Best performance in a movie

S

Small Fry

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Sometimes I watch movies & an actor's performance is so fantastic it leaves me speechless. This is usually the case with most of De Niro's movies (except of course his more recent 'lighter' roles, Meet The Fockers.. etc.)

Anyway these are the ones that stand out for me;

Robert Downey Jr - Chaplin
Sharon Stone - Casino
Ray Liotta - Goodfellas
Joe Pesci - Goodfellas
Lorraine Braco - Goodfellas
Matt Damon - Good Will Hunting
Uma Thurman - Kill Bill 1/2
Tom Hanks - Philidelphia & Saving Private Ryan
Leo Dicaprio - This Boy's Life
Daniel Day Lewis - The Gangs of New York
Jack Nicholson - The Pledge


There are loaRAB more but these ones spring to mind off the top of my head :)

What about everybody else?
 
I tend to like it when great actors play off each other really well too, as you'll note: :)

Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn - Casualties of War
Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray - Lost in Translation
Robert DeNiro and Cristopher Walken - The Deerhunter
Jamie Foxx - Ray
Robert Mitchum - Night of the Hunter
Matt and Trey - BASEketball :cool: :D
Joe Pecsi - Goodfellas
Al Pacino - The Godfather
Jack Nicholsen - One Flew over the Cukoo's Nest
Robert Downey Jr. - Everything he's done tbh

No doubt many more, but they jumped into the gaping hole in my skull.
 
Daniel Day Lewis is the most powerful example I can think of. He damn near chewed the scenery. Acted poor Little Leo of the screen. He wuz robbed I tells ya, robbed.
Plus:

Tom Crusie - Interview With A Vampire
Johnny Depp - Pirates Of The Caribbean
Mickey Rourke - Sin City
Kevin Spacey - Seven
Sam Jackson - Pulp Fiction
Tim Roth - Reservoir Dogs
Mila Jovovich - The Fifth Element
Natalie Portman - Leon

Edit - I've just noticed that in the above list, with the exception of Depp they're all supporting and/ or ensemble roles.
 
Robert Mitchum: Night of the Hunter (and almost every other film he was in).

Jack Lemmon: Days of Wine and Roses.

Vincent Price: Witchfinder General.

Roy Scheider: All That Jazz

Brian Cox: Manhunter

Ted Levine: Silence of the Lambs.

J.T. Walsh: in anything.

Michael Keaton: Beetlejuice.

Steve Martin: Little Shop of Horrors.

Boris Karloff: Frankenstein.

Demi Moore: About Last Night.
 
Jack Nicholson: The Shining
Morgan Freeman: Shawshank Redemption
Tom Hanks: Philadelphia (shame about the Oscar speech)
Bette Davis: Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?
Billy Connolly (yes, really!): Mrs Brown
 
Kirsten Dunst - Interview with the Vampire

She done a masterly job, and she was only a child and for a child to show all the emotion that she did as Claudia was really speechless - she owned the movie and outshone Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Antonia Banderas who co-starred.

Her best scenes were when she find out she will be trapped in the body of a child for eternity and when she is crying with Louie at the Hotel in Paris.

See this film for Kirsten Dunst!
 
I didn't know that. In and Out, now that was Kevin Kline wasn't it? Dreadful stuff. I'd forgotten about that, but now you've jogged my memory that's twice KK has played a gay character; De Loverly was much better.
 
Correct. As we know, TH plays a gay man in Philedelphia and in his cringe-worth Oscar speech thanked an old teacher of his - by name - as being a great inspiration of how being gay was no barrier to success, or something to that effect. The makers of In & Out ran with the idea of what if the teacher hadn't told anyone he was gay and was outed in front of a billion people. Crap film as you say, but brilliant idea. If nothing else, it's highly original. KK played the teacher and I believe it was Matt Dillon the award winning actor who outed him.
 
Martin Landau in Ed Wood
Humprey Bogart in Casablanca and African Queen
James Cagney in White Heat
Christopher Walken in Wild Side
Willam Defoe in Wild at Heart
Madonna in Swept Away (just kidding)
 
Ellen burstyn in Requeim for a dream. She should have won the oscar

Edward norton in American history X / 25th hour

Natalie portman in Leon

Kevin spacey in American beauty

Hilary swank in Boys dont cry/ Million dollar baby

Dustin hoffman in Midnight cowboy/ Rain man

Meryl streep in Sophies choice

Brad davis and John hurt in Midnight express

Charlize theron in Monster

Johnny depp in Pirates of the caribbean/ Edward ScissorhanRAB
 
Winona Ryder in Little Women - She really stole the show ;)

Seriously:

Jung Suh - The Isle -

Kirk Douglas - Spartacus

This year: Dakota Fanning -War of the WorlRAB-
 
Very good one this. These two work very well together (which is surprising, as Bill normally stanRAB out by himself, but Scarlett shone through as well.

A personal favorite is Richard E Grant and Paul McGann in Withnail & I, one of the finest pieces of character and comedy acting ever. Particular favorite is the discussion over the fate of the chicken.
 
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