From 52 year age gaps to mature actors that are constantly paired with super young starlets.
Some movie kiss scenes simply shouldn't have happened. Watch at your own risk.
"Birth" is one of those unconventional movies that pushes the boundaries in all the wrong
ways. Directed by Jonathan Glazer, the film stars Nicole Kidman as Anna, a widow who believes that
a young boy named Sean, played by Cameron Bright, is actually her deceased husband reincarnated. The
boy apparently knows everything about her, right down to her sexual exploits with her husband,
which is really all the proof she needs to dive head first into the elaborate fantasy.
While other films have explored this same concept, often with humorous results,
"Birth" goes the extra mile to make the content as creepy as possible by having
the 36-year-old Kidman smooch and bathe with her 10-year-old co-star. Thankfully,
the scene is meant to be more unpleasant than arousing, but such moments feel like a creative
mastermind stretching an obscene premise for the sake of generating a little controversy.
In the end, it didn't matter. Audiences avoided "Birth" like the plague,
resulting in a meager $14 million worldwide gross, while the majority of critics quickly
dismissed the production as little more than a questionable exercise in creepiness.
"As Good As It Gets" tells the story of cantankerous germaphobe Melvin,
played by Jack Nicholson, who forms an unlikely friendship with waitress Carol,
played by Helen Hunt. Written by James L. Brooks, the Academy Award-winning picture boasts an
abundance of laughs, even when it evolves into a fairly routine love story. However,
the romance just so happens to occur between 60-year-old Nicholson and 34-year-old Hunt.
In fact, "As Good as It Gets" leads to a climactic smooch that feels out of place,
and more than a little off-putting considering the
massive age gap between its stars. As Roger Ebert wrote in his review,
"It's almost painful, watching the screenplay stretch and contort these characters to fit
them somehow into a conventional formula — they're dragged toward the happy ending,
screaming and kicking all the way."
"Gonna grab ya."
"Indecent Proposal" is one of those fun erotic dramas of the '90s that generates as much pathos
as it does unintentional comedy. The 1993 hit follows a young couple, played by Demi Moore
and Woody Harrelson. Everything's fine until they're approached by a billionaire, played by
Robert Redford, who offers one million dollars to spend just one night with Moore's character.
"Suppose I were to offer you one million dollars."
Directed by Adrian Lyne, "Indecent Proposal" received scathing reviews upon its release,
but still managed to generate over $266 million in worldwide ticket sales. Despite their 26-year age
difference, Redford and Moore still managed to generate plenty of heat on screen. At the time,
Redford was 55, while Moore was 29, but that didn't stop them from locking lips. Obviously,
the plot is purposefully constructed to create maximum awkwardness, especially
as a man is essentially paying for a woman. Still, the discernible age difference between
the two leads is pretty hard to ignore, particularly during the steamier scenes.
Harrison Ford and the late Anne Heche made waves when they appeared together in Ivan Reitman's
romantic comedy "Six Days, Seven Nights." In the movie, Ford plays a pilot who gets stranded with
an eccentric magazine editor on a remote island following a plane crash, and much hilarity ensues.
The frothy romance is filled with adventure and warm-hearted humor, but the audience first has to
get over the idea of seeing a 55-year-old Ford lock lips with a 29-year-old Heche.
"Six Days, Seven Nights" was released right around the time
Heche's relationship with Ellen DeGeneres made waves throughout the pop culture landscape,
only adding to the controversy. Ford ignored the noise and, according to Heche,
focused on making a great romantic comedy instead. As Heche would remark to Vanity Fair,
"That is why Harrison Ford is my hero. To stand behind me at such a time when
the force of what I was standing up for could have been toppled."
Before she won an Oscar for "La La Land," Emma Stone took on a number of more questionable
roles. One of those was in Woody Allen's "Magic in the Moonlight," released in 2014.
While working with Allen used to be a badge of honor for any actor, a plethora of his
movies feature female leads who are much, much younger than their male counterparts.
"I'm told she's very pleasant to look at."
In this case, a 26-year-old Stone chases after 54-year-old Colin Firth in a plot
centered around clairvoyance. While the pair displays wonderful chemistry,
it's not necessarily believable that Stone's character would end up with a
man twice her age. Their big kiss at the finale feels more forced than necessary,
mostly because Firth's character seemingly regards Stone as nothing more than a friend.
As a result, his sudden change of heart in the film's third act feels pretty awkward.
As it turns out, age discrepancies aren't just a modern device used to cater to older actors
who think they're still 25. In Billy Wilder's "Love in the Afternoon," which came out in 1957,
screen icon Gary Cooper can be seen kissing Audrey Hepburn. The problem is, while Hepburn
was a fairly fresh-faced 28-year-old, Cooper was nearly 60 at the time. Sadly,
the age difference wasn't much of a hit with audiences, leading to disappointing box office
receipts and a middling reaction from critics. Even Wilder suggested that the age discrepancy
between his two stars was the reason for the film's poor performance. In the book
"On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder," the writer-director quipped,
"It was a flop. Why? Because I got Coop the week he suddenly got old."
Liam Neeson was 32 years older than Olivia Wilde when they appeared together in Paul Haggis' 2013
drama, "Third Person." Of course, even at the ripe old age of 61, Neeson could pass for a reasonably
healthy-looking man in his 50s. However, as Wilde was just 29 at the time, the age gap was
enough to detract from their onscreen romance, resulting in an awkward viewing experience.
Critics didn't take kindly to "Third Person," with only 25% awarding the picture a positive
review on Rotten Tomatoes. The $2 million worldwide box office gross also proved
audiences were likewise turned off by this tepid effort from the usually reliable Haggis.
"You know, if I don't find a use for you soon, I'm gonna have to get rid of you."
Michael Caine turned 50 in 1983, which was the same year "Blame It
On Rio" was filmed. That didn't stop the critical dud from casting him to
be in a frivolous romance with a very young Michelle Johnson,
who was 17 when the dark comedy was filmed. The pair spends much of the film's runtime flirting,
kissing and having sex to an uncomfortable degree. As Roger Ebert declared in his review,
"'Blame It On Rio' [...] has the mind of a 1940s bongo comedy and the heart of a
porno film. It's really unsettling to see how casually this movie takes a serious situation."
Indeed, director Stanley Donen uses his absurd premise to deliver cheap laughs,
which is probably why no one has spoken of this movie since its release.
"I really appreciate you not saying anything."
Adrian Lyne, the director behind erotic thrillers "9 1/2 Weeks," and "Indecent
Proposal," strikes again with 1997's "Lolita." Based on the book of the same name by Vladimir
Nabokov, "Lolita" explores the sexual relationship between a middle-aged man,
played by Jeremy Irons, and a 14-year-old girl, portrayed by Dominique Swain.
In the controversial film, Irons' relationship with Swain doesn't leave much to the imagination.
As Swain was only 15 at the time, body doubles were needed for explicit sex scenes and moments
involving nudity, while cushions were reportedly placed between the actors
during sequences that required bodily contact. It's a disturbing watch to say the least.
Jack Nicholson has enjoyed a number of leading roles alongside much younger women, and that
includes in the romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give." In the latter, Nicholson portrays
a man named Harry who sleeps with women half his age as a means of retaining his youth.
"Ladies, sensational meeting you."
Harry eventually abandons his ways in favor of the more age-appropriate Erica,
played by Diane Keaton. But before that happens, audiences are subjected to his fleeting romance
with a 31-year-old Amanda Peet, making her 35 years younger than Nicholson at the time.
Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson light up the screen in Sofia Coppola's "Lost
in Translation." Brilliantly acted and wonderfully directed,
the film was a hit with audiences and critics when it was released in 2003. However,
some viewers were a little creeped out by the finale, in which a 52-year-old Murray plants a
kiss on 17-year-old Johansson. Discussing the age difference, Coppola told the Daily Beast,
"There were certain actors that people mentioned for the Bill part,
and if they were lying in bed, that could have been creepy, but it’s just something
about how Bill is that it never came off lecherous. Maybe because he’s such a kid."
Sean Connery aged incredibly well, which allowed him to play the lead in a number of action films
well into his late 60s. However, such genre entries usually require a young leading lady to
star alongside the film's hero, and Hollywood was more than happy to oblige. In the case of 1999's
"Entrapment," the 68-year-old actor teamed up with a 29-year-old Catherine Zeta-Jones,
resulting in an awkward romance that was borderline ludicrous.
"I was prepared for everything, except you."
The film also has Connery's 60-year-old Robert "Mac" MacDougal scaling high-rises
and breaking into vaults, actions that require audiences to bury their skepticism
under about 50 tons of popcorn. Yet, seeing the former James Bond engage in passionate
onscreen lovemaking with Zeta-Jones' eager-to-please young thief is simply one
ridiculous plot point too many. Sure, the duo's onscreen chemistry can't be denied,
but a casting director somewhere is in dire need of a reality check.
Drew Barrymore was only 17 when she swapped spit with a 58-year-old Tom Skerritt in the
1992 erotic thriller "Poison Ivy." The story centers around a young psychopath named Ivy
who seduces the much older father of her best friend in order to become a
part of their family. Sure, Ivy resorts to murder to complete her wicked plan,
but you can't make an omelette without breaking some eggs, right?
Inevitably, Skerritt's character is seduced by his daughter's friend, and they end up having sex on
the hood of his car in the middle of a rainstorm. Context aside, seeing a teenager make out with
a nearly 60-year-old man doesn't exactly push the thrill buttons. While the scene is intended
to make viewers uncomfortable, that doesn't change the fact that Barrymore and Skerritt
dove head first into murky territory for the sake of fleeting, superficial entertainment.
The 1971 dark comedy "Harold and Maude" has endured over the years as a cult classic, thanks
to its big heart and deep explorations about life and death. The film tells the tale of Harold,
played by Bud Cort, a depressed 20-year-old who spends his days attending funerals and looking
for unique ways to kill himself. By chance, he meets Maude, played by Ruth Gordon, an eccentric,
free-spirited older woman prone to uprooting trees from the city and returning them to the forest.
The odd couple form a unique union powerful enough to propel them through the doldrums of life.
However, that union eventually crosses into the bizarre when Harold and Maude begin romancing
one another. While it's plausible that a young man might befriend a much older woman,
seeing a 20-year-old boy kiss a woman who is 52 years his senior
is not quite the "happily ever after" audiences were expecting.