Russell Crowe was nominated for Best Actor three years running, for The Insider, Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, winning for Gladiator, which almost nobody has done.
The Insider is the best of the three and the least seen, playing Jeffrey Wigand as a man whose defining quality is discomfort. He gained substantial weight for it and plays the character as physically uneasy in every scene.
L.A. Confidential established him internationally, as a violent cop whose violence is the only moral instrument he has.
The later career includes a period of well-publicised temper and a run of films beneath him, and then a genuine late turn into character work, including Thor: Love and Thunder and The Pope’s Exorcist, both taken with obvious enjoyment.
Al PacinoThe Insider (1999) rates 9 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. Michael Mann made a two-and-a-half-hour thriller about a man giving a television interview, in which the entire plot is legal procedure and corporate liability, and it is one…
Ben Foster3:10 to Yuma (2007) rates 8 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. James Mangold opens the story out, adds an hour, gives the rancher a limp and a war record, and turns a chamber piece into a journey. Ben…
Billy BoydPeter Weir's 2003 Patrick O'Brian adaptation. Russell Crowe as Aubrey, Bettany as Maturin.
Annabelle Wallis2017 Alex Kurtzman action horror with Tom Cruise unleashing an ancient Egyptian princess. Universal's failed Dark Universe launch.
Chiwetel EjioforRidley Scott's 2007 Frank Lucas biopic. Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in parallel protagonist tracks.
Guy PearceCurtis Hanson's 1997 neo-noir on 1950s LAPD corruption. The rare adult crime film that respects its audience.
Caren PistoriusDerrick Borte's 2020 road rage thriller. Russell Crowe as the deranged driver.
Connie NielsenGladiator is the film that revived the Hollywood epic. The 9 rating is honest evaluation.
Cary ElwesRobin Hood is one of the most adapted properties in English-language popular culture. The legend traces back to medieval English ballads from at least the fifteenth century.
Chris HemsworthThe completion of Thor's degradation from Shakespearean prince to comedic buffoon. Mjolnir transfers to Jane Build, Christian Bale's Gorr wasted.
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