Any actor can find themselves in a slump, but it can often take just one movie to reverse their fortunes. Due to the specifics of Rotten Tomatoes’ rating system, an actor can go for years without making a “fresh” movie, even in the prime years of their career while they are still beloved by audiences. For a movie to be fresh, it has to receive positive reviews from a majority of critics.
Sometimes, a fresh movie can do more than just break a streak on Rotten Tomatoes. One critically acclaimed movie can put an actor in awards contention, and it can lead to them being cast in many more high-profile roles. Even an actor on a bad streak can quickly turn things around and make a hit. In some cases, actors make their most memorable movies right after a string of duds.
Related 10 Movies That Critics Hated But Are Now Verified “Hot” Under Rotten Tomatoes’ New Rating
Rotten Tomatoes’ Verified Hot badge highlights movies that have strong audience scores, but some movies with the distinction were loathed by critics.
10 Fight Club (1999)
Brad Pitt Had A Minor Slump Before Fight Club
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Fight Club 
5.0 34
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Director David Fincher Release Date October 15, 1999 Cast Brad Pitt , Meat Loaf , Edward Norton , Jared Leto , Helena Bonham Carter
Brad Pitt was one of the biggest stars of the 1990s, consistently pulling in huge box office numbers with hits such as Thelma and Louise, Seven and Interview With the Vampire. However, he also had a few critical flops in the late 1990s. Even though it wasn’t a box office sensation, Fight Club was Pitt’s first critical success in years, and it soon gained a cult following who could appreciate its quality.
Even though it wasn’t a box office sensation,
Fight Club
was Pitt’s first critical success in years.
Tyler Durden has since become one of Pitt’s most iconic roles. The flamboyant, philosophical soap manufacturer-cum-domestic terrorist lets Pitt show off his comedy chops as well as his dramatic intensity. Decades later, Fight Club is recognized as one of the roles which has defined Pitt’s career. It kick-started another streak of critical successes, including Snatch and Ocean’s Eleven.
9 Sexy Beast (2000)
Ben Kingsley Delivered One Of His Most Memorable Performances As Don Logan
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Director Jonathan Glazer Release Date January 1, 2001 Cast Ray Winstone , Ben Kingsley , Ian McShane
Before Sexy Beast, Ben Kingsley’s most famous performances came when he was playing heroes, in Gandhi and Schindler’s List. Sexy Beast provided an abrupt change of pace, and it was just what Kingsley needed to break a rotten streak which included duds such as Rules of Engagement and a TV movie adaptation of Alice in Wonderland. Sexy Beast showed a different side to Kingsley’s range.
Before
Sexy Beast,
Ben Kingsley’s most famous performances came when he was playing heroes, in
Gandhi
and
Schindler’s List.
Don Logan is a detestable criminal mastermind who travels to Spain to forcibly yank one of his former associates out of retirement for one last heist. Sexy Beast waits a long time to introduce him, but his terrifying reputation looms over everybody. When Kingsley does eventually enter the frame, he more than lives up to this billing. His short stature barely masks his powerful, volatile rage.
8 Crazy Rich Asians (2018)
Michelle Yeoh Broke A Losing Streak With A Romcom
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Crazy Rich Asians 4.5 4
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Director Jon M. Chu Release Date August 15, 2018 Cast Gemma Chan , Chris Pang , Awkwafina , Jimmy O. Yang , Michelle Yeoh , Ken Jeong , Henry Golding , Sonoya Mizuno , Jing Lusi , Constance Wu
Crazy Rich Asians was Michelle Yeoh’s first fresh movie since Kung Fu Panda 2 in 2011. In the intervening years, she appeared in a few movies which looked like hits on paper, although they didn’t pan out that way. 2011’s The Lady stars Yeoh as Aung San Suu Kyi, the revolutionary Burmese politician, and 2016’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny was a sequel to one of Yeoh’s greatest movies. Neither lived up to their potential.
Between 2011 and 2018, she appeared in a few movies which looked like hits on paper, although they didn’t pan out that way.
In Crazy Rich Asians, Yeoh plays the domineering matriarch of the Young family who tries to shut out anyone who she sees as unworthy. Her character embodies the forbidding nature of the Young family and their lavish existence in Singapore. Crazy Rich Asians was a big box office success as well as a critical darling, as it has a majority Chinese cast in a way that’s rare for big Hollywood movies.
7 Creed (2015)
Sylvester Stallone Revived The Franchise That Made Him A Star
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Creed 4.0 3
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Director Ryan Coogler Release Date November 25, 2015 Cast Michael B. Jordan , Sylvester Stallone , Wood Harris , Graham McTavish , Tessa Thompson , Phylicia Rashad
When Sylvester Stallone wrote and starred in Rocky, his fortunes changed overnight. Although he had slept in a bus terminal and resorted to softcore pornography in the earliest days of his career, he suddenly became a recognizable movie star. It’s appropriate that the reboot of the Rocky franchise transformed Stallone’s career once more. It was his first fresh movie after a string of seven duds.
It’s appropriate that the reboot of the
Rocky
franchise transformed Stallone’s career once more.
The Expendables franchise sees Stallone trying to relive his glory days alongside a stacked roster of other action stars, but Creed works so well because it faces aging head-on. Rocky is still the same man as always, except he is a little older and wiser, having learned from his tumultuous career. In the same way that Rocky passes his knowledge on to Donnie, Creed was the first step in handing the franchise over to Michael B. Jordan.
6 Punch-Drunk Love (2002)
Adam Sandler Scored A Rare Critical Success With Punch-Drunk Love
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Director Paul Thomas Anderson Release Date November 1, 2002 Cast Robert Smigel , Mary Lynn Rajskub , Emily Watson , Adam Sandler , Luis Guzman , Philip Seymour Hoffman
A lot of Adam Sandler’s best movies came out in the 1990s and 2000s, but not many of them achieved critical success. Billy Madison, The Waterboy and Big Daddy all have rotten ratings, although their high audience scores show that Sandler is rarely trying to appeal to critics. Punch-Drunk Love is a rare Adam Sandler movie that is loved by both critics and audiences.
A lot of Adam Sandler’s best movies came out in the 1990s and 2000s, but not many of them achieved critical success.
Punch-Drunk Love isn’t a typical Adam Sandler comedy. It was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who has gained plaudits for movies such as Magnolia and There Will Be Blood. The dissonance between Anderson and Sandler’s styles makes it seem as though they shouldn’t be able to work together, but Punch-Drunk Love manages to work brilliantly. Their one and only collaboration gave Sandler his first fresh movie after six rotten comedies. He then resumed his rotten form.
5 Shrek 2 (2004)
Julie Andrews Started Her Career As A Voice Actor With The Shrek Sequel
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Shrek 2 4.0 5
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Director Kelly Asbury , Andrew Adamson , Conrad Vernon Release Date May 19, 2004 Cast Eddie Murphy , Mike Myers , Rupert Everett , Antonio Banderas , Jennifer Saunders , Cameron Diaz , Julie Andrews , John Cleese
Julie Andrews first shot to fame with two of the most iconic movie musical performances of all time in back-to-back years. The Sound of Music and Mary Poppins made her a star, and she found further success in the next two decades, with films such as Victor/Victoria and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, she took a step back from movies. Shrek 2 was her first fresh movie since 1986’s Duet for One.
Shrek 2
was her first fresh movie since 1986’s
Duet for One
Andrews lost her singing voice after a botched surgery in the 1990s, but she has reinvented herself in the 21st century as a star of children’s movies. This began with her role in The Princess Diaries, but Shrek 2 was the first movie that matched audience admiration with critical success. She has since had voice acting roles in the Despicable Me franchise, Aquaman, and the following two Shrek movies. It remains to be seen whether she will reprise her roles as Queen Lillian in the upcoming Shrek 5.
4 Birdman (2014)
Birdman Did More Than Break Michael Keaton’s Bad Rotten Tomatoes Streak
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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) 4.5 3
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Director Alejandro González Iñárritu Release Date October 17, 2014 Cast Andrea Riseborough , Naomi Watts , Emma Stone , Edward Norton , Zach Galifianakis , Michael Keaton , Amy Ryan
With the odd exception, Michael Keaton was defined for a long time by his roles from the 1980s in Batman and Beetlejuice. Birdman features Keaton playing another actor struggling to step out from the shadow of a massive superhero franchise as he ages. The parallels between his real life and his character are easy to see, and his Oscar-nominated performance changed the way that a lot of people saw him.
With the odd exception, Michael Keaton was defined for a long time by his roles from the 1980s in
Batman
and
Beetlejuice.
Birdman is filmed as if it’s one continuous shot, accompanied by frantic percussion and peppered with some great jokes. The Best Picture winner told the story of Keaton’s career in a way that allowed people who were familiar with it to see it from a completely new perspective. There is also a lot of Birdman that has nothing to do with Keaton, and it’s here that it becomes an interesting meditation on the nature of art and commerce.
3 Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (2004)
Christina Applegate Snapped A Long Losing Streak
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Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy 1
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Director Adam McKay Release Date July 9, 2004 Cast Will Ferrell , Christina Applegate , Paul Rudd , Steve Carell , David Koechner , Fred Willard
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is recognized as one of Will Ferrell’s best movies, but it wouldn’t work nearly as well without such a fun supporting cast. Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner make up the rest of Ron Burgundy’s Channel 4 news team, and Christina Applegate’s presence helps provide the conflict to the story. Applegate plays a more serious antidote to Ferrell’s chaotic comedy, but she also gets plenty of laughs.
Anchorman 2
also snapped a long streak of rotten movies for Applegate, but it doesn’t live up to the quality of the original.
Anchorman was Applegate’s first fresh movie, although she had already appeared in some big productions, including Mars Attacks! Her role as Veronica Corningstone remains one of her most memorable on the big-screen. Anchorman 2 also snapped a long streak of rotten movies for Applegate, but it doesn’t live up to the quality of the original. She was the perfect actor for the role, and she brought the best out of Ferrell too.
2 Gangs Of New York (2002)
Leonardo DiCaprio Teamed Up With Martin Scorsese For His First Big Win Since Titanic
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Director Martin Scorsese Release Date December 20, 2002 Cast Leonardo DiCaprio , Cameron Diaz , Daniel Day-Lewis , Jim Broadbent , John C. Reilly , Henry Thomas , Liam Neeson , Brendan Gleeson
Leonardo DiCaprio seemed destined for stardom from an early age. He was nominated for an Oscar for his role in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and he became a Hollywood heart-throb a few years later with Romeo + Juliet and Titanic. After this, he pulled away from romance movies, not wanting to be typecast. Unfortunately, his next few movies were critical flops, with The Man in the Iron Mask and The Beach failing to showcase his talents.
His next few movies after
Titanic
were critical flops, with
The Man in the Iron Mask
and
The Beach
failing to showcase his talents.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s collaboration with Martin Scorsese has colored his career in the 21st century, so it’s apt that their first movie together is what pulled DiCaprio out of a slump. Gangs of New York is a tense historical drama with bursts of spectacular violence that only Scorsese could produce. It helped show DiCaprio in a more mature role than either Romeo + Juliet or Titanic, and he stands toe-to-toe with Daniel Day-Lewis.
1 Pulp Fiction (1994)
Pulp Fiction Was John Travolta’s First Critical Success In Over A Decade
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Pulp Fiction 5.0 5
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Director Quentin Tarantino Release Date October 14, 1994 Cast John Travolta , Bruce Willis , Ving Rhames , Samuel L. Jackson , Uma Thurman , Christopher Walken , Tim Roth , Harvey Keitel , Eric Stoltz , Rosanna Arquette
John Travolta has starred in plenty of movies which were panned by critics. In fact, he has the dishonor of appearing in several movies with 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite this negative reputation, he has made some classics in his career. The early years of his career were the most successful, with Carrie, Grease and Saturday Night Fever all coming within a couple of years of one another.
His performance as Vincent Vega revived his career, and it helped ensure
Pulp Fiction
‘s status as one of the most revolutionary crime movies of all time.
Hollywood was ready to forget all about Travolta before Quentin Tarantino cast him in Pulp Fiction. After 13 years of rotten movies, Travolta finally had a hit. His performance as Vincent Vega revived his career, and it helped ensure Pulp Fiction‘s status as one of the most revolutionary crime movies of all time. His wry sense of humor fits Tarantino’s dialogue perfectly, and he even gets a dance scene with Uma Thurman as a throwback to his glory days in the 1970s.