Some people say he is the last true "movie star" with the charm, charisma, style ad swagger of a 1950's celebrity.
George Clooney is one of the few actors in Hollywood to show he can lead action films, comedies and dramas. He has been nominated for acting Oscars 3 times, as a director once and as a screenwriter once and is the only person in history to be nominated for an acting Oscar, a directing Oscar and a writing Oscar all in the same year for 2 different films. What have YOU done today?
George Clooney's newest film "
The American" opens up in AMC Theatres everywhere this Wednesday and I thought to commemorate the opening I'd take the opportunity to list off what I consider to be the 5 best performances of George Clooney's career.
Remember, these are his best performances, not his best movies. Check out my list and then give me your thoughts in the comments area bellow:
There were so many layers to the character Ryan Bingham. To play this part Clooney had to show us a man who lived with absolute certainty about his world view, and yet be terribly unhappy beneath it all. A man who had it all together on the outside, but is frail and whose life is a mess when examined closer and a man who had to face himself several times along the way. In my opinion this was the best film of the year last year, and to me the main reason for that is the incredible performance given by Clooney.
It's sometimes easy for a brilliant performance to get lost in the woods when a film is loaded with an all star cast, but Clooney's portrayal of Michael Clayton, a lawyer caught in a spiraling thriller stands out and shines even though he was surrounded by titans like Sydney Pollack, Tom Wilkinson and Tilda Swinton. What makes his performance even that much more remarkable is that I didn't think the movie itself was all that great... but made incredibly watchable due to Clooney and what he brought to his character. Very well deserved nomination for Best Actor.
#3 - O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
To be honest with you I'm not sure how this film ever got a green light. To read it on paper it seems like a highly improbably film to "succeed" in the movie marketplace. Well thank goodness someone did have the vision to green light this incredible movie (in my opinion the best film Clooney has ever done) and I'm just not sure how anyone other than Clooney could have brough Everett to life:
Ulysses Everett McGill: Deceitful, two-faced she-woman. Never trust a female Delmar, remember that one simple precept and your time with me will not have been ill spent.
Delmar O'Donnell: Ok, Everett.
Ulysses Everett McGill: Hit by a train! Truth means nothing to a woman, Delmar. Triumph of the subjective. You ever been with a woman?
Delmar O'Donnell: Well, I... I... I gotta get the family farm back before I can start thinking about that.
Ulysses Everett McGill: That's right, if then. Believe me Delmar, woman is the most fiendish instrument of torture ever devised to bedevil the days of man.
How good is George Clooney in this film? He's so good he actually made a performance by Jennifer Lopez watchable (ba da boom). Another film where Clooney is surrounded by a packed cast (Lopez, Michael Keaton, Catherine Keener, Ving Rhames, Steve Zahn, Albert Brooks, Don Cheadle).
I mean come on... how charming do you have to be to make a cop you kidnapped fall in love with you? Answer: more charming than me.
I know not everyone loved this film, but I can't help myslef, I thought it was pure brilliance, and every word that came out of Harry Pfarrer's mouth (Clooney's character) had me laughing my guts out. In my opinion it's Clooney's best comedic work. Like I said, I know most of you will disagree with this particular inclusion on the list, but I still believe that if you really watch his performance in it, you'll eventually agree (or not... it's all good).
So there you have it, our list of the 5 best performances of George Clooney's incredible career so far. Will his performance in "The American" make its way onto this list? We'll have to wait and see.
