De Niro in Taxi Driver. De Niro in Raging Bull. Denzel in Man on Fire Tobey Maguire in Brothers Russell Crowe in Gladiator
I'm at work so its difficult staying on SE for a long time, so for now ill say: De Niro in Taxi Driver Hoffman in Kramer vs. Kramer Sellers in Dr. Strangelove Clooney in Up in the Air - very underrated in that he played a lonely soul to pure subtlety DD Lewis in There will be blood he matches De Niro's Taxi Driver imo Brando's few lines in Apocalypse Now Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys
I know I'll pretty much piss off everybody, but De Niro is the most overrated actor of all time. He pretty much plays one character in most of his movies--just variations of slight crazy and very tough. Which is fine. I like Clint Eastwood too, and he can't even play the "crazy" part. But you have to do more than that to be one of the greatest of all time. I like guys like Brando and Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman and the vastly underrated William H Macy (he's so awesomely horrible in Fargo). Props to authentiq for Pitt in Twelve Monkeys--that's by far the best role he's ever played. He was freaking spectacular. Nobody ever talks about him in that film. My favorite right now is Johnny Depp (Scissorhands to Ed Wood to Jack Sparrow). He's a guy who can take practically any role and make it work.
Disagree with DeNiro. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The King Of Comedy, and The Deer Hunter are all diverse, complex, and different types of roles that ol' Bobbie played to perfection. His latest films have been pretty awful and are recasts or variations of his former roles.
Favorites Peter Sellers in - Dr. Strangelove, Being There Robert DeNiro in - Raging Bull, King of Comedy, Taxi Driver Marlon Brando in - On the Waterfront Daniel Day-Lewis in - My Left Foot, There will be blood Richard Burton in - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf Jack Nicholson in - Chinatown, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, The Shining, Five Easy Pieces Toshiro Mifune in - Rashomon, Seven Samurai, The Hidden Fortress.
Jim Carrey - Man on the moon, Truman Show Frances McDormand - Fargo Edward Norton - 25th hour, American History X George C. Scott - Patton Forest Whitaker - Last King Of Scotland, Ghost Dog
Both performances are considered legendary, I wouldn't call either one better and it's pretty much comes down to preference which one you like more. As for why I like it more, it's strictly the, "I coud've been a contender" speech.
I completely forgot about Jim Carrey in The Truman Show. That's my all time favorite Carrey movie, and he was flippin' brilliant in it.
Carrey is a great actor, but takes a lot of shitty roles. I'd wish he'd take on more dramatic serious movies. Man on the moon, The Truman Show, and Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind are all great performances.
I really wish Nolan would re-cast him as the Riddler and do it properly this time. I think he's perfect for that role.
I agree. I think his career was hindered by the Ace Ventura movies. While I found them funny, he was largely type-casted throughout the 90's in a lot of stupid comedies. When he plays serious roles though, he's always been great in them.
