Affleck plays tobacco industry whistleblower Wigand in this tense conspiratorial thriller. The star piles on the weight for the role with disastrous results: it looks like you could lose a finger in his chin dimple, and repulsed audiences make the film a flop.

Armageddon (1998)
Russell Crowe is A.J. Frost

Crowe plays oil-rigger A.J. in this blockbuster action romance. The film is a huge hit but critics tag the ending, in which Crowe punches the meteor back into space and gets drunk with Bruce Willis, as an ‘emotional disappointment’.