More of a sad sack, really. His character in Magnolia was certainly not an asshole though. He gets my vote, as does Kate Winslet.
And as long as we’re just voting for our favorite actors, I’ll go with William H. Macy.
At the very least you should remember the character she played, or else you can hardly claim to have seen the movie.
Ciaran Hinds–what an interesting choice.
I’m right behind you on Toni Collette.
Probably a little out of the age range we’re looking for, but I’m surprised nobody’s mentioned Chris Cooper yet. For me he’s another one of those actors that just seems to disappear into a role. (Although, like PSH, he seems to play asshole-ish characters a lot.)
How has **Jim Carrey **not been mentioned? He can create a character to disappear into just as well as Depp can; perhaps, though arguably, better.
I think with one or two more performances like in *Punch Drunk Love *or *Reign on Me *(great, great movie btw) than **Adam Sandler **will have proven his dramatic chops enough to be in this conversation. Maybe he’s (t)here already; I haven’t seen Spanglish, but I’ve heard good things.
**John Leguizamo **is perhaps one of the more underrated actors today. His range and talent is as broad as anyone else in this thread.
I’d go with Phillip Seymour Hoffman (with runners-up Chris Cooper, and Paul Giamatti)
For women, I’d go with Emma Thompson ETA and Laura Linney.
Edward Norton tops the list for men for me, followed by Jude Law, Johnny Depp, and Christian Bale.
The ladies I enjoy include Cate Blanchett, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, and Rachel Weisz.
I will watch anything with Laura Linney or Philip Seymour Hoffman. Enjoyed a movie recently with both of them and can’t remember the name right now.
The Savages.
Thanks! It just popped into my head a second ago. Do yourself a favor and watch this.
Absolutely–I was so psyched when I heard the two of them were going to be in a movie together, and playing neurotic people! Woot!
How can you mention Johnny Depp and not mention “Dead Man” as a highlight? I like Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet.
Daniel Day-Lewis
Denzel Washington
Leonardo DiCaprio
(I would put in Johnny Depp, but after that third PoTC movie he dropped considerably in my estimation)
Kate Winslet
Cate Blanchett
Are you sure you saw 21 Grams? Maybe you’re thinking of a different movie? Dislike Naomi Watts all you want, but if your heart wasn’t torn out and crushed by the scene where she’s laying on the bed listening to the joyful and silly last voice mail message from her husband and kids minutes before they’re killed, playing the messages over and over and over just to hear their voices, sobbing with the deepest, most profound grief imaginable, then either you didn’t see the movie and are thinking of some other movie entirely, or you went to the bathroom at the exact wrong time.
There were three main characters in 21 Grams:
Paul Rivers (Sean Penn) - a professor of math who needs a heart transplant.
Jack Jordan (Benicio Del Toro) - an ex-con who’s cleaned his life up and is trying to be a better person.
Cristina Peck (Naomi Watts) - a happy woman with a wonderful husband and two beautiful young daughters.
Their lives intersect when Jordon is driving along, takes a corner too quickly and recklessly, and accidentally runs over Peck’s husband and daughters who are crossing the street. The girls are killed instantly, and the husband dies later, after which his heart is transplanted into Rivers. After recuperating, Rivers goes on a quest to find out about his heart donor, which leads him to Peck, and then Jordan. As the IMDB synopsis puts it, “Most of the movie is about the relationships that develop between these three main characters.”
Is that the movie you saw? If so, how could you not remember one of the three main characters, the one who is the heart and soul of the movie?
Did you see Mullholland Drive?
Btw, thinking about 21 Grams made me even happier with the current Academy Awards. 21 Grams is the first time I really noticed and was blown away by Melissa Leo, who played Del Toro’s wife. She’s nominated Best Actress this year for her lead role in Frozen River. I knew when I saw 21 Grams that she was something special. She’s one of those actors, like the also-nominated Richard Jenkins, who’s been around for decades doing character roles (since 1970 in the case of Leo, and 1974 in the case of Jenkins), then suddenly becomes an “overnight success.”)
Posting without reading any other posts…
Male : Very tough call between Philip Seymour Hoffman and Edward Norton
Female : Rachel Griffiths.
Joe
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Cate Blanchett
Boogie Nights, Big Lebowski, Flawless, Magnolia, State and Main, Almost Famous?
Hoffman’s Lester Bangs was kind of an asshole, but he was (mostly) nice to William Miller/Cameron Crowe. Even his assholeish lines were funny though.
“I’ve met you. You’re not cool.”
His Scotty in Boogie Nights was on the verge of being an asshole, but he wasn’t an overt asshole, he was just a hapless lovestruck nerd who had problems with social boundaries.
His best nice guy role was definitely in Magnolia as a compassionate and concerned caregiver.
I’m not sure if Dustin Hoffman is under 50 or not. (HOLY CRAP! According to wiki he’s 71! :eek:)
Well that would have been my pick.
For female I have to go with Kate Winslet, who never disappoints. I also consider Natalie Portman an excellent actress as well.
Male… hmm. It’s not a traditional choice, but I’ll go with Steve Carell. He is a master of subtlety and I loved him in Dan in Real Life. He’s got as much if not more talent than your Tom Cruises and your Sean Penns.
I’m going to go out on a very long limb here and say that 1) Dustin Hoffman is overrated and 2) Milla Jovovich is underrated (although not remotely “best of a generation” material). For evidence, I give you The Messenger. Milla puts in quite a muscular (albeit not very subtle) performance, whereas Hoffman looks like he wandered onto the set on his way to buy a hoagie. The man hasn’t made a film in decades which didn’t involve him arsing around.
I’m still waiting for Philip Seymour Hoffman to play Ignatius Reilly in “Confederacy of Dunces”, before he gets way too old for the role.
Yeah, put the ? on Almost Famous because I couldn’t remember his part well enough, but seriously, was there anyone in Boogie Nights that had boundaries?