5. Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman- Pacino's performance creates a very mixed feeling, in a lot of moments I think he gives a very charming, and effective performance, but other times he goes too over the top, and his performance seems overly calculated.
4. Denzel Washington in Malcolm X- Washington performance is another mixed bag in my opinion. His early scenes he overplays, and his transformations are mostly done by the film, rather than his performance. He though is strong in many scenes, and has the right manner for Malcolm X in the speeches, and the right dread infused with still a passion the final scenes. It is just overall a mixes performance for me.
3. Stephen Rea in The Crying Game- Rea ranks third and above the other two of the bottom three because I feel his performance is always consistent, and basically believable as the descent Fergus, I just never felt he was that much more that believable though.
2. Robert Downey Jr. in Chaplin- Downey certainly is quite skillful in his ability to replicate Chaplin's physical comedy. He also has the right charm in the role, and is able to handle the aging requirements of Chaplin with grace, unfortuantely he is held back by a film that strangely enough perhaps does not delve enough into the mind of the man.
1. Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven- Eastwood performance in Unforgiven might be, or close to being his best performance. He knows exactly his range in this performance, as well the history of himself as an actor, and brilliantly uses both these aspects to create a very compelling portrait of a man's chilling degradation back into the viscous killer he once was.
Deserving Performances:
Jack Lemmon in Glengarry Glen Ross
