Actor's Best Roles
Submitted by jgandcag on Mon, 03/19/2001 - 03:34
Tags:
- Ben Affleck -Chasing Amy
- Harrison Ford-Witness
- William Holden Wild Bunch
- Jimmy Stewart-Shop Around the Corner
- Sean Connery Robin and Marian
- Sean Penn At Close Range
- Tom Hanks A League of their Own
- Peter Fonda The Limey
- Brad Pitt-Seven
- Johnny Depp-Whats eating Gilbert Grape(Though Crybaby was a close second)
- Nicholas Cage-Red Rock West
- Cuba Gooding Jerry McGuire
- Cary Grant-Gunga Din-an almost impossible task to pick just one
- John Wayne- The Quiet Man
- Kevin Spacey-Swimming with Sharks
- Dennis Leary-The Ref
- Humphrey Bogart-Treasure of THe Sierra Madre
- Matt Damon -Talented Mr. Ripley
- Tom Cruise Eyes Wide Shut
- Al Pacino-GodFather 2- he is that movie. I wanted to take Sea of Love
- Steve McQueen Papillon though I almost chose The Great Escape
- Michael Caine Mona Lisa..with Slueth a close second
- Michael Douglas-Wonder Boys with War of the Roses a very close second.
- Kirk Douglas-A letter to Three Wives
- Fredrick March-Best Years of Our Lives this and the following selections taken from SK's cloned list.
- Robert Deniro-Raging Bull
- Clark Gable-It Happened One Night
- Spencer Tracy-Bad Day at Black Rock
- Henry Fonda-The Grapes of Wrath but Fort Apache is a close second
- Andy Garcia-Things to do in Denver when your Dead.
- Clint Eastwood-Paint Your Wagon..Im Kidding but you do get to hear him sing. I will choose Play Misty for me
- Jack Nicholson-Chinatown
- Marlon Brando-On The Waterfront
- John Travolta Blow Out
- John Malkovich Dangerous Liasions-though I really really thought about going with Being John Malkovich
- John Cusack Say Anything- But lots of great choices
- Jim Carrey Man on the Moon-I did not like this movie that much but he was very good
- James Spader Crash
- James Caan-Godfather of course
- James Garner Barbarians at the Gate
- Robert Mitchum- Freinds of Eddie Coyle
- Robert Downey Jr. Probably Chaplin but another movies I was dissapointed in
- Robert Duvall- Tender mercies...a stunning performance
- Robert Redford The Way we Were though I alwyas loved his performance in The Candidate
- Richard Gere Internal Affairs
- Frank Sinatra Manchurian Candidate
- Bill Murray Mad Dog and Glory
- Bill Paxton A Simple Plan
- Richard Burton The Spy who came in From The Cold
- Laurence Olivier Rebecca
- Dustin Hoffman Tootsie
- Peter Sellers Being There...oh Chauncey you were something else.
- Peter Falk The In-Laws
- Paul Newman The Verdict with Cool Hand Luke and Hud close behind....plus so many others what a wondeful actor.
- Denzel Washington The Mighty Quinn. With Glory a close second. Who says Denzel doesnt have range
- Fred Astaire Top Hat
- Gene Kelly Singing in the Rain
- Sidney Poitier In the Heat of The Night
- Charles Bronson The great Escape. Oh he should have stayed a character Actor
- Bruce Willis Nobodys Fool
- George Clooney Out of Sight
- Russell Crowe LA Confidential
- Keanu Reeves My own Private Idaho
- Tim Roth Reservoir Dogs. He was stunning in this flick
- Tim Robbins Bob Roberts
- Mel Gibson Gallipoli
- Fred Ward Henry and June
- Guy Pearce LA Confidential..though I am looking forward to Memento
- Tyrone Power Blood and Sand
- Walter Matthau Bad News Bears you try to act with a bunch of kids who have no idea what they were doing.
Author Comments:
New Entries in BoldI could not sleep last night and Chasing Amy was on some cable channel so I started watching it again. It just struck me how good Affleck was in this picture and how bad he has been ever since..well not completely bad but certainly not up to his acting in this pic. I was thinking how many other actors gave their best performance before they became "Stars". I decided to do a list...This will be another ongoing list that I will add to as time allows. Concept is pretty simple. Actor and their best role and or performance. It is not necessarily the best movie they were in but it is the movie where they nailed the performance. As always suggestions or disagreements are welcome.
Great list, and many I agree on!
I'm one of those weirdos who actually believe Nic Cage's best acting thus far is Face/Off. He had to lurch from evil to pitiful, and I thought it played up to both of his acting strengths quite well.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
He was very good in this movie but I find it a little too flashy. As I do this list, I find I equate best with subtle and underplayed. Probably a very accurate refelction of my own personality thus why I identify with these roles. One thing about Face Off, it leaves very little question about the comparative acting talents of Cage and Travolta. Red Rock West and my choice for Spencer Tracy Bad Day at Black Rock would make a great double feature night. I think that should be my next film list..Great choices for Double Feature night...any suggestions?
What you been smokin'!? Ben Affleck was abysmal and annoying in Chasing Amy. He had that impossibly long monologue in the car during which I really wanted to get up and leave, it was so painful. IMHO the far better role for him was in Dogma.
Other than that I agree heartily with most of your decisions, particularly Tom Hanks, Nicholas Cage, Kevin Spacey and Johnny Depp. Incidentally, What's Eating Gilbert Grape is also Leonardo DiCaprio's best work, and the only role played by Juliette Lewis that didn't seriously irritate me. And I'm very glad to see someone else who saw, and liked, Swimming With Sharks. That movie hits a chord with everyone who's ever hated their boss.
I'm with jgandcag, here. Affleck was great in Chasing Amy.
By the way, Juliette Lewis was also quite good in Husbands and Wives and Cape Fear, IMHO.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
I must admit, I haven't seen Husbands and Wives. While she didn't irritate me in the same way in Cape Fear as in, say, The Way of the Gun, where I thought she was way overacting and spent the movie waddling as if that baby was 100 lbs. On further thought, though, I don't feel all that passionate about disliking her - she has just never done anything for me. I did think she did okay in The Other Sister, but on the whole nothing about that movie really impressed me.
For my comments about Affleck, please see my next response to jgandcag.
What have I been smoking? yikes and you liked him Dogma? He is ultimately why I did not like about Dogma..he overacted and the character is too disjointed to be any good anyway. The first half he is the reasonable one and in the second half he just goes looney when he finds out they are trying to stop him.
Thanks for the other agreements,I loved Swimming with Sharks. For the longest time it has been my recommendation to people who are looking for something different when they go to a video store.
I didn't mean to offend with the smokin' comment. I was feeling a little playful and I guess that didn't come across well.
I grant that there was a marked change in Affleck's Dogma character between the first and second halves, but I don't recall finding that out of character. I remember thinking he was trying to give humans the benefit of the doubt, but was finally overcome by his sense of the unfairness of God's treatment of humans and angels. Anyway, I'm not especially fond of his acting in any venue. I just found that I enjoyed Dogma much more, as well as his acting because of such scenes as when he is accusing the execs in the boardroom. Whereas I found him unwatchable in Chasing Amy. Of course, in thinking further on this topic, I can't decide if it was his acting or the character that bugged me more. I have liked him in other Kevin Smith films. He was good as a jerk in Mallrats.
Anyway, I was just surprised to see a role I despised so much on a list that I otherwise agreed with. It seemed so incongruent.
No offense taken on the smoking comment. I think the great thing about Listology is exactly that incroguity you are talking about here. I so often find some list and I go yes, yes, yes... no what the hell was he/she thinking with that comment. Perhaps you should clone the list and give some opinions of your own and I can be totally surprised.
Kirk Douglas - Yes, yes, yes! Stellar choice. Hollywood hunk plays bookish teacher and actually pulls it off beautifully. An under-rated film, that one is.
Shalom, y'all!
L. Bangs
He was so good in that movie, So against Type. I sometimes think the relationship he had with the Mrs. mirrors my own marriage too closely. A great movie about adult relationships...
Thanks for the Chasing Amy agreement.
Well jgandcag, I must disagree on a few here. NamelyCage, Depp, Nicholson, and Pacino. Nicholson in The Last Detail is awesome. Have you seen that? And Pacino in Dog Day Afternoon. I do agree with most of the others however. Sean Penn AT CLOSE RANGE is brilliant.
Last Detail is a very valid choice. Nicholson was great. Dog day Afternoon is very good Pacino. But Godfather 2 is Pacino at his best by far. He is that movie and that is one of the best acting performances in the history of movies.
Good arguments. What about Brando. You going to add him to your list? Last Tango In Paris dude. That is my favorite acting performance of all time.
Just my two cent opinions.
Tom Cruise-Interview with a Vampire (The only performance of his that surprised me)
Kevin Spacey-Wiseguy or The Usual Suspects (Wiseguy is a sentimental choice. I remember being about 12 or 13 and loving him on this show. I knew he would be a star.)
Al Pacino-Dog Day Afternoon
Micheal Douglas-Wall Street
Should be added to the list
Morgan Freeman-Lean on Me
Laurance Fishbourne-What's love got to do with it
I forgot.
Russell Crowe-The Insider
You are right on about Fishburne he was stunning as Ike Turner though he was also very good in Boyz in the Hood. Freeman did a real nice job in making Lean on Me not an After-school special but he has done such great work all over the place. I actually saw him last night in Nurse Betty and he was the best part. I also loved Him in Seven but I would say Glory was his best Part.
Crowe was great in the Insider but he carried LA confidential and that was a truly great movie.
I remember Spacey in Wiseguy and you are right in saying that was some of his best acting. A geat show that sometimes gets forgotten.
I finally saw Eyes Wide Shut (which I liked with reservations) and I'd agree that it was an excellent performance by Cruise. But I think I preferred slightly his performance in Magnolia (which I didn't like). What did you think of him in Magnolia?
Funny, you should ask as I just recently finished watching Magnolia. You notice I said finished. (I started watching it 2 months ago but with the wonders of replay TV, I didnt need to sit through it all in one sitting.) Since JBlack has only been seen infrequently around here lately, I feel comfortable enough to say I really did not like Magnolia. Cruise was good. He handled the role very well. I really think Anderson is one of the more overrated directors going these days. I hated Boogie Nights and Magnolia was a big dissapointment. Hard Eight was ok and in my opinion his best film.
Eyes on the other hand was a less showy role for Cruise but in the end far more rewarding...at least for me.
I'd certainly agree that Eyes Wide Shut was a more rewarding movie, and that Cruise's performance taken together with the movie was also more rewarding. Magnolia wasn't rewarding (to me) so Cruise's performance stood out as the sole bright spot. Of course, context makes "best performance" evaluations difficult. It's possible I prefer his Magnolia performance because the rest of the movie made me grateful for it. I also feel it was a more daring role for him. But it's close. We disagree, but only barely. :-)
Have you seen Twelve Monkeys? I found Mr. Pitt riveting. A little over-the-top, but it sure suited the film. fantastic list.
I suggest:
Paul Newman - Absence of Malice
Tom Hanks - Saving Private Ryan
Brad Pitt - Legends of the Fall
Jack Nicholson - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Perhaps add:
Anthony Hopkins - Magic, although Remains of the Day comes a close second.
Emma Thompson - everything.
Matt Dillon - Drugstore Cowboy, but The Outsiders was also rather good.
I agree with you:
Peter Sellers - Being There
Robert DeNiro - Raging Bull, but Taxi Driver was so good, plus many others.
Also add:
Alan Rickman - Truly, Madly, Deeply