5. Jim Carrey in The Truman Show
Peter Weir's devlishly charming satire The Truman Show in 1998 came at the peak of rubber faced comedian Jim Carrey's transition from broad comedy into more serious efforts, released between the very black The Cable Guy and the underappreciated biopic Man on the Moon, and is perhaps his best overall performance.
Playing a man who has grown up on a TV set, surrounded by actors his whole life without ever knowing, Truman extolls an old fashioned, wholesome approach to life that comes from the overly sweet, 50's like culture of Sea Haven.
But that all comes crumbling down as he begins to discover the conspiracy of lies, and he starts a fight to escape from all he has ever known.
The result is that Carrey really bears his soul as the tortured, confused and heartbroken yet determined Truman, trying to get through it all with a smile on his face despite being exposed to a different, terrifying world. The empathy he generates is staggering, culminating in the show's creator Ed Harris's desperate gambit to break his escape attempt using the ocean surrounding the fake environment. Deep down you, like the TV audiences in the film, are screaming at him to carry on despite all the risks.
Not only was it proven that Carrey can act, but also that he can lead a film of very high distinction.
4. Angus Macfadyen in Braveheart
Naturally when Braveheart was released to fanfare, there were much criticisms of the film's 'history'.
After all, we saw a Battle of Stirling Bridge with no bridge, William Wallace adapted from nobleman and mercenary to peasant and a non existant love affair with a genuine historical figure who was three years old when big Willy died.
But the biggest complaint was the portrayal of another national hero, Robert the Bruce. Certainly, he is not always shown in a sympathetic light, betraying Wallace at Falkirk and seemingly under the thumb of his leper father.
However, this does a disservice to the best performance of the piece. While Mel Gibson does enough to lead, hardly groundbreaking as a clean shaven Wallace but far from disgraceful, MacFadyen delivers in a crucial role with so much emotional content he's practically the fulcrum of somebody else's film.
He is a man caught between idealism and pragmatism, desperate to be a champion to his people but held back by a reluctance to lose his own power and that of his family, in a position to make or break Wallace's Herculean efforts. When he finally sides with the English, along with the other treasonous lords, he is beset by regret and loss, openly weeping at his own mistake.
As a character, he reaches the end of his arc by taking up Wallace's fight and leading the men as he did at Bannockburn and ultimately securing victory. In many ways, despite being a subplot, the Bruce is given a character study in entirety, and Macfadyen brings an intesity and raw edge absolutely essential.
3. Bruce Willis in Twelve Monkeys
Bruce Willis exists in that Hollywood middleground where it's generally accepted not much acting will be required, and as a result plaudits will be reserved but criticisms will not be forthcoming. The action star.
Willis was chosen by Terry Gilliam for the mind mending, time travel thriller Twelve Monkeys, on the strength of his adlibbed bathroom phone confessional in Die Hard. Furthermore, Willis drops all his trademark touches (the smirk, the angled head, etc) and shows no leading man reserve as the always confused, often drugged up and ultimately tragic James Cole, a man left with no childhood when all but 1% of the population are wiped out by a virus.
The result is a highly complex character and superbly fleshed out acting job, with Cole questioning of his environment, occasionally childlike in his curiosity and always out of place. As he flits between dedication to his mission and lack of conviction over what is real, Cole ends up following a destiny he had always witnessed.
Like the best actors, Willis disappears into the role, easily his best, and perhaps due to the understated nature of his character, he lost much of the spotline to the Oscar nominated Brad Pitt, who's own bizzare characterisation is worthy of individual praise.
2. Guy Pearce in LA Confidential
Picking out the best performance in the superlative LA Confidential is a little like asking which is the most important leg on a chair. It's an ensemble piece, not a single misplaced line or nuance, and for the most part nobody upstages anyone else. That only one actor was offically recognised by the Academy, Kim Basinger, is in itself something of a travesty.
The crime thriller strengthened the reputation of Kevin Spacey, reignited that of Basinger, redefined James Cromwell to audiences and ultimately was the big break for Antipodean duo Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce.
And while Crowe, excellent here, went on to Oscar glory, superstardom and controversy, Pearce has slowly built up a solid, respectable and never questionable career mostly out of the spotlight which has made him more of a cult favourite than a bone-fide big name.
This is reflected by the film, where Pearce takes on the subtlety of a highly unsympathetic, cold and ambitious Ed Exley, a cop with more interest in his career than being respected by his peers. However, despite earning glory in a case, he is forced to tear up his own success by the urge to seek the truth.
In a sense, he is the perfect anti-hero antidote to Crowe's more self-righteous, crude and blunt Bud White, creating the most unlikely team which begins with mutual hatred and concludes with grudging respect and natural camaraderie. The likeability comes from Pearce's projection of feeling in a very quiet manner, best demonstrated by his masterclass in reaction to his Captain, upon the mention of the peripheral Rollo Tomassi. On paper, you shouldn't like Exley, but you end up routing for his dangerous quest. It's the same natural approach which won over so many in the brilliant Mememto, another Pearce masterstroke.
1. Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now
It seems odd to choose as the ultimate a performance from a film so highly regarded and celebrated, and in my own humble opinion the best of all time.
But in many ways the choice can be reflected perfectly by the billing of the film's stars, evident on any poster, DVD cover or cast listing you come across. Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall....and then Sheen. While Brando created legend with his hugely unorthodox and totally appropriate virtuoso turn as the God like figure of Kurtz, and Duvall bagged an Oscar and a million soundbites as the manic, near insane Kilgore, both roles are basically extended cameos.
The film, and the crazed journey into the Heart of Darkness via fictional river Nung, is both carried and perfectly symbolised by the highly complex, much tortured and morally bankrupt anti-hero Captain Willard. It's his voyage, his tale and should really be seen as Sheen's film.
With Harvey Kietel having been ditched due to an overload of energy in his style, and Francis Ford Coppola ransacking Hollywood searching for his leading man, eventually Badlands star Sheen was chosen on the strength of, yet again, quiet and brooding intensity befitting a man always on his own edge.
Much of his dialogue comes from internal musings as he passes time on the boat reading over Kurtz's file, slowly understanding the man and increasing his personal desire to confront him. These form the moral centre of the story, and Willard's persona as a loner troubled by his own demons is perfectly incapulated by Sheen, who does so much more with a lingering look than a cutting line ever could.
This style, grounding the character, also proves the perfect straight man foil which brings out the best in Brando, Duvall and Frederic Forrest. The singularity of purpose ultimately makes Apocalypse Now what it is, both pragmatically and artistically, and by exploiting the central character as a witness to events we ourselves perfectly obeserve the madness and disparity surrounding Willard and fully understand his own motives and ultimate intention. A genuine masterclass.
Honourable Mentions
Joaquin Phoenix in Gladiator
Kelly MacDonald in No Country For Old Men
John Savage in The Deer Hunter
Carrie-Anne Moss in Memento
Al Pacino in Sea of Love
Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes the Barley
