I watched a Biography piece on him today and thoroughly enjoyed it. Because he’s such a low-key “star”, I’d forgotten how much I like him.
My top three (in no particular order):
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Out of Africa
The Natural
Least favorite:
The Way We Were (I know…I’m the Lone Ranger)
Anyone?
Hmm, not my favorite leading man, I must confess. With that said, I think his best-ever performance (that I’ve seen) was in The Candidate. I’m also partial to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, although it’s really not one of my fave films, and Three Days of the Condor, although I suspect just about any a-list male lead of the time could have done his role at least adequately. I understand Jeremiah Johnson gets a lot of nods as his best, but I’ve somehow never gotten around to ever seeing it.
Least favorite? Dunno, The Way we Were, maybe.
I forgot…Jeremiah Johnson is my other favorite. I liked All the President’s Men, too.
I think that he is, possibly, the actor who has the least range of any successful actor I’ve ever watched.
Having said that, I enjoy the movies that he’s been in. Three Days of the Condor. The Sting. Downhill Racer. All the President’s Men. They just don’t stop.
The Sting. The first thing I remember him from was Inside Daisy Clover with Natalie Wood, which I saw at an impressionable age.
Damn. I just remembered my other all-time favorite “This Property is Condemned.” I love this movie! I cry every time. Natalie Wood is wonderful in it.
I’m gonna go with An Unfinished Life. An underappreciated gem.
Or maybe Brubaker.
I loved that too! And I thought J-Lo did a great job.
Gotta go Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
My top three:
The Sting (1973) … Johnny Hooker
Barefoot in the Park (1967) … Paul Bratter
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) … The Sundance Kid
I really like “Barefoot in the Park”. It seems to be a forgotten movie.
The Sting is just a great movie. One of the all time great movies.
Runner-ups would include
All the President’s Men (1976) … Bob Woodward
& The Natural (1984) … Roy Hobbs
I cannot watch “The Way We Were” either.
Jim
It surprised me how good she was in that film. I thought everyone in An Unfinished Life was excellent. Good performances all around.
No chemistry. I have no idea how people think they were the most romantic couple on the planet. I thought they were horrible together. (I much preferred her with Kris Kristofferson in A Star Is Born.)
I thought he really clicked with Natalie Wood.
He did with Jane Fonda too. Something about that story made me believe them as a young couple starting out that really did not know each other at all.
Jim
I’ve only seen him in Sneakers and Spy Game…
I love both those movies though!
Butch Cassidy, easily. Redford is one of the people my wife accuses me of being gay for.
Second place would be Barefoot In The Park.
A River Runs Through It, easily (okay, so he directs and narrates, and doesn’t act, but still.)
I dig Spy Game, and I’ll be the guy to actually admit to liking Indecent Proposal.
I’ve got your back on Sneakers. Something about that movie gets the blood moving for me.
Haven’t seen many of Redford’s “greats.” Just The Natural really (which I did like quite a bit). Is his role in the Great Gatsby well regarded? I didn’t like it, but then, I’ve never cared for the book, and every time I watch the movie I’m jarred out of suspension of disbelief by seeing Howard “Ben Franklin of 1776” Da Silva as the gangster, or Sam “Jack McCoy” Waterston.
Count me in as another person who really liked Sneakers.
PS. If any of you have come to recognize my posting, you might notice I mention 1776 quite a bit. Maybe it’s cause I grew up near Philly, but the movie of the musical has been a significant part of my youth. To this day I always watch it at least once a year during the fourth of July. I often sing songs from it while walking around or if I’m driving and can’t find anything good on the radio. All the actors in it are indelibly associated with the roles in my mind, save John Cullum who would play Holling on Northern Exposure.