The 411 Movies Top 5 8.28.09: Week 180 - Top 5 Performances of Summer 2009

Posted by Trevor Snyder on 08.28.2009

As the summer movie season wraps up, the 411 crew takes a look at some of our favorite performances of the past few months.



THE TOP 5 PERFORMANCES OF SUMMER 2009

TREVOR SNYDER

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Alison Lohman as Christine Brown, in Drag Me to Hell - It's not easy being the focus of Sam Raimi's torture when you star in one of his horror films, but Lohman dug into it with gusto. No offense to Ellen Page, who was originally attached to this role, but I just can't imagine that she would have done as well of a job as Lohman did.

Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus, in Inglourious Basterds - A lot of attention has been heaped on another role in this movie (which we'll get to in a bit), but here's hoping Laurent's great work as Nazi survivor turned revenge-plotter isn't ignored come awards season, either.

Zach Galifianakis as Alan, in The Hangover - I've long been a fan of Galifianakis' stand-up, but I was starting to think his brand of humor just wasn't a proper match for the movie world. He finally proved me wrong, and became a break-out star in the process.

THE TOP 5

5. Chris Pine as James T. Kirk, in Star Trek

It's always exciting to see a performance that is clearly going to move the actor in question to superstar status, and that's what it felt like watching this one. It's even more impressive considering what Pine had to live up to. Say what you will about William Shatner's "talent," but his Kirk was an iconic role that not many actors would have the guts to step into. Pine took the challenge, wisely avoided a Shatner imitation, and made the character his own. And the great news is we get to see more of Pine in this role in the future.

4. Sharlto Copley as Wikus van de Merwe in District 9

Ah, yes, just another example of that old chestnut – you know, the same old story of "South-African guy with no formal acting experiences leads the land role in his buddy's $30-million sci-fi movie, earns critical acclaim, and watches as the movie actually debuts #1 at the box-office." Man, if I had a dime for every time we've heard that one…

3. Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, in Moon

Sam Rockwell seems to be perpetually on the verge of becoming the household name he deserves to be. In a perfect world, this would have been the movie that finally did it, but I fear that too few people actually got a chance to see it – just as I also fear that it being a sci-fi movie will result in Rockwell being ignored come Oscar time. That's too bad, because his work here is pretty amazing. It's tough to talk about what makes Rockwell's performance so excellent without getting into spoilers, and I definitely don't want to do that for this film, so just do yourself a favor and check it out. And if Rockwell isn't one of your current favorite actors after seeing, then I just don't know about you.

2. Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant William James, in The Hurt Locker

You take the good with the bad. At the same time Renner's underrated ABC cop show The Unusuals was being canceled, he was starring Kathryn Bigelow's acclaimed war drama about Army bomb squads in Iraq. It's an incredible movie, anchored by Renner's performance. It would have been easy to play James as the stereotypical "wild-guy" rebel, but Renner brings a level of depth to the part that should, in my opinion, make him a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination.

1.Christoph Waltz as Hans Landa, in Inglourious Basterds

It's not easy to be creepy while being polite, or to be intimidating while being courteous. It takes a special kind of actor to pull that off. In Hans Landa, Waltz has given us one easily one of the best screen-villains of the past 10, maybe even 20 years. I think the temptation here would be to portray Landa as your usual one-note evil Nazi, but Tarantino is too smart for that and, thankfully, so is Waltz. Landa is the most interesting character in the movie because of how complex he is. The story goes that Tarantino almost gave up on the entire film because he couldn't find an actor good enough for the part. It's a good thing he waited that extra little bit, because now we have a performance for the ages as a result.

SHAWN S. LEALOS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, Terminator: Salvation - I'm interested in seeing him in James Cameron's Avatar now.

Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed, Wolverine - I came to see Ryan Reynolds and left with even more admiration for Liev Schreiber.

Ewan McGregor as Camerlengo Patrick McKenna, Angels & Demons - McGregor did his usual outstanding job alongside Tom Hanks.

THE TOP 5

5. Alan Rickman as Professor Severus Snape, in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Alan Rickman is great in everything he does. I have loved this guy his entire career, from Die Hard to Robin Hood. From Dogma to Sweeney Todd. He made the below average thriller Nobel Son interesting thanks to his amazing performance. As a fan of the Harry Potter books, I can't see Severus Snape without seeing Alan Rickman and that is an achievement. Most of the time I am disappointed by the person cast in a movie based on a book but Rickman is PERFECT in this role and he is getting better and better as the series goes on. His character has risen in importance as the series races to its conclusion and he is one of the best parts of a really good movie in Half-Blood Prince. Up next is The Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland.

4. TIE: Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov, Star Trek and Anton Yelchin as Kyle Reese, Terminator: Salvation

I have to take this spot to give a lot of credit to a young actor that I knew very little about coming into this summer. I have seen Along Came a Spider but can't remember who he was in that movie. I knew he was the kid from Alpha Dog and have never gotten around to seeing Charlie Bartlett. Because of that, his performances in two of the biggest movies of the summer blew me away. First off, he took the role of Chekov and made it his own. He owned every scene he was in and is hilarious from start to finish. Next, he stands alongside Sam Worthington and together they make Christian Bale look like a secondary actor in his own movie. He works in some of the traits we remember from Michael Biehn before him and is excellent in this role. This kid is a great young talent and I look forward to watching his career.

3. Zach Galifianakis as Alan Garner, The Hangover

Is this guy the next John Belushi? Let's hope not because I want to see him have a long, funny career. The guy is already a huge name in the world of standup and he is spot-on funny in The Hangover. Forget the fat humor, G-strings and frontal nudity. This guy has pitch perfect comic delivery and can have a great career in film if he chooses his roles carefully. There is the off-chance he will become watered down to the fickle cinema goers who have already turned on Seth Rogan, but Galifianakis can be something special with a little luck.

2. Christopher Waltz as Col. Hans Landa, Inglourious Basterds

Christopher Waltz has a chance to be Oscar nominated for his role in Quentin Tarantino's Nazi killing film. He is the main character of the film despite being the antagonist. He tackles every scene with the precision of a master thespian and lets Tarantino's great dialogue slide off his tongue. He is quite a find for Tarantino and has very little film experience although he has done television for over thirty years. Waltz is taking advantage of his newfound popularity, turning down the chance to be in Germany's number one police drama Tatort in order to field several theatrical offers. He is that damn great. To give you a comparison, he is the Sam Jackson to Brad Pitt's John Travolta. Speaking of...

1. Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine, Inglourious Basterds

Tarantino is a master of taking actors and resurrecting their careers. He is also great at taking great actors and having them deliver performances that are as different from normal as you could expect. This movie's star turn is from one of the biggest A-list stars Tarantino has ever worked with - Brad Pitt. Pitt takes the role of American southern boy turned Nazi scalper Aldo Raine and seems to have fun tackling the amazing dialogue Tarantino presents him with. Every word Pitt speaks in this movie is GOLD and he had me and the audience I saw the film with laughing from start to finish. I am a Brad Pitt fan but even I am surprised at how much I enjoy his work in this movie. Christopher Waltz is the backbone of the movie and is the man who deserves every award he can get but Brad Pitt is the man who makes this movie fun. This is, and this is saying a lot from me, Brad Pitt's best role ever.

ERIK LUERS

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Larry David as Boris Yellnikoff, Whatever Works - Although the overall film left much to be desired, David's performance was damn near pitch perfect in this zany New York world of Woody Allen.

Paul Giamatti as Paul Giamatti, Cold Souls - Always an interesting character actor, Giamatti is able to ground an absurd plot and make his character sincere and extremely likable. So what if he'll never be Al Pacino? He can at least Pacino's soul. That's just as good.

James Nesbitt as Joe Griffen, Five Minutes of Heaven - A strong performance in a somewhat misguided film, Nesbitt is painfully funny and sad in all the right ways, and he is the heart of this tragic movie.

THE TOP 5

5. Kim Ok-vin as Tae-joo, in Thirst

Starting off sweet and innocent and ending on a note of blood lust and the love for murder, Ok-vin's performance is really something special. It's a shame her character has to become what she becomes, as we slowly start to see her and her lover's lives drastically spiral out of control. She plays the evil, tempting Dr. Hyde role, in a sense, and the performance is a remarkably skilled contrast to the conflicted character which Song Kang-ho plays. The darkly lit scene where they jump from rooftop to rooftop is hauntingly beautiful. And damn it, Ok-vin is only 22 years of age! What talent.

4. Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Dreyfus, in Inglorious Basterds

Not only very attractive with her 1940s movie star looks (which must, you will agree, count for something), Laurent is also one hell of a subtle, wide-eyed actress. Her performance is surprising in the same way Ok-vin's was. They start out innocent and weak, and then become avengers of the night. Some may find Shosanna's plight into madness to be justified, others may not; the character is an excellent supporting role in a film filled with excellent supporting roles. In terms of foreign movie stars, Laurent is a breath of fresh air, reminiscent of another fellow French woman, Julie Delpy, from 1994.

3. Isabelle Fuhrman as Esther, in Orphan

The most surprising performance of the summer was found in Orphan, a special little horror film that provided so much it should have been deemed illegal. Fuhrman is good not only because she can play the evil child role so well, but also because she is able to handle the other (and make that a big other) aspect of her character so effectively. Fuhrman presents a character so mature that you would never think to cross her. Or even adopt her. Now run to IMDB and read all about the actress, but just make sure to avoid catching a glimpse of her birthdate.

2. Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa, in Inglorious Basterds

What's perhaps most scary about Walt's performance is that he makes Landa at times appear to be doing the right thing, or at least what he assumes to be the right thing. Take the highly memorable opening sequence, for example. In Waltz's hands, Landa appears to be helping the French farmer, as if to say, "let me takes these dirty Jews off your hands. They're such a burden, aren't they?" In his mind he is out to help people because he is such an excellent detective, albeit one with an unmarketable nickname, the Jew Hunter. Waltz's performance is so well crafted and confident in itself that his scenes will scare the hell out of you, as they did me.

1. Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell, in Moon

Rockwell has always been a multi-talented actor. Heck, just last year he was robbed of an Oscar nod for David Gordon Green's Snow Angels, but let's hope the Academy rights their wrong this year by acknowledging his equally impressive performance in Moon. All alone up in space (or a British soundstage, give or take some movie magic) Rockwell presents a man who is slowly losing his mind, and I use the term "slowly" very loosely. As our protagonist, we trust and confide in him, even if we're not so sure he knows as much as he should. Basically a one man performance piece, Rockwell is riveting, sometimes sadly so, as the pathetic mouse trapped in a cage, serving the final days of a three year sentence. When Bell starts going crazy, and sees another version of himself, things get very interesting, and Rockwell plays it completely straight. It's a depressing performance in many ways because we care about Rockwell's character (or characters, I won't say) and what ultimately happens to him/them. Luckily, the ending makes us cheer with optimism. It's unquestionably the performance of the summer.

STEVE GUSTAFSON

HONORABLE MENTIONS

The Audience for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen - Totally amazing that such a large congregation of people could "appear" to be entertained by such movie. I bought into their Oscar worthy performance until common sense kicked in and told me that there was no way people could actually enjoy this and chalk up its popularity to drugs and alcohol.

Chris Pine as James T. Kirk in Star Trek - Before this movie came out the message boards were tearing him apart. How dare he try and fill the HUGE shoes of William Shatner? Guess what? He did it and he did it well. Good for him.

Brad Pitt as Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglorious Basterds -
He keeps getting better with age. His portrayal of the good Lt. will age nicely on repeated viewings as you notice little nuances that he brings to the role. Angelina is a lucky woman.

THE TOP 5

4. Zach Galifianakis as Alan Garner in The Hangover

As a huge fan of The Hangover, it was hard to choose just one performance...at first. But upon deep reflection I knew I had to hand out the kudos to Mr. Galifianakis. From his interaction with the other actors, his toast on the rooftop, and the numerous quotable lines, Zach was the real anchor of this movie. He performed with a tiger, took a punch from Tyson, and provided, to me, the biggest guffaw with the picture montage as the credits rolled. Thanks to him will always smile when I hear the phrase, "Not at the table, Carlos."

4. Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant William James in The Hurt Locker

At first glance this might be a head scratcher. Renner plays, at first glance, the "rebel". The guy who has little regard for authority and does things HIS way. It took a second viewing to show how much he brought to the role. Instead of being a cliche he balances his macho bravado with signs of compassion especially with his connection with an Iraqi boy. He doesn't have that big speech or that big scene where he plays to the audience or makes that huge impression. His performance is incredibly solid throughout and I will be SHOCKED if he doesn't get an Oscar nomination. See this movie!

3. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Tom Hansen in (500) Days of Summer

It's a real guy love fest here! Does my love for Gordon-Levitt know any bounds? Well, besides the small misstep with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra he's doing just fine. In defense of his portrayal of the leader of Cobra, he did as well as he could with what he was given. Let's leave it at that. On to (500) Days of Summer. I love this film. Love it! He took a role that could have come off as whiny, wimpy, and weak and layered it like a well bloomed onion. The kid is the real deal and I have a feeling we haven't even seen his best stuff yet. SCARY!

2. Sam Rockwell as Sam Bell in Moon

I liken Rockwell's performance to Tom Hanks in Cast Away. This film lived and died on his ability to connect with the audience and pull them in. He did it with ease. While this movie didn't get the mass audience love it deserved, it's another example of the skill and charisma of Mr. Rockwell. In a summer filled with an orgy of special effects monstrosities, Moon was everything I expected and more. It proved, yet again, that you can make an amazing sci-fi film without constant loud explosions and inane plots. I've heard several complaints about this past movie season but Moon and plenty of others provided me with just what I was looking for. And Sam Rockwell turned in a performance of a lifetime.

1. Sharlto Copley as Wikus van de Merwe in District 9

A few things to consider. He has no formal acting training. He was saddled with leading a movie produced by Peter Jackson. He improvised his lines for the film. And he nailed it. How can he NOT be the TOP PERFORMANCE of the SUMMER?

Next week, we'll take a look at our favorite movies of the summer. Tell then, feel free to follow me on Twitter. Plus, check out my new blog (including my Inglourious Basterds review) at Night of the Living Trev.