Catherine O’Hara was fantastic even in this ‘diabolical’ box office flop

Fans are in mourning across the world after the sudden death of beloved actress and comedy icon Catherine O’Hara at the age of 71.

With a rare talent for interpreting her roles in a unique way that saw them embraced by popular culture – and none more so than her fantastically nuanced and odd take on Moira Rose in Schitt’s Creek – her 50-odd-year career means everyone has a different O’Hara favourite.

It could also be the sour Delia Deetz in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice and its 2024 sequel, the sweetly haunting voice work she did in his animated classic The Nightmare Before Christmas or Kevin’s frazzled mother in Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

There’s also Penelope’s mole-hiding mum in the fantasy rom-com of the same name co-starring Christina Ricci and James McAvoy, O’Hara’s creepy turn as hypnotist Dr Georgina Orwell in Netflix’s adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events and all her hilarious work in Christopher Guest mockumentaries like Best in Show.

And let’s not forget her groundbreaking early work in Canadian sketch series Second City Television alongside John Candy, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis and Martin Short. I could go on.

But perhaps there is no greater example of the joy that O’Hara brought to our screens than when she could still shine so brightly despite the material.

One of her final onscreen movie roles was in Matthew Vaughn’s 2024 spy comedy Argylle, hyped to high heavens thanks to its starry cast (Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sam Rockwell, Dua Lipa, Samuel L. Jackson) and its eye-watering $200million (£146m) budget.  

However it proved to be a big disappointment, belly-flopping at the box office with a reported $96.1m (£70.2m) when Variety claimed that it would have needed around $500m (£365m) to break even as a traditional studio release (it was an Apple Original film, distributed by Universal, so things are a little murky).

It was also savaged by critics, who called it ‘messy’, ‘bloated’, ‘tedious’ and even ‘Arg-vile’ – the latter courtesy of Little White Lies – scraping just a 33% rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes (even if audiences gave it 70%, enough didn’t come and see it).

Director Vaughn admitted he was taken aback by the negative reception, calling the reviews ‘vitriolic’.

‘I’m not saying the movie’s perfect by any means, but I didn’t think it was offensive,’ he told Empire magazine.

Metro’s own two-star verdict stated that fans high hopes would be ‘dashed’ by the movie, branding it ‘ridiculous’ and a waste of money.

‘The suggestion that this could be a fresh take on spy films is proven unfulfilled when Argylle had the potential to do what it did much better.’

However, there was still acknowledgement of O’Hara’s brilliance, acknowledging her as a ‘bright spot’ as Howard’s character Elly’s mother Ruth.

Alongside co-star Cranston, ‘they both seem the most aware of the type of film they’re in, amping it up to 11 at every opportunity’.

The review continued: ‘O’Hara doesn’t necessarily have the snappiest of dialogue (a problem for all of them), but she is determined you’ll chortle nonetheless in what is her action film debut.’

She also – spoiler alert for this deeply mediocre movie – enjoys a delicious plot twist when her supportive if overbearing mother character (an O’Hara speciality) is actually revealed to be a master manipulator and undercover baddie.

And not only was O’Hara a real highlight onscreen, but the way she spoke about Argylle during press was so entertaining too.

When discussing appearing in her first action flick 49 years after her career started, she revealed that she was now ready to strip off for the camera as well for the first time, at 69.

‘Now I’m going to do a nude scene!’ she told Good Morning America. ‘I think it’s time for a nude scene now. I’ve done the action, that’s off the wish list.

‘Now I think my body’s ready for a big nude scene.’

Her co-star Howard was a big fan of the idea too, chiming in: ‘Oh the world deserves it Catherine, please!’

Sadly, we will never get to see O’Hara embrace another first. However, we’re lucky enough that she has still left us as her legacy a truly delightful body of work – in projects both good and bad.

Argylle is streaming exclusively on Apple TV.

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