Greetings, reader!
Robert Redford, a true giant of cinema, passed away this week at the age of 89 years. On the big screen, Redford was a generation-defining leading man who starred in about half of the movies loved by my dad (and your dad, and everyone's dad), and behind the scenes, he was a man truly worth celebrating: in an industry filled with creeps and egomaniacs, he used his platform to speak out for the environment, while being a passionate ally for Native Americans, LGBTQ+ people, and other minorities. As a tribute to his great career, here is my personal ranking of his very best roles.
7. Narrator in A River Runs Through It (1992)
In addition to his prolific acting career, Redford also made a name for himself in the art of filmmaking, directing flicks such as Quiz Show (1994), The Horse Whisperer (1998) and his directorial debut Ordinary People (1980), for which he won the Oscar for Best Director. The only film I've seen from his directorial catalogue is the sentimental coming-of-age tale A River Runs Through It, in which he also voices the main character at an older age, serving as the tale's narrator.
Redford's gravelly and expressive voice is just right for the role. It's neat to think how it's the guy in the director's chair, with an undoubtedly personal relationship to the film and its story, setting the mood with his narration.
6. Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) and Avengers: Endgame (2019)
It's a rite of passage for every acclaimed Hollywood actor - build a career doing small roles with a good work ethic, break through with big roles, star in films and win awards, and then in the 2010's, play the villain in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. Whether you're Guy Pearce or Tom Hiddleston, Hugo Weaving or Jude Law, Christopher Eccleston or anyone ranging from Lee Pace and Josh Brolin through James Spader and Mads Mikkelsen all the way to Cate Blanchett and Michael Keaton, that's just a rule of law no one can run away from. And the great Robert Redford proved to be an excellent addition to the tradition.
It's the classic bait-and-switch of a supposedly good guy, who (uh, spoiler alert) turns out to be corrupt in a big plot twist. It's debatable who the main villain of The Winter Soldier is, but a solid argument can be made for Alexander Pierce, the man pulling the strings. Redford is more well-known for his good-guy leading roles than villain performances, but his turn in the MCU showcased his range with style.
5. Jeremiah Johnson in Jeremiah Johnson (1972)
A part of me wanted to rank the title role from one of my dad's all-time favorite movies even higher, because it is admittely the perfect lead role for this film. But, as far as impressive acting prowess goes, Redford didn't show as much of it here as in many other roles - because he didn't have to. The script of Jeremiah Johnson doesn't call for Oscar-winning acting chops or wild range - it's a story about a guy wants to be closer to nature and moves into the mountains, and in many ways the true focal point of the film isn't the character but rather the great outdoors surrounding him.
Playing a lead role is like being a lead singer or a soccer team's striker, which most often means that you'll have to captivate everyone as the ultimate center of attention - but playing the lead in this specific movie is like being the lead singer for Free Bird or being the striker in a false nine formation. It requires giving space to other elements and doing your job in a subdued way, which would be a problem for a majority of Hollywood stars with their egos - but Redford, ever the team player, absolutely nailed the assignment.
4. The Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Ah, the role that was so fun to play that Redford later bought a ski area that he named after the character. He then started to host gatherings there to celebrate independent film - you may have heard of it, actually, y'know - THE SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL. Man, this guy's influence on cinema can't really be overstated.
But, yeah, this classic western was somewhat of a breakthrough role into superstardom for Redford. His chemistry with co-star Paul Newman is off the charts, so it's no wonder that they would go on to star in several more movies together. Speaking of which...
3. Johnny Hooker in The Sting (1973)
Yeah, this is the stuff. Here's another amazing anecdote I learned while reading up on Redford's legacy after his passing: apparently he really wanted to play the lead role in Mike Nichols' The Graduate, but Nichols wouldn't cast him because, and this is true, he deemed Redford to be so cool that he wouldn't be believable as a loser. No, really. Apparently Redford had a hard time taking the news and demanded an explanation, so Nichols asked him if he has ever struck out with a girl, and the poor stud had to ask what striking out means. To understand Mike Nichols' point, watch five seconds of Robert Redford in The Sting and you'll se what he was talking about - the dude was f**king hot.
But not only did he look the part - Redford plays the role of slick-talking conman Johnny Hooker with fantastic levels of charisma, more or less creating a whole-ass character archetype that Hollywood would try to replicate time and again because it's so good. While he got plenty of Oscar nominations (and even won one) as a director and/or producer, as well as getting a well-deserved honorary Academy Award for his lifelong body of work in 2002, The Sting remains the only film he ever got an acting Oscar nomination for. Makes sense, although I would've given nominations for today's top two as well.
2. Bob Woodward in All the President's Men (1976)
One of my favorite things about watching old movies is how you can see their influence on later cinema. Robert Redford has been cited as a major influence by many actors, and if you watch a film like this after becoming familiar with more modern Hollywood, you can just feel that. Watching the way Redford plays his role in All the President's Men, you can see a style of acting that was emulated by stars like Brad Pitt and Christian Bale, and you can just imagine how those actors grew up watching Redford flicks and picking up on his magnetic style.
Playing a real-life person is always an interesting challenge for an actor, and the shoes of the two legendary journalists who broke the Watergate scandal can't have been easy to fill - but Redford and his co-star Dustin Hoffman were so very right for the roles. Redford's captivating performance feels like a tribute to investigative journalism, best showcased in the masterclass scene where an uninterrupted five-minute take follows Redford's character as he switches between two phone calls with sensitive sources, as his intense facial expression make it clear A) how seriously Woodward took his work, and B) how he could feel that he was on the verge of finding that smoking gun.
1. Our Man in All Is Lost (2013)
It may be the least iconic film on today's list, and not as remarkable as an overall piece of cinema as many of the others. But, purely acting-performance-wise, All Is Lost was Robert Redford's finest hour. In this man vs. nature survival thriller, a sailor finds himself in the midst of a disaster while in the middle of the sea, having to think on his feet and be resourceful in order to survive the ordeal. The film's cast begins and ends with Redford, the only person we see on screen.
Pulling off what is essentially a one-man play on the big screen requires a very special actor - sure, the grand visuals and exciting survival plot help, but it would still become inevitably boring without the right actor. Most of Redford's most famous performances don't showcase a whole lot of range because the type of films he liked to do didn't require that - but here, at an older age, he showed what lengths he was capable of going to when needed. It's a real tour-de-force, feeling like the cherry on top for an already wildly impressive career.
Thank you for reading! Tune in next week for my ranking of all 33 Black Mirror episodes.
No comments:
Post a Comment