The bizarre 1988 movie nobody likes unironically except Christopher Walken: “One of my best performances”
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Mon 25 May 2026 16:45, UK
There are good movies, bad movies, and movies that are so bad they become good. As one of his generation’s most prolific actors, Christopher Walken has experienced all three, but he remains adamant that one of the films that falls into the latter camp is a fine work of cinema.
It isn’t, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its fans. However, the people who enjoy it only enjoy it ironically, because there’s absolutely no enjoyment to be had from taking it seriously. Watch it as an unintentionally hilarious and bizarre exercise in Walkenism, though, and there’s some fun to be had.
The Academy Award winner has amassed hundreds of credits because he loves being an actor, and when you love being an actor, the best way to spend your time is by acting. That’s why he’s been in so many pictures, and that’s also why so many of them are terrible, not to mention the reason why he hasn’t even bothered to watch so many of them.
Director Martin Brest can’t even bring himself to mention it by name, and Ben Affleck recoils in horror at the mere mention of its name, but Walken remains the one and only person involved with Gigli who’s either willing or oblivious enough to its endless flaws to defend it as anything other than a disaster.
In the 20+ years since its release, the career-killing caper has found some levels of cult appreciation among the ‘so bad it’s good’ crowd, something that can also be said about 1988’s Puss in Boots, another off-the-wall Walken-starrer that, when measured by conventional metrics, is a terrible, terrible movie.
The musical fantasy immediately fell into obscurity, since it wasn’t given a theatrical release in the United States and was quietly shuffled out on home video and television, and it’s perfectly on-brand for Walken to be the most vocal defender of a song-and-dance number where he plays a cat who transforms into a man whenever he puts on the titular footwear.
A man, it must be mentioned, who enjoys few things more than using their human form to break into tunes and bust a move or two. There clearly wasn’t much of a budget to work with, the songs are awful, and the choreography is enough to cause full-body cringe, but dammit, Walken throws his heart and soul into Puss in Boots, which is good enough for it to have a special place in his heart.
Further reading: Cutting Room Floor
“I did another musical movie of the kids’ story, Puss in Boots,” Walken reflected, taking a trip down a musical memory lane. “Which nobody ever saw, but it’s good.” The first half of that sentence is true, but the second is entirely debatable, although the veteran holds it up alongside any of his other finest hours.
“It’s actually one of my best performances, I think,” he insisted. “Nobody’s seen it, but it’s really one of my better ones.” As mentioned, you can enjoy his Puss and Boots, but not with a straight face. If you set your expectations low, plant your tongue in your cheek, and marvel at the what-the-fuckery on display, though, it’s an oddball slice of camp. Is it one of his best performances? Common sense says no, but he’s the one who gave it, and he seems pretty certain that it is.
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