Top 10 Best Russell Crowe Performances
Sometimes eclipsed by his fiery temper and telephone-throwing skills, Russell Crowe is quietly putting together one of the most impressive acting career of our era. The New Zealand-born Australian began his career in 1986 but it wasn’t until he appeared in 1997′s LA Confidential that most movie fans on this side of the Pacific were introduced to him. He has since collected 3 Academy Award nominations and become one of Hollywood’s brightest A-list star. So trust me when I say that it wasn’t easy to come up with a top ten list with so many great performances on his resume. Without further ado, here are Russell Crowe’s top 10 performances:
10. Cort in The Quick and the Dead
One of Russell Crowe’s first foray into Hollywood cinema, Sam Raimi’s western The Quick and the Dead also starred Sharon Stone, Gene Hackman and Leonardo DiCaprio. Stone had been impressed by Crowe’s fearless work in Romper Stomper and actively advocated for his casting in the movie despite him being nearly completely unknown in America at the time. In this campy western, Russell Crowe plays Cort, a peaceful religious preacher who is forced into a shoot-out contest despite himself.
9. Capt. Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
As Captain Jack Aubrey, Russell Crowe is outstanding as a leader of men, displaying the ability to be a strong yet caring leader. While Peter Weir’s movie received 10 Academy Award nominations, Master and Commander might not be the type of movie that you want to see over and over again. Nonetheless, it’s a beautifully shot movie with a compelling story loosely adapted from Patrick O’Brian’s The Far Side of the World. This may well be Crowe’s most underrated film of his career.
8. Cal McAffrey in State of Play
People often complain that Hollywood doesn’t make smart adult movies but the critically acclaimed State of Play came and went at the box office without much notice. Based on the popular BBC mini-series, this political thriller stars Russell Crowe as an old-school investigative journalist investigating a murder and uncovering a potentially far-reaching conspiracy to privatize homeland security. While his slovenly character likes to do his job the traditional way, Crowe has to contend with his frenzied editor Helen Mirren and bright-eyed blogger-turned junior journalist Rachel McAdams. Sporting a beer gut and looking disheveled, Crowe shows off his versatility as the old-guard journalist who knows he is one of the last dinosaur in the room. He is utterly believable despite all the larger-than-life characters he has played throughout his career as shown in one scene in which he runs away from the bad guy, terrified for his life.
7. Ben Wade in 3:10 to Yuma
Crowe shows off his charisma and charm as the ruthless outlaw leader Ben Wade in James Mangold’s remake of the 1957 western. He is able to bring depth and humanity to an amoral and cunning villain by dropping hints of gentleness and sensitivity while maintaining the viciousness and threatening nature of his character just below the surface. Wade is a scripture-quoting gangster who is able to act like a gentleman and remember little details about all the people he has met. Yet, he is savagely stabbing a man in the face with a kitchen fork in the next scene. It’s seemingly effortless but really quite an overlooked performance if you think about it.
6. Hando in Romper Stomper
Featuring one of Russell Crowe’s most indelible performance of his career, Romper Stomper follows the rise and downfall of a Nazi skinheads group in suburban Melbourne. Despite displaying a shaved head, imposing tattoos and a hate-filled glare, Crowe gave his Mein Kampf-reading character Hando an incredible amount of swagger, magnetism and raw power. He is so repellant and evil and yet, you can’t take your eyes off him. Incredibly violent and ruthless, Russell Crowe’s depiction of Hando is truly mesmerizing and may well be one of the greatest portrayals of pure evil ever put on film. For his efforts, he was rewarded with the Australian equivalent of the Oscar for Best Actor.
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29 Comments
GREAT list! i concur!
Wahoo!! Glad to see The Insider as #1, I think that’s truly his best, better than Maximus even. I also love M&C, Cinderella Man, etc. Well, let’s just say it’s easy to do a top 10 list for Mr. Crowe
Great list Castor!
I agree with you Ruth, I loved the Insider and I especially love the fact that he took an uncharismatic, regular guy and made him genuinely interesting and put his own personality into him, within the confines onf the character. That’s what made the performance really good for me. What about a list of top 10 Al Pacino performances? He is also great in that film.
Well done. You and I are totally in agreement about #1. His work as Jefferey Wigand deserves so much more recognition.
I definitely agree with #1. I feel that role gets lost because it was so understated. But he plays it so well. It’s hard to believe it was Crowe when you compare Wigand to Maximus.
Wow, I’m surprised that everyone so far agree with The Insider being #1, glad to see that!
Love that you included THE QUICK AND THE DEAD!!!
Yeah, I LOVE him in that too Rachel, he’s one hunky cowboy in that one
And Ben Wade is one of the most charming movie villains.
Nice list, I actually really enjoyed his performance in “Body of Lies” ~ I’d probably put that on my list.
Yes he is very good in Body of Lies (when isn’t he right?) but it’s fairly small supporting role and Mark Strong was just as amazing in a bit role.
I have to disagree with #1. When I first saw the headline over on FilmWatch, I thought to myself “If A Beautiful Mind isn’t first, I’m failing this lol”. For me, A Beautiful Mind is definitely his best performance to date. Though, indeed, his performance in The Insider was good and definitely warrants a top 3 spot. I’d probably put it at number 2 if I’m doing an honest critique of his performance. Though, personally, I liked his role of Maximus better.
Nice list, though. I agree with the top ones, just I’d personally re-order at least #1 and #2.
Ah finally someone to have an argument with!
The top 3 is definitely a tough one because all three are definitely very good movies. Gladiator is such an entertaining movie and Crowe is iconic in the role. I can’t even say that I liked A Beautiful Mind all that much, it pretty much put me to sleep while The Insider, I didn’t enjoy nearly as much as Gladiator. Nonetheless, one can’t deny that he was brilliant in those performances.
See I’m actually the opposite with A Beautiful Mind and The Insider. A Beautiful Mind I really enjoyed. Whereas, The Insider, I realize was a good movie (and his performance was good), but it kinda bored me. Of those three, Gladiator is also the one I enjoyed the most. Though, I’d put A Beautiful Mind a close second.
But indeed, can’t deny he turned in great performances in all. Just unfortunate you had to be wrong and pick Insider as number 1
When I took a film class in my freshmen year of college we spent an entire class jesting at Quick and the Dead’s obsessive use of the Dolly Zoom – popularized by the beach shot of Brody in Jaws – was hilarious (if not dizzying) just how much it was used.
That said, I really don’t think Crowe gets the credit he deserves for A Beautiful Mind. Oscar nomination aside, he was breathtaking to watch as John Nash. Unfortunately, much like the eventual winner – Denzel Washington – it’s become a popular ground for anti-Oscar bashing.
As I said to JL above, I can’t even say that I enjoyed A Beautiful Mind all that much, I personally felt the movie was a bore! But Crowe’s performance was simply great and you are right that it’s quite an underrated portrayal.
Glad somebody agrees with me. I think his performance as John Nash is brilliant. Anytime somebody wants to bag on Crowe as an actor, A Beautiful Mind is the movie I turn them to.
I second the mention of Body Of Lies, he was really good in that.
My favourite performance of his is probably In Master and Commander, which I’m glad you included. But he’s not really one of my favourite actors, I’m more often disappointed than impressed when watching his films. I especially disliked State Of Play and didn’t think much of Gladiator, LA Confidential or The Insider.
Great post though, a very enjoyable read!
Great to see the portrayal of Wigand earning the #1 spot. Understated was the perfect way to describe it.
I actually think his Nash is one of his most overrated and kind of godawful performances; going into Foghorn Leghorn territory with the accent just makes the character grating and intolerably disingenuous, though frankly his acting is the least of that film’s problems.
For my money, it’s Gladiator, but I might just be saying that because it’s his most instantly recognizable and iconic performance. I don’t know many who could make “Are you not entertained?” work so elegantly as a one-liner.
Good list. When I first read the headline for the article I had to think to myself “Have I seen 10 Russell Crowe pics?” Of course I have. One of those weird things where I know it is him but I forget (sometimes).
Nice to see mention of “Romper Stomper.”
I love Russel Crowe so much. SO much even that I could possibly include him in my top 5 actors. Romper Stomper is brilliant. I hope he gets his shit together, and continues to get (pick?) good roles again. I mean his next movie is RZA’s directing debut, which could be very much a super hit or a super miss.
I agree I thought he was spectacular in The Insider and kudos for including Romper Stomper. I remember seeing that film back in the late 90s, a year or so before he appeared in L.A. Confidential. If they ever get Cormac McCarthy’s novel Blood Meridian off the ground, he would be perfect for one of the characters from the book.
So glad to see CINDERELLA MAN so high. It’s a film with a few issues, but it is a fine effort and Crowe, Zellweger and Giamati are all excellent in it.
I feel it’s quite a forgotten movie actually. Thanks Andrew!
I’m so glad someone else thinks Russell’s performance as Ben Wade in “3:10 To Yuma” was overlooked. From the first moment that Ben Wade appears on screen, I was simply electrified. It quickly became my favorite Crowe film. Love his performances in ‘Cinderella Man’, ‘A Beautiful Mind’ and virtually every other film he’s done, but ‘Yuma’ will always stand out for me.
Yes, these kind of performances where the actor isn’t acting in a flashy fashion often end up being overlooked but it takes great talent to show restraint and still be so effective. Thanks for dropping by Eileen!
Crowe’s performances are memorable because he gives you the characters from the inside/out.However for my Russell Crowe list I would have put Cinderella Man at number one. His Braddock is a quiet fellow who happens to be a champion boxer and family man.There is a great scene in the boxing commissioner’s office before the champioship fight,where Braddock is shown the dangers of boxing Baer. Crowe’s speech about all that is very compelling.A good movie experience.Crowe and Bale had great rapport in 3:10 to Yuma. The bandit and the rancher had great dialogue and timing.Hollywood chose to overlook those two performances at Oscar time.So what else is new?Actually Crowe should have won a second Oscar for a Beautiful Mind, which was also a good movie experience.Those Oscar folks had another goal in mind that year.Maximus is an iconic character, Crowe was like a force of nature…great work. This last film The Next Three Days was good as well, but film critics contract movie ennui and start to lose interest in good actors and sincere performances. Thanks for the list.
Yes, as I said earlier, the Academy and critics in general tend to rave about flashy performances such as actors having to physically metamorphose or crying/yelling profusely in some dramatic performance. In some case, it’s deserved but more often than not, more subtle and nuanced turns are completely overlooked. It’s quite frustrating really because you can see this happen like clockwork every year.
I have enjoyed Russell’s acting and his strident personality…very kiwi…you should read about his past life in Celebity Past Lives by Jeanette from Tassie
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