Given his celebrity, people sometimes seem to forget that Brad Pitt is actually quite an exceptional actor. He may be the two time winner of People Magazine’s sexiest man alive cover, but if you ask him, I’m fairly positive Pitt would tell you he Is far more proud of the four Oscar nominations to his name, and the Best Actor trophy he received from the National Society of Film Critics. Studios have taken advantage of Pitt’s incredible movie star looks his entire career, but during that same time, Pitt has taken advantage of the celebrity those same looks have given him and used it to work with some of the best filmmakers in the industry, such as Steven Soderbergh and the Coen brothers. As a result, Pitt has starred in some of the best films of the last twenty years. Here are ten of the best films he’s starred in.
12 Monkeys
Pitt received the first Oscar nomination for his manic turn as a mentally disturbed activist in this 1995 Terry Gilliam mind bender. The film, about a convicted criminal sent back in time in order to trace the origins of a virus outbreak that wiped out most of civilization, employs Gilliam’s usual visual bravado. Gilliam also draws terrific performances from the nominated Pitt and star Bruce Willis.
Moneyball
Pitt’s turn as Billy Beane, the Oakland Athletics general manager that revolutionized the game of baseball in the early part of the aughts, helped him to win the Best Actor prize from several critics organizations. It’s a credit to director Bennett Miller’s sure hand that Pitt’s performance didn’t overshadow the film. Utilizing a sharp script by reliable scribes Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian, “Moneyball” is a smart, touching and subtly poetic film.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Typically, films that experience the production problems and the multiple delays like this 2007 Andrew Dominik western turn out to be pretty putrid. Thanks to Dominik’s beautifully drawn characters and the gorgeous photography on display courtesy of industry legend Roger Deakins, this film did not suffer. Pitt gives one of his very best performances as Jesse James, the iconic gunslinger that meets his demise at the hands of one of his most devoted followers.
Inglourious Basterds
Despite being the leader of the titular clan, Pitt is hardly the focal point of this 2009 film about Jewish soldiers during WWII on a mission to assassinate Hitler. The real star of this wickedly clever and brilliantly orchestrated masterpiece is writer-director Quentin Tarantino. While Pitt is solid here, the real bests in show are Melanie Laurent as a French woman out to avenger her father’s death and Christoph Waltz as the sleuth like Nazi responsible for it.
The Tree of Life
Terrence Malick films are not known for being actor’s showcases. Like his previous four, this is an enigmatic work filled with luminous cinematography, themes of nature vs. theology and unanswered questions. Yet Pitt turns in a stern and essential performance, one that helped him win the Best Actor prize from the National Society of Film Critics, along with “Moneyball.”
Se7en
The most productive director-actor collaboration of Brad Pitt’s career is undoubtedly his pairing with master auteur David Fincher. In this, the first of their films, Pitt plays a rookie, hothead detective on the hunt for a serial killer picking his victims using the seven deadly sins. Like many of Fincher’s later films, “Se7en” features virtuoso visual technique, subversive thematic elements, and a dynamite performance from his favorite star.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Pitt shows terrific range in this underrated David Fincher tearjerker as Benjamin Button, a man born with the unfortunate and curious malady of aging in reverse. Given a bigger budget than his previous films combined, Fincher’s adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald short story may appear remote and steely on the surface, but underneath there’s a lot of heart. Pitt benefits from his chemistry from his always dynamic co-star, Cate Blanchett.
Thelma & Louise
The film that launched the career of this megastar. Ridley Scott’s film, about two women escaping their ordinary lives, features Pitt in a stellar turn as a wild and nefarious boy the women pick up for the ride. Scott’s classic feminist tale has a legion of followers, mostly because of its quality, but it probably didn’t hurt that film represented the first time Pitt had his shirt off in a movie.
Fight Club
Not only the best film on Pitt’s resume, but in the opinion of this writer, the best film of its decade. David Fincher’s gen x masterpiece about angry and despondent men who form a society that quickly gets out of hand is brash, witty and reminiscent of Kubrick at his most subversive. Pitt creates a legendary character with his bold interpretation of the charismatic and visionary Tyler Durden.
Ocean’s Eleven
Though the sequels that followed this 2001 crime comedy, about a gang of eleven cool criminals who attempt to rob a Las Vegas casino, may have arguably the tarnished the reputation of the original entry, it’s incredibly unfortunate. Art film Steven Soderbergh mixes the old school with the new school in this breezy and fun remake of the Rat Pack classic. Pitt is just one of many stars who successfully does what he needed to do: Just be a star.
Author Bio: Zack Mandell is a movie enthusiast, writer of movie reviews, and owner of www.movieroomreviews.com which has great information on actors like Brad Pitt. He writes extensively about the movie industry for sites such as Gossip Center, Yahoo, NowPublic, and Helium.
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