. I don’t buy him as a womanizer (see his character on Scrubs), and he certainly is not attractive enough to play the character who charms the pants off several women over the course of 11 books.Re-Cast: Ryan Reynolds for Braff…I don’t know for Chase. That’s a tough one, but I think that there are others who would have been more apropos.
7. Jay Mohr as Jennifer Aniston’s love interest in Picture Perfect
   Bob Sugar. Bob Sugar as Nick. The happy-go-lucky wedding videographer who gets put in a weird situation where he has to pretend he’s Jennifer Aniston’s girlfriend. Oh yeah, and he was on the news for saving some old lady or something. Lest we forget, Jay Mohr got his start on Saturday Night Live and he almost NEVER was on the air. Perhaps Lorne Michaels knew something Hollywood didn’t, because this movie could have been a lot better. Aniston’s chemistry with Paul Rudd in The Object of My Affection was SO MUCH BETTER and Rudd played a guy who was gay. It’s not looking good for you, Bob Sugar.
   
   Re-Cast: Paul Rudd. No one plays the happy-go-lucky aw-shucks type better than Rudd. I also have to give him some props since he is a Kansas City product. I think my dad even knew his dad or something like that. Does that mean I get to be famous?
8. Teri Polo as Pam Byrnes in Meet the Parents
   I absolutely LOVED Meet the Parents the first time I saw it. I thought it was one of the best things to come from Ben Stiller since…perhaps Reality Bites. The casting of DeNiro in a comedic role and Blythe Danner’s absolutely perfect clueless wife was just so funny to me. But one thing always bugged me about that movie and it wasn’t even Ben Stiller’s portrayal of…well…EVERY BEN STILLER CHARACTER EVER. It was Pam, Greg Focker’s wife-to-be. She threw him under a big semi the whole movie long, volunteering him for tasks he didn’t want to do, going over to her ex-boyfriend’s house that she conveniently “forgot about” – all for the sake of impressing her father, who she wasn’t exactly forthcoming about either. I probably could have bought it if a better actress had played Pam, but that character is almost so flawed that it would require an entire re-write.
   
   Re-Cast: Here’s where Sandra Bullock’s sweetness would have worked. I’d put her in the role of Pam and hope that they re-wrote the script a little to make her seem a little more apologetic toward that crazy Focker.
9. Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane in Superman Returns
   This is a new one. Alli and I just watched Superman Returns on OnDemand this weekend and it was pretty good. Brandon Routh was downright CREEPY in his channeling of Christopher Reeve. It’s almost uncanny at times.Bosworth’s Lois Lane, however, leaves something to be desired. We find her engaged to the guy in every superhero movie, James Marsden, about ready to accept her Pulitzer Prize for her article, “Why the World doesn’t Need Superman.” I really think this is an egregious use of someone with “buzz” to push the box office receipts of a movie. Bosworth had a lot of buzz when this movie was filmed. Everyone thought she was great and she was dating Orlando Bloom. However, she only had to make like Margot Kidder (aka “crazy woodpile lady“, not exactly a daunting task. Bosworth came up more than a bit shy…every time she came on screen, I wanted to fast-forward. It wasn’t just the horrible brunette dye job she sported or even her one blue eye and one brown eye; it was her awful acting. She was out shone by her “is it or isn’t it Superman’s” child.Look, I thought Superman Returns was a pretty decent flick. But Bosworth’s Lois Lane was a traveshamockery.Re-cast: Maggie Gyllenhaal. Might be difficult considering that she’s taking over as Rachel Dawes in the new Batman movie for Katie Holmes, but since this is my article, I’ll make the rules.
10. Woody Allen in any of his own movies
    I have a certain amount of respect for Woody Allen. The dude has done things his own way and has made a pretty good living doing it. Annie Hall was a terrific movie, a shining example of why Diane Keaton is perhaps the greatest living actress. But if I have to watch one more movie about him playing himself, I might puke. Ignore the fact that he married his adopted daughter for a second (although, is that even possible? Even just typing made me shudder), and let’s look at him solely as a filmmaker.Allen writes great dialogue and his movies are interesting. But each of the movies that he takes a role in is nearly de-railed by his incessant whining and self-aggrandizement. It’s awful, really.STAY BEHIND THE CAMERA, WOODY.Re-Cast: ANYONE. I beg of you. Please just stay behind the camera, Woody.

What do you think?