i watched
With Honors -
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111732/reference/
1994 film starring Brendan Frasier and Joe Pesci, that has pretty much only one good scene, this one:
What's good in this scene and what's missing from the rest of the film, is that in this scene there's an ANTAGONIST. Which is otherwise not present at all in the rest of the film, but actually, Pesci's character plays the role of the antagonist.
Brendan Frasier - whose The Whale i have not seen, but certainly was no talented actor in The Mummy - is a near-graduation Harvard student. He is working on his Thesis where he discusses how poor people suck, and by fate gets his life entwined with rebellius bum Pesci. Pesci's character is that of the old sage, but he also comes into conflict with Frasier both because he dislikes Frasier regurgitating of what garbage he learned at Harvard, and also because he is, at least superficially, an embittered old bum.
Where in the film there is a clear villain, the film is good, but otherwise the story is absolutely phoned in, doesn't take any risks, doesnt even try to break new ground.
The (1998) Robin Williams film Patch Adams has a similar setup, a character disdained by his social superiors who is revealed to hold a much greater truth than any of them, but because Patch Adams has a villain, the film manages to keep you interested, instead With Honors seems to just be a platform for this old philosopher to school you on some profund thoughts, but which have no effect on the plot.
5.5/10 at best, even with a great Joe Pesci.