Jude Law was nominated for The Talented Mr Ripley and Cold Mountain, and spent the early 2000s being marketed as a romantic lead, which was never the best use of him.
Ripley is the performance: Dickie Greenleaf has to be charming enough that the entire film’s obsession makes sense, and careless enough that the cruelty lands.
The later character work is stronger. The Young Pope, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Sherlock Holmes show a comic capacity, and he is genuinely unpleasant in Contagion.
He works regularly on stage, including Hamlet and Henry V, and has moved into villain roles with visible enthusiasm.
