Morgan Freeman is undeniably one of the most recognized actors of our time. His filmography is extensive and diverse, with an Oscar win and several iconic roles to his credit. Much like Samuel L. Jackson or John Travolta, Freeman is known for his prolific output, often lending his immense talent to projects that other actors of his stature might overlook.
This is not to undermine the now 87-year-old actor. On the contrary, Freeman often enhances the quality of these lesser-known films with his mere presence. However, there are some films that even the formidable Morgan Freeman couldn’t salvage. For every “Million Dollar Baby” or “Shawshank Redemption”, there’s a baffling dud in Freeman’s repertoire that couldn’t be saved by his commanding presence. For example, “Transcendence” from 2014, currently holds a dismal 19% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, while the “Has Fallen” trilogy struggles to score above 50% on the review aggregator. Here’s hoping the fourth installment fares better.
Now, let’s delve deeper into the Freeman filmography, where we’ll uncover films so poor that even Freeman’s esteemed involvement couldn’t push the Tomatometer over the dreaded 0% mark.
Morgan Freeman’s lowest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes
First Look International
Which Morgan Freeman films could be so terrible that they didn’t receive a single positive review? As it turns out, there are a couple. But don’t worry, these films aren’t widely known, so they won’t tarnish any hidden Freeman gems. However, both these films have been poorly received by the Tomatometer and currently hold 0% ratings on the website.
The first film on our list is “The Contract” from 2006, in which Freeman plays the role of assassin Frank Carden. This film also features John Cusack as ex-cop Ray Keene, who unintentionally gets entangled in Frank’s dark underworld. Despite the efforts of Freeman and Cusack, this direct-to-video film failed to secure a single positive review. It’s worth noting that the film only has six reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
With fewer reviews, a film is more likely to receive a 0 or 100% rating due to Rotten Tomatoes’ rating system. In this case, 0% simply means none of the six critics who reviewed “The Contract” liked it. If more reviews had been collected, the percentage might have increased, albeit slightly. However, this action thriller directed by Bruce Beresford was not well-received by the six critics who did review it. One critic described “The Contract” as “little more than a clumsy pile-up of hackneyed themes, one-dimensional characters, and mediocre tension.” It’s safe to say that Frank Carden will not be remembered as one of Morgan Freeman’s best roles.
The other lowest-rated Morgan Freeman film on Rotten Tomatoes
Lionsgate
“The Contract” may not be Morgan Freeman’s proudest moment, but there is another film that performed even worse. How can it get worse than zero? By having more reviews and still maintaining a 0% rating on the Tomatometer.
To achieve this dubious distinction, Freeman had to collaborate with an actor who is no stranger to 0% ratings – John Travolta. Travolta currently has seven films with 0% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, one of which also stars Morgan Freeman. The 2019 film “The Poison Rose” is another Freeman failure. This film, which Variety described as “an astonishingly listless neo-noir wannabe,” saw the Oscar-winning actor team up with his equally prolific colleague.
In this thriller directed by George Gallo, Travolta portrays Carson Phillips, a hard-drinking private detective who returns to his Texas hometown to investigate a missing persons case. There, he meets mob boss Doc, played by Freeman, in a performance that the Los Angeles Times praised as a “solid supporting role.” Unfortunately, that was one of the few positive comments about the film, which the Times also described as “just… well, sad.” The other ten reviews for this film were not much better.
Are these Morgan Freeman duds really that bad?
Lionsgate
Both “The Contract” and “The Poison Rose,” with their 0% ratings, are at the bottom of Rotten Tomatoes’ ranking of Morgan Freeman films. They are just above another overlooked flop, “Just Getting Started,” which holds a 4% rating. However, it’s important to note that Rotten Tomatoes is not the final authority on film criticism. Besides the fact that these specific films have very few reviews to begin with, the site’s entire rating system is, at best, questionable.
The most evident example of this is that Rotten Tomatoes suggests that there are only two perfect sci-fi movies in the history of cinema, and that Alfred Hitchcock only made two perfect films – “Shadow of a Doubt” from 1943 and “Young and Innocent” from 1937. A more detailed analysis would reveal that the RT percentages are based on reviews that are deemed either positive or negative, reducing all critical subtlety to a binary. Furthermore, this system forces the RT curators to categorize reviews that don’t fit this mold into barely coherent categories, which the site itself describes as either “mixed-positive” or “mixed-negative.”
So, Morgan Freeman fans, take heart. These ratings should not be taken too seriously, especially since the more informative “average rating” scores for both “The Contract” and “The Poison Rose” are higher than zero. The former managed a 3.9 out of 10, and the latter a 2.9 out of 10. While these scores are not great, they are not zero. However, these are likely two films in his filmography that Morgan Freeman would prefer to forget rather than defend. Let’s follow his lead in that regard.
Credit: www.slashfilm.com