10 Actors Who Have Never Made a Bad Movie

The Oscars may be Hollywood's gold standard for what constitutes a "good" movie, but the truth is that—like painting, photography, music, or any other art form—all movies are subjective. And we do we mean all movies.

Over at The Escapist, you'll find an entire forum dedicated to Citizen Kane haters. On MovieFanFare.com, one critic has kindly shared the "10 Things I Hate About Casablanca." Most recently, of course, film critic Armond White famously launched a one-man assault against 12 Years a Slave, which the Hollywood powers-that-be just named the year's Best Picture. The point is that differing opinions are what make movies such fertile ground for conversation, debate and, occasionally, a physical altercation. (If you want to test that latter claim, just try telling a Star Wars fan that Han Solo sucks.)

While there may be no litmus test to make an unimpeachable case for a movie being good or bad, we do have a little thing called statistics. And in the movie world, there are few better websites than Rotten Tomatoes to help a moviegoer determine whether a specific film is worth the $20 ticket-and-a-popcorn price tag. We're not saying that just because the majority of people on the site like the movie means that you will, but an aggregate rating just might be the best thing we've got in terms of hard data for determining a movie's worth.

Dig a little deeper, and you'll find that Rotten Tomatoes also offers a handy little breakdown of the celebrities who populate these movies, and whether their resulting movies tend to be well-liked or, well, hated. Which led us to a little experiment: Using Rotten Tomatoes' rankings as our basis, are there particular actors who—according to the numbers, at least—have never made a bad movie?

In analyzing the data, we looked at both legendary actors of the past and some of today's rising stars. In order to level the playing field so that newcomers like Lupita Nyong'o, who have very few acting credits on their resume, didn't skew the results too heavily in their favor, we discounted any actor with fewer than five feature film credits listed on the site. Which means that James Dean, whose films earned an average rating of 93 percent—couldn't be considered. It also means that we couldn't include Shailene Woodley, whose three features have scored an 80 percent average. (But talk to us again in a couple of months, when Divergent and The Fault in Our Stars have hit theaters.)

As for the ratings themselves, we considered anything above 50 a positive majority for making it eligible. But we also accounted for the number of films that boasted a perfect score (Humphrey Bogart killed it in that category, with 12 of them total). The bad news was that this rule knocked poor, talented Carey Mulligan off the list (which she can blame on The Great Gatsby's 49 percent approval rate). That rule also spelled disaster for the many, many A-listers who appeared in last year's abysmal Movie 43 (which scored a whopping four percent)!

But after much research and many crunched numbers, here—statistically speaking—are 10 Actors Who Have Never Made a Bad Movie.

Average movie rating: 73.3%

Sacha Baron Cohen has been sued enough times by some of the purportedly "unwitting" folks who've appeared in his movies to safely say that not everyone is a fan of the actor-comedian's antics. (Though Borat did score a 91 percent.) But Cohen has enamored enough of Hollywood's power players to find himself smack dab in the middle of some serious critical hits, including Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. His least popular film was in voice only, in 2005's Madagascar.

Average movie rating: 73.6%

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia star Charlie Day just made the cutoff here, with five feature films. And what's particularly interesting about his numbers is that they've grown with each new film, starting with an 53% for Going the Distance, and leading up to 96% for The Lego Movie. His biggest roles, in Horrible Bosses and Pacific Rim, earned ratings of 69% and 71%, respectively.

Average movie rating: 79.8%

You can't argue with cool. And when it comes to leading men, they don't come much more iconic than Steve McQueen, whose "best" movies, mathematically speaking, will come as no surprise: Bullitt (97%), The Great Escape, and The Magnificent Seven (both 93%).

Average movie rating: 81.9%

Daniel Radcliffe may have been the official star of the Harry Potter franchise, but Emma Watson is its breakout star. Since parting ways with Hermione, she has made some wise choices which have served to showcase her adeptness at both drama and comedy. Yes, it's the Harry Potter films that top the rankings of her filmography. But This is the End, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and My Week With Marilyn have also been well-received.

Average movie rating: 86.9%

Don't let the photo above fool you: Jimmy Stewart may be one of history's most beloved actors, but he's got more than a half-dozen clunkers on his filmography. His It's a Wonderful Life wife, however, does not. In fact, none of her movies rate lower than an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Perhaps most surprising is that the aforementioned holiday classic isn't even considered her best film; that honor belongs to 1952's Scandal Sheet (The Dark Page), which has a perfect rating.

Average movie rating: 87.6%

James Cagney just may be Hollywood's most beloved bad guy. Among the six of his movies that have a perfect rating are the gangster classics The Public Enemy, The Roaring Twenties, Angels with Dirty Faces, and White Heat.

Average movie rating: 89%

Grace Kelly's fairytale existence extended to her work on the big-screen as well. Before she announced her early retirement in order to become the Princess of Monaco, she secured her spot as part of Hollywood royalty with two Oscar nominations (one of which she won) and memorable roles in such iconic films as Rear Window, High Noon, To Catch a Thief, Dial M for Murder and the foreshadowingly titled High Society.

Average movie rating: 91.7%

Charlie Chaplin has only himself to credit for his likability, as he wrote and directed the very popular pictures in which he starred. The most popular among them? Modern Times, The Kid, The Gold Rush, and The Circus, each of which have perfect ratings.

Average movie rating: 92.8%

Bogey's ranking near the top of this list has a lot to do with the fact that of the more than two dozen of his titles included on Rotten Tomatoes, 12 of them have perfect ratings. Believe it or not, Casablanca is not one of them. The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Harder They Fall, The African Queen, and The Maltese Falcon are.

Average movie rating: 97.2%

John Cazale was the ultimate scene-stealer whose untimely passing at the age of 42 from cancer was a major loss for the history of film. In his brief, six-year career, he managed to contribute to what are arguably five of cinema's best films. Most famously, he played passed-over Fredo in the first two Godfather films, but was equally brilliant in The Conversation, Dog Day Afternoon, and The Deer Hunter. He passed away shortly after completing work on The Deer Hunter, nine months before its release.