I Am DB

The road goes ever on. Shall we continue? Let me know your thoughts…

ROBERT DOWNEY JR. – TROPIC THUNDER (2008)
Kirk Lazarus/Lincoln Osiris
Which of the characters named above is Robert Downey Jr. really playing? Is he playing Lazarus, the Australian, Oscar-winning Method actor? Or is he playing Osiris, the African-American, Vietnam platoon leader who is Lazarus’ latest onscreen creation? The brilliance of Downey Jr.’s work is that he plays both, simultaneously and seamlessly. Lazarus stays fully immersed in his portrayal of Osiris, even while suspecting that he and his film-within-the-film co-stars have been truly left to their own devices in the hostile jungle. The comedy comes not just from Downey Jr.’s physical transformation, but from his expression of Lazarus’ views through the Osiris persona, such as when he lectures the dimwit action star played by Ben Stiller about the pitfalls of going “full retard.” If you haven’t seen it, I won’t try to explain. Just watch it, and you’ll understand exactly why Downey Jr. received a rare-for-comedy Oscar nomination.

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JENNIFER LOPEZ – OUT OF SIGHT (1998)
Karen Sisco
Hard to believe there was once a time when J.Lo was just an actress. She still shows up in movies now and then, but her pop star/diva persona has so overwhelmed her image that it always seems to be in the way of her acting. But once upon a time, she was charting an impressive rise as a movie star, and she hit her peak in every way under the whip-smart direction of Steven Soderbergh in this modern classic. Lopez has never acted better (or looked better) than she does as a US Marshal who finds herself romantically drawn to a bank robber who kidnaps her when she inadvertently stumbles into his prison escape. After being released, she continues to track his movements even as they both fantasize about what might have been had they met under different circumstances. The film’s entire ensemble crackles, but Lopez is really something special here. Cool, tough, clever, sexy, natural, funny…watching how good she is, I can’t help but feel disappointed that she put the focus on her music career. Her contributions to that industry are unlikely to stand the test of time, but her performance here will…and if she’d kept her energy on acting, who knows where she might have gone.

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JOE PESCI – LETHAL WEAPON 2 (1989)
Leo Getz
Okay okay okay! Initially, Pesci was on my list for his Oscar-winning turn in GoodFellas, and that live-wire performance could easily be here as planned. But I felt compelled to select the comedic and equally unpredictable performance he gave as a money launderer under the protection of Mel Gibson’s Riggs and Danny Glover’s Murtaugh as he awaits a date to testify against the criminals he swindled. In the wrong hands, Leo could have come off as obnoxious, grating on viewers’ nerves for two hours. But Pesci made him completely endearing, locating an appeal in Leo’s incessant, rapid-fire yapping. Nearly a decade after Raging Bull put him on the map, Lethal’s Leo made Pesci a star.

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DENZEL WASHINGTON – THE HURRICANE (1999)
Rubin “Hurricane” Carter
I want to resist the cliché of calling Washington’s performance as the real-life middleweight champion a knockout, but that’s exactly what it is. Carter was a victim of police corruption all his life, and years of that life were wasted in prison for a crime he did not commit. Washington radiates with the physical intensity of a fighter in peak condition, the intellectual intensity of a man who would not let dispiriting circumstances master him and the emotional intensity of someone who allowed himself to love and be loved when he had every reason to hate and close himself off. He blends the rage of someone who has been beaten down again and again with the dignity of one who won’t stop getting back up. It may seem like Washington has played these scenarios before, but he brings such emotion and passion to the performance that it feels new and raw. Once again, you can’t take your eyes off him.

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SEAN PENN – MILK (2008)
Harvey Milk
It’s hard to describe a given performance by Sean Penn as “one of his finest,” since almost every one he gives can be described the same way. The joy of this particular example is that unlike the dark or brooding characters Penn often inhabits (with a few notable exceptions, including Fast Times’ Spicoli), his Harvey Milk exudes a warmth and charm that seem to recast the gifted actor in an entirely new light. The playful twinkle in Penn’s eye embodies Milk’s empathy, intelligence, wit and keen skill for endearing himself to people who wanted to see him as a threat but couldn’t help liking him. Though Harvey experiences challenges both personal and political, he has an indomitable joie de vivre that is especially thrilling to behold when inhabited by Penn in a performance as generous as it is commanding.

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JAMIE BELL – BILLY ELLIOT (2000)
Billy Elliot
Jamie Bell had no easy task in the role of a lonely lad who begins taking ballet lessons and displays a gift for dance that catches the eye of a no-nonsense instructor. Frustrated by his late mother’s absence, his father’s disapproval and his older brother’s chronic bitterness, Billy expresses his emotions through several dance numbers that combine his developing ballet skills with freestyle footwork all his own. Bell aces every moment, both as actor and dancer. His gift for balance isn’t just evident in his dancing, but also in his ability to play a boy possessing both the innocence of youth and the weariness of scarred adulthood. It’s a triumphant debut performance that earned Bell a Best Actor BAFTA award over the likes of Russell Crowe, Geoffrey Rush, Tom Hanks and Michael Douglas.

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EMILY BLUNT – THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA (2006)
Emily Charlton
Even with all the great actors and performances jockeying in my head for position on this list, I kept coming back to Blunt’s breakthrough. In a movie full of scene-stealers – including veterans no less formidable than Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci – it’s Blunt who nearly runs away with the show as the snotty assistant to Streep’s grande dame magazine editor. She proves herself a deft comedienne, raising sarcasm and eye rolling to an art form as she sneers at Anne Hathaway’s fashion naïveté and general cluelessness. Yet as obnoxious as Blunt’s Emily is, the actress never goes so far that she loses favor with the audience. Emily is mean, but Blunt places the emphasis on the comedy of the character rather than the cruelty, which proves important as the story plays out.

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ANDY SERKIS – THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS (2002)
Gollum
The creation of Gollum was a collaboration between actor and graphic artists unlike any that had been seen before, and the visual effects team responsible for bringing the character to such believable life can not be overlooked when talking about the character. But as this is a recognition of actors and performances, it is Serkis who must be singled out. More than just creating Gollum’s voice, Serkis was present on-set, acting the scenes with his co-stars and lending his movements and facial expressions to the character as he would to any role. His eyes are behind the digital pixels we see onscreen, and more importantly, he gave the character a soul that computers alone could not have created. It is Serkis who brings Gollum’s torment to the surface, making him the pitiable creature with whom Frodo comes to sympathize. The Two Towers took home an Oscar for Best Visual Effects, but Andy Serkis’ absence from the year’s Best Supporting Actor nominees meant only part of the Gollum achievement was recognized. Serkis gives a full-blooded performance that was transformed by visual effects, but never buried by them.

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JOAQUIN PHOENIX – GLADIATOR (2000)
Commodus
Russell Crowe won an Oscar as the titular hero, but it is Joaquin Phoenix who creates the most intriguing and complex figure in Ridley Scott’s Roman epic. Commodus comes to the throne on the blood of his father, and Phoenix locates not only the sinister amorality of a schemer hungry for power, but also the sorrowful heart of a son unappreciated. The new emperor oozes incestuous lust for his sister and desperately seeks the love of a populous whose favor he hasn’t earned, allowing Phoenix to slither through the movie with a dynamic performance that creeps up on you while creeping you out. It took me a few viewings of the film before I realized just how fantastic he is.

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KATE WINSLET – ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND (2004)
Clementine Krucyznski
Of all the miraculous performances Winslet has delivered, I single out this one not only because I’m particularly in love with the movie, but because her work as Clementine represents the best of what the gifted actress is capable of: transforming herself before our eyes not through physical chameleonic traits (as the equally gifted Cate Blanchett so often does) but by an innate ability to tap into a character’s inner life. Clementine is a girl of countless quirks, yet not one of them seems even the slightest bit artificial. Winslet, working from another ingenious Charlie Kaufman screenplay, makes Clementine absolutely genuine: a self-described fucked up girl who’s just trying to find her own peace of mind.

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JEFF BRIDGES – THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
The Dude
Rare is the performance by a famous actor that is so immersive, I can truly lose sight of them. Despite a prolific career filled with memorable work, Jeff Bridges somehow disappears in plain sight, becoming The Dude. Bridges left no trace of his previous work in his portrayal of the bowling enthusiast whose simple desire for a replacement rug leads him down a rabbit hole of nihilists, pornographers, kidnappers, car thieves, a pissed off Malibu sheriff and an avant-garde artist with a hidden agenda. And I haven’t even mentioned Walter. The ensemble is full of actors doing some of their best – and similarly immersive – work. But at the center is Bridges and a bemused characterization that’s earned rightfully iconic status.

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JOHN GOODMAN – THE BIG LEBOWSKI (1998)
Walter Sobchak
Okay, so let’s talk about Walter. John Goodman, like his co-star, inhabits this character so completely that everything else you’ve seen him do vanishes from memory. It’s a particularly challenging feat for an actor as recognizable and omnipresent as Goodman. But as Walter, an erratic, overzealous Vietnam veteran and rule-conscious bowler, he pulls it off. The laughs Goodman achieves are enough to make for one of his most memorable performances, but what really makes him great is the way that for all of Walter’s eccentricities, he is 100% real. In Goodman’s hands, a character that is almost begging to be overplayed stays grounded in truth, allowing The Dude and Walter to form an enduring and endearing duo. Am I wrong? Am I wrong, Dude?

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ELLEN BURSTYN – REQUIEM FOR A DREAM (2000)
Sara Goldfarb
Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem For a Dream may not be a horror film in the traditional sense, like Burstyn’s 1973 classic The Exorcist, but its visceral depiction of drug addiction is frightening and disturbing enough to classify it as one. Burstyn is heartbreaking as a lonely, frumpy widow losing her grip on reality and becoming hooked on diet pills in an attempt to fit into a favorite dress from her younger days. The results are chilling, with the lovely actress barely recognizable as she loses herself in a haunting performance that exemplifies what happens when a fearless actor meets a bold directorial vision.

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JACK NICHOLSON – THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (1987)
Daryl Van Horne
I originally had Nicholson on the list for About Schmidt, and that film no doubt contains the more impressive piece of acting from the legendary star; it’s a rare performance for him in that there’s not a trace of the trademark “Jack” persona that we’ve come to know so well. But good as it is, I don’t relish it the way I do his thoroughly Jack-like work in The Witches of Eastwick, a movie that never fails to amuse me. Jack Nicholson playing the Devil – charming, roguish, seductive – isn’t a stretch, but the fact that it comes so naturally to him is exactly what makes it such fun to watch. Clearly having a blast opposite Cher, Susan Sarandon and Michelle Pfeiffer, Jack is firmly in his element here. The more scenery he chews, the more I smile.

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MARION COTILLARD – LA VIE EN ROSE (2007)
Edith Piaf
In the weeks leading up to the Academy Awards, as the Best Actress race seemed to zero in on newish-to-Hollywood Cotillard and veteran Julie Christie, my thought was that if enough people actually saw La Vie En Rose, Cotillard would win; how could people watch this film and not vote for her? Aided by perhaps the best aging make-up I’ve ever seen, Cotillard’s astounding performance follows the tragic singer from her youthful awkwardness to her crippling final days. The movie itself is choppy, and at times undermines Cotillard’s efforts by jumping too frequently between time periods, never allowing her to present Piaf for one extended stretch and build up a momentum. But while the movie sometimes stumbles, Cottilard never does, delivering a performance fully worthy of Piaf’s musical legacy and of the Oscar she indeed went on to win.

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AL PACINO – DICK TRACY (1990)
Big Boy Caprice
Some might argue that this film ushered in Al Pacino’s Screaming Era; I’ll let Scent of a Woman take the blame for that. In Dick Tracy, Pacino’s over-the-top performance is ideally calibrated for the comic book world created by director/star Warren Beatty. Like many of his fellow actors, Pacino is unrecognizable under heavy, Oscar-winning prosthetics, but the make-up does nothing to disguise the actor’s energy and humor. As funny as he is – cartoonishly dancing with the chorus girls in his nightclub or expressing stifled fury at the discovery of a hidden microphone in his office – Pacino doesn’t forget that Big Boy is a villain who must be feared, and he makes sure to give the character the necessary edge of danger. He may not look like himself, but all that latex can’t mask Pacino’s talent. Seeing him bust loose like this is a treat.

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GUY PEARCE – L.A. CONFIDENTIAL (1997)
Edmund Exley
In a movie full of performances that I love, Guy Pearce’s work has come to stand out over my many viewings of the film. As the plot’s twists and turns reveal themselves, there is deep satisfaction in watching Exley prove his mettle. This satisfaction derives from Pearce’s ability to seemingly project his intelligence directly onto the celluloid. The story often pivots on Exley’s discoveries, actions and decisions, and Pearce somehow lets us in to watch the gears turn as the truths about the Nite Owl killings shift, slide and ultimately click into fateful place.

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RUSSELL CROWE – THE INSIDER (1999)
Jeffrey Wigand
Officer Bud White. Captain Jack Aubrey. General Maximus. These are a few of the heroic characters Russell Crowe has portrayed with great skill, but his best performance may be the one that finds him depicting a much more ordinary heroism. In the true story of a tobacco industry whistleblower whose 60 Minutes exposé becomes the center of a personal and political storm, Crowe commands the screen not with the machismo that defines those aforementioned characters, but with the integrity and vulnerability of a normal, often awkward man facing abnormal trials. He brings us right inside Wigand’s struggle to do right by his family and his own moral code, and employs all of his talent to create a richly detailed character. Anyone who’s seen the film knows that the Oscar which Crowe won for Gladiator in 2000 came a year too late.

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CATE BLANCHETT – ELIZABETH (1998)
Queen Elizabeth I
Cate Blanchett exploded into the ranks of essential actresses with her work in Elizabeth. From the title character’s carefree youth in the days before her ascension to her rebirth as The Virgin Queen, Blanchett vividly portrays the journey of a strong woman with everything to prove, who found her footing more quickly than even she thought possible. The actress is effortlessly regal yet fully humanizes the queen as she settles into the throne. A relative unknown at the time, Blanchett owns the role and carries the film with the assuredness of a veteran, earning an Oscar nomination and launching a career that has evolved into the most impressively eclectic of any actress since Meryl Streep.

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ALAN RICKMAN – DIE HARD (1988)
Hans Gruber
I’m sure he wasn’t the first to make the point, but I remember being younger and hearing film critic Gene Siskel say in some of his reviews that an action movie is only as strong as its villain. It’s no wonder then, that Die Hard remains one of the genre’s all-time greats. Alan Rickman’s turn as the suave lead terrorist who takes over an L.A. highrise set the gold standard for action movie villainy, and I’m not sure anyone has done it better since. He chews on the role without ever drifting into over-the-top histrionics or making Gruber a buffoon. He brings such intelligence and charm that I almost find myself rooting for Gruber. All due respect to Bruce Willis’ John McClane, but the movie is at its best when Rickman is onscreen. His presence is a huge reason behind the film’s lasting appeal.

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And we’re out. But 20 more await tomorrow, including a provocative politician, a fierce European warrior and an uncommonly ambitious high school student.

Updated with Full Series Links:
Preamble
Part I
Part II
Part IV
Part V

Okay, we’re off and running. Let’s continue…

KATHY BATES – MISERY (1990)
Annie Wilkes
Bates was mostly known for theatre work when director Rob Reiner smartly cast her in the starring role of this taut Stephen King adaptation. She’s dynamite as the frumpy, possibly bipolar, definitely psychotic “number one fan” of author Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whom she rescues from near-death when his car goes off an icy road in the remotes of Colorado. Pleasant enough at first, Annie’s dark side emerges when Paul’s newest book comes out and she learns that he has killed off the main character of her favorite series. As she holds Paul prisoner, forcing him to write the character’s resurrection, Bates slowly reveals Annie’s layers of insanity. She transitions from affable to frightening with slippery ease, and presents a chilling portrait of obsession.

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SEAN CONNERY – THE UNTOUCHABLES (1987)
Jimmy Malone
As a veteran Chicago cop who joins FBI agent Eliot Ness on a crusade to bring down Al Capone, Sean Connery kicked off a career revival – winning an Oscar, becoming an A-list star all over again and proving there was life long after James Bond. Connery’s Malone brings the calming voice of experience to Ness’ small crew, and the actor fills the role in much the same way with his younger co-stars, his looseness and humor playing strongly off Kevin Costner’s straight-arrow Fed and Andy Garcia’s novice cop. Like many mentors of film and literature, this one has to take his leave in order for the hero to fulfill his destiny, and Connery makes the most of Malone’s final moments with an unforgettable farewell.

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JACK BLACK – SCHOOL OF ROCK (2003)
Dewey Finn
School of Rock is an absolute perfect marriage of star and vehicle. The movie could not exist without Jack Black, and it’s the movie he was born to make. As a wannabe rock star who poses as a substitute teacher at an elite private elementary school and uses his musically talented students to fulfill his dreams of rocking, Black’s trademark goofball energy serves a story that couldn’t be more apt for the Tenacious D frontman. His interaction with his young co-stars, all great in their own right, is terrific fun to watch. This movie makes me smile beginning to end, thanks largely to Black hitting every note.

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TILDA SWINTON – MICHAEL CLAYTON (2007)
Karen Crowder
Tilda Swinton is one of our most unique and original actresses, yet in Michael Clayton, it is her ordinariness that becomes so captivating. She plays a corporate attorney so desperate to save her case, her firm and her career that she sells her soul to do it…but like everything in Michael Clayton, this scenario plays out in a stripped down, un-heightened manner. Swinton digs deep as an average person who surprises and frightens herself upon discovering the evil she is capable of when backed into a corner. Whether sitting in a bathroom stall or standing on a New York street, Swinton’s Karen Crowder always looks trapped, and her attempts at humor or appearing relaxed are mere masks under which her anxiety stews. Her Oscar winning performance is mundanely chilling.

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EDWARD NORTON – PRIMAL FEAR (1996)
Aaron Stampler
Norton’s Oscar-nominated debut performance was so impressive that his audition tape alone became Hollywood legend, landing him major roles in films by Woody Allen and Milos Forman before Primal Fear even arrived in theaters. As a shy alter boy accused of savagely murdering a powerful and respected Chicago Archbishop, Norton is mesmerizing from the moment he opens his mouth. His agile performance – with that particularly killer mid-film scene in the interrogation room with Richard Gere – left no doubt upon Primal Fear‘s release that a huge new talent had arrived.

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PAUL NEWMAN – NOBODY’S FOOL (1994)
Donald “Sully” Sullivan
To watch Paul Newman’s sublime performance in Nobody’s Fool is to see one of the finest actors of all time at his assured best. Warm, witty and wry, Newman’s beautifully nuanced work seems entirely effortless. Though he had a few more stellar turns to give, Nobody’s Fool felt like the culmination of a career brimming with charming rogues. His command of the screen brings out the best in his co-stars, and his comfort with the material makes the film feel like a glimpse into the life of a real man in a real town with a real history. It’s a simple film offering simple pleasures, and for any movie fan, few things are more pleasurable than watching Paul Newman at the top of his game.

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BILLY BOB THORNTON – SLING BLADE (1996)
Karl Childers
Though he had an extensive background as a TV supporting actor and motion picture bit player, Billy Bob Thornton seemed to appear out of nowhere with one of the most stunning performances I’ve ever seen. Working from his own script and under his own direction, Thornton is nothing short of hypnotic as the gentle but deadly ex-convict who befriends a lonely, fatherless boy after being “turned loose” from a state mental hospital. With his guttural voice, nervous hand rubbing and scrunched neck, Thornton wholly disappeared into one of the most original characters in film history. That few people were familiar enough with him at the time to realize the extent of that disappearance didn’t matter. We would not soon forget Billy Bob Thornton.

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DENZEL WASHINGTON – GLORY (1989)
Trip
Playing a freed slave who enlists in the first regiment of black soldiers in the Civil War, Washington created a searing portrait of a man whose pride and anger run deep. Though Trip is initially confrontational with his fellow soldiers, Washington takes him further, eventually peeling back the front of bravado to reveal the insecurity and fear of a man coming to terms with the freedom he has so long craved, as well as the anger he can’t let go of. Washington steals every scene he’s in, and the look on his face during the whipping – a scene that on its own would have merited the Oscar he won – is eternally burned in my mind.

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FELICITY HUFFMAN – TRANSAMERICA (2005)
Bree
A well-respected actress on stage and television, Felicity Huffman proved with Transamerica that she could carry a film. In the days leading up to a long awaited gender reassignment operation that will complete her transformation from man to woman, Huffman’s Bree discovers that she has a 17 year-old son who is in serious need of some positive guidance. What follows is a lovely road movie charting both the development of their relationship on a cross country drive, and a journey of self-discovery for Bree. Neither the movie nor Huffman’s performance dwell on the transgender issue, and Huffman’s work is no stunt. The script provides a rich and original character, whom Huffman brings to life with affection and authenticity. Makeup helps to sell the illusion of a woman in physical transit, but cosmetics are only skin-deep. True transformation comes from within, and Huffman’s dry humor and big heart make Bree an immensely appealing protagonist.

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KEVIN BACON – MURDER IN THE FIRST (1994)
Henri Young
Kevin Bacon has been around for a long time and done consistently fine work in countless films, but he does his finest in this underseen courtroom drama. In a performance unlike any he’s given before or since, Bacon is sensational as an Alcatraz prisoner subjected to excessive torture by the institution’s cruel associate warden. Terrified, skittish and darting to and fro like a cornered animal, Henri has a deeply tragic story to which Bacon does great justice (even if the film may be less than historically accurate). Having been in jail since boyhood, Henri is a virgin, so at one point his lawyer arranges a visit from a prostitute. In Bacon’s hands, the scene becomes one of such aching sadness that it could move you to tears. He makes that sexual experience of Henri’s into a lament for every instance of joy, pleasure and hope that his incarceration has denied him. Bacon received a Screen Actor’s Guild nomination, but how was this great piece of acting overlooked by the Academy?

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PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN – CAPOTE (2005)
Truman Capote
A quarter of this list could easily be filled with performances by Hoffman, in roles both large (Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, The Savages), small (Almost Famous, Boogie Nights, The Big Lebowski) and really small (Nobody’s Fool, Punch-Drunk Love). But his Oscar winning portrayal of Truman Capote’s self-destruction while writing In Cold Blood is a master class. Hoffman is fascinating in his delicacy as he shows Capote exploiting others to achieve his own ends, recognizing the cost of his manipulation but too exhilarated by the artistic possibilities to stop himself.

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ANTHONY HOPKINS – THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
Dr. Hannibal Lecter
There could be any number of ways to approach the role of the wickedly intelligent cannibal psychiatrist, and one can look at Brian Cox’s take on the character in Manhunter to see a much different approach. But Anthony Hopkins came up with an unforgettable interpretation, making Lecter somehow otherworldly – too human to be a monster, yet too alien to seem quite human. How does one come up with all the seemingly perfect ingredients to concoct such an eerie, original persona? With his approach to Lecter, Hopkins is a showcase in the mystery of great acting.

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JODIE FOSTER – THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
Clarice Starling
Hopkins’ eccentric character is more pop-culture friendly, but as far as craft of acting goes, Foster matches him move-for-move and then some as the bright, ambitious FBI trainee whose supposedly innocent interview with Lecter sets her on a path to finding serial killer Buffalo Bill. Starling is the center of the movie, and Foster imbues her with the perfect combination of strength, intelligence and openness, as well as an intriguing asexuality and an awkwardness as she tries to make her mark in a field dominated by men. The scene in which she tells Lecter of her childhood attempt to save a lamb from slaughter cuts to the bone.

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EMILE HIRSCH – INTO THE WILD (2007)
Christopher McCandless
The role of Christopher McCandless is tremendously demanding – physically and emotionally – but Emile Hirsch rises to the challenge in a revelatory performance, throwing himself body and soul into the part of the real-life adventurer. However you feel about the choices McCandless made, Hirsch makes sure you are deeply invested in his journey. In his interactions with the various people he meets along the way (embodied by an ensemble of actors giving terrific performances of their own), he projects an intelligence, mystery and magnetism that makes you understand why people were so drawn to him. The film finds beauty in many places, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Hirsch’s soulful performance.

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TOM HANKS – FORREST GUMP (1994)
Forrest Gump
As the simpleton hero of an odyssey through latter 20th century American history and culture, Hanks created an iconic character that goes further and deeper than the “stupid is as stupid does” or “life is like a box of chocolates” catchphrases that permeated the zeitgeist. The film’s Forrest-stumbles-through-famous-incidents gimmick is amusing but less interesting as the years pass. What endures is Hanks’ beautiful performance, always grounded and heartfelt even when the film tips toward sentimentality. He does particularly wondrous work with co-stars Robin Wright and Gary Sinise, as well as in Forrest’s moments of solitude and stillness.

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JEFF DANIELS – THE SQUID AND THE WHALE (2005)
Bernard Berkman
Writer/director Noah Baumbach’s observant story about a Brooklyn couple’s divorce and its impact on their teenage sons gives Jeff Daniels perhaps the richest role of his long, diverse career; it’s the fillet of his filmography, as his character might say. Bernard is insufferably haughty, vainglorious and emotionally stunted, and it is to Daniels’ credit that we still feel for him and find him engaging despite his numerous flaws and questionable parenting skills. The character may possess some ugly qualities, but Daniels’ willingness to embrace them results in a performance of comic beauty and raw vulnerability.

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NICOLE KIDMAN – MARGOT AT THE WEDDING (2007)
Margot
In Baumbach’s follow-up to The Squid and The Whale, Kidman seizes the titular role and delivers a vivid performance that ranks among her best. Margot is a variation on Squid’s Bernard, just as narcissistic as her forebear but even gloomier and more petulant. And perhaps even more so than Bernard, she has some misguided and inappropriate ways of expressing love for her child. Kidman brews all the elements together and makes Margot seem like the authentic result of a life that has been steeped in complicated experiences and relationships. It may be the most natural work she’s ever done.  You may not want to know Margot in person, but Kidman makes her fascinating to observe.

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DENNIS HOPPER – BLUE VELVET (1986)
Frank Booth
Newly sober from years of drug and alcohol addiction, 1986 saw Hopper in top form. He earned an Oscar nomination for his supporting role in Hoosiers, but made an even more lasting impression playing Frank Booth, a truly sick twist of the kind that only David Lynch could conceive. Hopper’s oxygen-sucking, psychosexual freakshow holds the key to a mystery that intoxicates an amateur sleuth, and the actor’s portrayal of homicidal lunacy is scarily unsettling.

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ROBIN WILLIAMS – ALADDIN (1992)
Genie
One could go to any number of Robin Williams performances on a list like this – Good Morning Vietnam, The Fisher King, Dead Poet’s Society, Good Will Hunting…but they all have one common drawback: they’re live action. Animation proved the only visual medium capable of keeping pace with Williams’ speed-of-light mind, and the Genie is the ideal vessel for his brilliance, as the character can shapeshift into whatever Williams can imagine, from a buzzing bee to William F. Buckley. Williams meets his match in the ink and paint of Disney’s animators, and gives the performance of his life without ever appearing onscreen.

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DANIEL DAY-LEWIS – THERE WILL BE BLOOD (2007)
Daniel Plainview
Ladies and gentlemen, if I say Daniel Day-Lewis belongs on this list, you will agree. And how could you not? The actor is monumental as the power-hungry oil baron around whom Paul Thomas Anderson constructs his singularly visionary epic. The film begins with Daniel Plainview as a simple man working for his keep; by the time it ends, his complexities are strewn violently across the screen as he seethes with rage, a dark soul cocooned in his misanthropy and megalomania. It’s a remarkable journey that finds Day-Lewis plunging into the psyche of a deeply flawed, larger-than-life, self-destructive figure in the great cinematic tradition of Welles’ Charles Foster Kane and DeNiro’s Jake LaMotta.

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Come back tomorrow for the next 20, including an English monarch, an intense Vietnam veteran and a colorful comic book villain.

Updated with Full Series Links:
Preamble
Part I
Part III
Part IV
Part V

Okay, hopefully if you’re here, you read the preamble from yesterday, so you know what this is all about. With all the background out of the way, let’s get to it….

CHRISTOPHER LLOYD – BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)
“Doc” Emmett Brown
From Taxi to The Addams Family films, Christopher Lloyd has always been one of our most inventive and underrated character actors. In Back to the Future, he put his incomparable spin on the “mad scientist” archetype and came up with something riotous and touching. Lloyd’s originality is visible in every wild gesture and bug-eyed reaction, but he can also dial it back to play the quieter moments of the genuine friendship he shares with Marty McFly. The third film in the trilogy offered him a chance to deepen the character, but nothing could top the off-kilter zaniness he brought to the original.

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SEAN PENN – CARLITO’S WAY (1993)
David Kleinfeld
After a few years away from the spotlight, Carlito’s Way saw Penn return to mainstream film with a vengeance. Almost unrecognizable behind glasses and beneath a red Jew-fro, Penn is riveting as a slick lawyer who gets his gangster friend/client released from a 30 year jail sentence after only five served. But while Carlito (Al Pacino) tries to go straight, Kleinfeld’s path becomes increasingly crooked. The tension created as a result of his actions propels the film’s nail-biting second half, and Kleinfeld’s descent allows Penn to fly high.

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KEVIN SPACEY – THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)
Verbal Kint
It’s entertaining enough to watch Spacey’s wormy con man the first time around, but only with repeated viewings is it possible to appreciate the full depth and exquisite nuance of his performance, which earned him a well-deserved Academy Award. What Spacey does here ranks among the best magic tricks I’ve seen at the movies, and he requires no CGI to create the illusion. He does it all with just his voice, his expressions, his posture and his roaming eyes.

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PAUL GIAMATTI – AMERICAN SPLENDOR (2003)
Harvey Pekar
Paul Giamatti has made the rare transition from supporting to leading roles, emerging over the last decade as one of movies’ unlikeliest stars, and American Splendor was a key film in that transition. It also happens to feature some of his best work, as real-life comic writer and curmudgeon Harvey Pekar. He dials into the man’s eccentricities and bleak viewpoint to create a portrait that eschews mimicry in favor of inspired interpretation. Earning heavy laughs without missing that Pekar is a lonely guy swimming against the stream, Giamatti shines in this splendidly untraditional biopic.

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CHRIS COOPER – ADAPTATION (2002)
John LaRoche
Whoever is responsible for the inspiration of putting Chris Cooper in this role deserves an Oscar to match the one earned by the actor. It’s an unexpected choice that paid off in spades, with Cooper stealing the show as the idiosyncratic flower enthusiast who changes the lives of two lonely writers. As flat-out funny as Cooper is, what makes the performance truly great are the serious touches. LaRoche could have been played merely for laughs, but writer Charlie Kaufman created something more dimensional, and Cooper identifies the man’s grief as much as his offbeat enthusiasms. Watch him as he crouches down and surveys the damage done to his greenhouse by a hurricane, and marvel at an actor’s ability to register on his face an absolute perfect expression of pain, loss and humility.

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SIGOURNEY WEAVER – ALIENS (1986)
Ellen Ripley
James Cameron’s respectful yet distinctive follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1979 Alien was a gift to Sigourney Weaver. She kicks asses both human and xenomorph as the haunted lone survivor of a freighter that played host to the galaxy’s most terrifying extra-terrestrial. Reluctantly back in action and given new purpose by the discovery of a young girl, herself the sole survivor of a similar incident, Ripley remains as tough and practical as when we first met her. But Weaver gets to deepen her as well, and in doing so she cemented Ripley’s status as one of the greatest heroines in movie history. Weaver gives her the strength and confidence of a warrior and the warmth of a protective mother, overcoming the “limitations” of the film’s genre to earn a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

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JOHN MALKOVICH – BEING JOHN MALKOVICH (1999)
John Malkovich
What I wouldn’t give to have been a fly on the wall witnessing the moment John Malkovich was first pitched this story. The actor has a field day parodying his own mystique in the incomparable story of a trio of misfits who become obsessed with a portal that takes them inside the thespian’s head for 15-minute intervals. The last third of the film, in which John Cusack’s puppeteer fully takes over Malkovich’s body, shows the versatile actor at his most brilliant. Malkovich performing Cusack performing Malkovich is a stunning example of razor-sharp comedic acting that continues to offer rewards with repeated viewings.

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MORGAN FREEMAN – SEVEN (1995)
William Somerset
There are many great performances Freeman could be cited for, but I’m going with one of his most underrated. As a veteran detective on the brink of retirement who finds himself reluctantly drawn into a gruesome serial killing investigation with a gung-ho new partner, Freeman is at his subtle best. He captures the heart of a man consumed by solitude and cynicism, and imbues the character with simmering intelligence. Somerset’s terse exterior is a necessary shell to protect what remains of his humanity, worn away by too many years dealing with the underside of a grim metropolis, and Freeman goes a long way toward suggesting what Somerset has endured in those years. There are no specifics, but Freeman shows us how much more there is to Somerset then what we’ll be allowed to see. If you can extricate yourself from the intensity of the plot enough to really pay attention to Freeman’s work, you’ll see a heartbreaking turn by a master actor.

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NAOMI WATTS – MULHOLLAND DRIVE (2001)
Betty/Diane
Like most of the cast in this David Lynch film, Naomi Watts was unknown when Mulholland Drive arrived in theaters. That would quickly change, thanks to her thoroughly captivating work as the goody-goody aspiring actress Betty, who follows her dreams to Hollywood and encounters an amnesiac brunette beauty who alters the course of her life in a way that can only be described as Lynchian. At first, Betty is so impossibly perfect and perky that Watts might appear to be overdoing it. But both the actress and the director know exactly what they’re playing at. If you aren’t onboard with Watts by the time her “audition” scene rolls around, prepare for a jaw-dropper. But she’s not done with us yet. We also meet Betty’s alter ego Diane, and Watts drives it all home as the troubled girl whose Hollywood dreams have disintegrated into nightmares.

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AL PACINO – DONNIE BRASCO (1997)
Ben “Lefty” Ruggiero
Pacino’s masterful performance in this absorbing character drama ranks with the finest work of his career, worthy of mention in the same breath as titles like The Godfather, Serpico and Dog Day Afternoon. He plays a mid-level mobster teased by his buddies, ignored by the bosses and seduced by the friendship of a neighborhood jeweler who is actually an undercover FBI agent. Lefty comes to regard Donnie (Johnny Depp) as a surrogate son, and the mutual bond between the two makes the inevitable fallout all the more painful. In an era when Pacino sometimes goes big and loud, his work here, while vivid, is also wonderfully subtle, blending bravado with wounded pride.

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MIKE MYERS – AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY (1997)
Dr. Evil
Though physically inspired by Ernst Blofeld, the James Bond villain played by Donald Pleasance in You Only Live Twice, Dr. Evil is as original a character as they come, springing purely from the genius of Mike Myers. Though the actor is no slouch in the title role, it’s his performance as Dr. Evil that steals the movie at every turn. Whether threatening to hold the world ransom for one miiiiiillliiionnn dollars, trying desperately to relate to his teenage son or even just sitting and stroking his cat, Dr. Evil is Myers’ most inspired and hysterical creation.

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TIM ROBBINS – MYSTIC RIVER (2003)
Dave Boyle
A young boy is tricked into getting in a car with men he believes to be police officers, and over the course of four days, he is kept locked up and sexually abused. What would happen to that boy when he grew up? Tim Robbins answered that question in this outstanding, unshakable performance. Tentative in his gait, his speech and his relationships, Robbins plays Boyle like a walking open wound. He is too haunted by his past to help himself in the present, and we can only watch helplessly as his tragedy plays out. Robbins is a tall guy, but he makes us see the boy who has never been able to overcome what happened when he got into the wrong car.

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NICOLE KIDMAN – TO DIE FOR (1995)
Suzanne Stone
Kidman took her first big step out of then-husband Tom Cruise’s shadow with this wickedly sly turn as a small-town girl who believes that “you’re not anybody in America unless you’re on TV.” The film gave Kidman the most fully developed role she’d had since crossing over to Hollywood, and she displayed acute comedic skills alongside a calculating coldness and manipulative sexiness, flawlessly demonstrating that it takes an actor of depth to create a believably shallow character.

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KATE HUDSON – ALMOST FAMOUS (2000)
Penny Lane
I recall reading an interview with Cameron Crowe in which he said that in casting Penny Lane, he needed an actress who could light up a room. When his first choice, Sarah Polley, didn’t feel she could deliver that, Hudson – who had already been cast in the smaller role of the protagonist’s rebellious sister – asked to audition. With Hudson, Crowe got his wish and then some. Her shining turn as the seasoned Band-Aid whose wit, warmth and free spirit entrances a young journalist and a golden God of rock on a 1974 cross-country tour is the heart of the movie. She more than fulfills Crowe’s desire with her joyful performance. The movie is great from start to finish, but it’s at its best when Hudson is onscreen.

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LEONARDO DICAPRIO – WHAT’S EATING GILBERT GRAPE (1993)
Arnie Grape
1993 was DiCaprio’s breakthrough year, beginning when he appeared opposite Robert DeNiro in This Boy’s Life. Later came What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, and a performance so authentic that the part seemed to be played by someone who really was developmentally disabled. Not a single moment Arnie is onscreen feels rehearsed or acted. While still in his teens, DiCaprio delivered an astonishing piece of work that is nearly incomprehensible in its simple power and effectiveness. Long before Romeo & Juliet and Titanic turned him into a heartthrob, Gilbert Grape proved DiCaprio was an actor of remarkable intelligence, sensitivity and depth.

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JOHNNY DEPP – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003)
Captain Jack Sparrow
After three inferior sequels and Captain Jack Sparrow’s pop culture saturation, it would be easy to take Johnny Depp’s work for granted or dismiss just how good he is, and how much fun it was this first time out. That’s a mistake I’ll not be making. Everything about this movie was a pleasant surprise, beginning with Depp’s inspired creation of Captain Jack, which seemed to wake up the movie industry to the presence of an actor who had been doing phenomenal work for over a decade. It’s amazing what a little box office success will do. Depp’s originality and ingenuity have never been more evident than they are here, and watching him sashay and swashbuckle his way through the movie offers endless delights. The actor earned his first Oscar nomination – overdue but certainly deserved – playing, as one of the film’s characters observed, “the best pirate I’ve ever seen.” 

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GEOFFREY RUSH – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003)
Captain Barbossa
Geoffrey Rush is an actor who feels at home in any genre, and while I initially intended to cite his excellent work in Quills, I couldn’t resist his treacherous seafarer from Pirates of the Caribbean. Haunted by an ancient curse that holds him captive between two worlds, Barbossa nonetheless possesses a wickedly sarcastic sense of humor and insatiable lust for life, gold and mouthwatering apples. Rush can barely contain the fun he’s having bringing these various facets of Barbossa to life, and like his co-star, he brings a credibility and pedigree to the film that can’t help but make it better. Depp got the lion’s share of the attention, but overlooking Rush’s contribution would be a grave disservice to the film’s success.

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SALLY FIELD – SOAPDISH (1991)
Celeste Talbert
Sally Field’s reputation may be as a dramatic actress, but she has a deft hand for comedy as well, and those skills are on full, glorious display in Soapdish, a sorely underrated movie that goes behind the scenes of a popular daytime drama and reveals the lives of the cast and crew to be more outrageous than their television storylines. Field is the show’s long-reigning star and resident diva who faces threats from all sides. In her manic portrayal of an aging celebrity coming undone, she offers one priceless bit after another – one of my favorites being an attempt to apply eyeshadow with hands that can’t stop shaking from stress. Field’s performance is big and over-the-top, but in the best way possible and perfectly in tune with the film’s overall tone.

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HEATH LEDGER – BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)
Ennis Del Mar
Ledger’s performance in Brokeback Mountain is one of striking economy. His chin drawn into his chest, his words seemingly fighting to escape from his mouth, his movements tight and deliberate, Ledger’s Ennis is like a clenched fist. A great actor working with rich material might be fortunate enough to deliver one, maybe two emotionally powerhouse scenes in a given film. Ledger has at least four in Brokeback. Sure, the material is there for him to play, but the raw vulnerability he brings makes your heart ache. Ledger had impressed in earlier films, but nothing he’d done previously could prepare us for the astounding work he does here.

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BILL MURRAY – GHOSTBUSTERS (1984)
Peter Venkman
Ghostbusters finds Murray at his deadpan, wiseass best and deserves to be counted among his finest efforts. The movie has such legendary status that it’s hard to pull back far enough to acknowledge what an odd film it is, and how easily it could have failed to work. One of the reasons it does work is Murray and the way he fully commits to the character and the concept. The jokes aren’t typical and the lines aren’t always hilarious in and of themselves, but Murray puts a spin on them that absolutely kills. The whole ensemble is great, but when co-stars Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis wrote the script (or should I say re-wrote it, as the Venkman role was originally intended for John Belushi), they wisely saved the best role for their old friend. He came, he saw, he kicked its ass.

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That’ll do it for today. Back tomorrow with 20 more, including a committed teacher, a compromised author and a well-dressed man.

Updated with Full Series Links:
Preamble
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V