Before I begin this list, and the readers demand my head, I’m going to admit that I don’t hate Zac Efron . High School Musical is even number two on my best Disney Channel Original Movies list! However, just because I like him doesn’t mean that I’m going to go easy on him.
I also understand that he just got out of rehab and I shouldn’t kick a guy when he’s down. Don’t think of it as me kicking him down, rather, I’m uplifting him to do his best. The films on this list are not his best. He could do better than these.
The 25-year-old does have good movies, I’ll admit that. Another TheCelebrityCafe.com writer compiled them into another top ten. However, some of his movies are just plain terrible. Not to say that he is terrible, it is just that the material within the film is awful.
Efron’s filmography isn’t long enough to honestly list ten terrible movies. He has only been in seventeen released films. Three of them were High School Musical films and four were made-for-TV. It would be unfair to rank his remaining few because they’re not all bad. I’ll simply do a top five.
The first role that Efron has on his filmography is the television show Firefly, in which he had a guest starring role in 2002. His first big role however was playing Cameron Bale on Summerland in 2004. The television show ran on the WB and starred Jesse McCartney. Efron got his big break in 2006 when he played the role of Troy Bolton in High School Musical.
High School Musical went on to become a trilogy. The first two were shown as television movies and the final was in theaters. There was a HSM spinoff titled Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure but Efron did not make an appearance.
Since his HSM days, Efron has made mostly indie films as well as a few romantic movies. He was the lead role of The Lorax. Below are his worst films.
5. At Any Price, 2012
At Any Price tells a great story. It relates to real America and the troubles that Americans face on a daily basis. Plus, there are some pretty cool cars. A father (Dennis Quaid) wants his son to control the farm but his son (Efron) doesn’t want to. He wants to drive cars.
The reason the film is on this list isn’t Efron’s fault. It is the fact that he had a poorly written character. Every character in the film seemed like a cardboard cutout rather than a representation of what is going on in real life. Plus, the weird side-plots and terrible ending ruined it for me.
4. The Paperboy, 2012
The film has many, many plotlines. However, the main story is investigative reporter (Matthew McConaughey) and his partner trying to get a really good story. His brother and groupie hang around while they try to prove that a man on death row is innocent. Nicole Kidman peed on Efron in this film. When an A-lister pees on someone, you have to worry about the quality of the material.
Beyond that, Efron’s role seemed to be guy-running-around-in-his-underwear. How can you show off your acting chops when you’re running around naked? He took himself too seriously in the film too. I know that the film was meant to be artful but it just ended up as trashy.
3. New Year’s Eve, 2012
For a movie packed with celebrities, you’d think it would be great. It was actually terrible. It was dull and didn’t tell a real story. The follow up to Valentine’s Day, this film told the story of a group of people on New Year’s Eve. Efron played the part of a man trying to get tickets to a party by helping a woman finish her resolutions.
The entire cast didn’t try in the film and it showed. It seemed as if they were all off of their A-game and came for the paycheck. I am not the only one who thinks the movie is bad. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 7 percent approval rating. Ouch.
2. Charlie St. Cloud, 2010
Efron’s acting was really great in this movie. He seemed to be giving it his all. It was the story that ruined the film. The film follows Charlie St. Cloud (Efron) playing baseball with his dead brother’s ghost. Charlie had a bright future ahead of him but his guilt over his brother’s death is what held him back.
I wanted to like this movie. I really did. But, while Efron really did well, the rest of the cast brought it down. I felt bad for Efron as an actor but not his character. It was a waste of talent.
1. The Lucky One, 2012
The Lucky One is awful. His acting was awful, the roles were miscast. The entire movie was terrible. I won’t apologize for that statement. Hands down, it is Efron’s worst movie. Taylor Schilling, who plays the romantic lead, looks old enough to be his mother throughout the entire film. It is melodramatic. Terrible.
Yes, it is based on a book of the same name, but it isn’t just the story that is melodramatic. The characters over-acted. It felt like a really long soap opera that was boring and lame.
What do you guys think? Comment your favorite or least favorite Efron film.