Movie roles you might have missed.
by ianstewartbrown | created - 01 Feb 2017 | updated - 03 Feb 2017 | PublicActors lesser known roles that you might not have seen
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1. Mr. Brooks (2007)
R | 120 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A well-respected businessman is sometimes controlled by his murder and mayhem-loving alter ego.
Director: Bruce A. Evans | Stars: Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, William Hurt, Dane Cook
Votes: 156,334 | Gross: $28.48M
Kevin Costner in a very different but superb role
2. The Lovely Bones (2009)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.
Director: Peter Jackson | Stars: Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon
Votes: 179,969 | Gross: $43.82M
One of Mark Whalbergs finest performances.
3. Hannibal (2001)
R | 131 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Living in exile, Dr. Hannibal Lecter tries to reconnect with now disgraced F.B.I. Agent Clarice Starling, and finds himself a target for revenge from a powerful victim.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman, Ray Liotta
Votes: 293,274 | Gross: $165.09M
Excellent bit of acting by Gary Oldman.
4. Wild at Heart (1990)
R | 125 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Laura Dern, Willem Dafoe, J.E. Freeman
Votes: 101,008 | Gross: $14.56M
One of MR Cages best and craziest roles.
5. Magnolia (1999)
R | 188 min | Drama
An epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman
Votes: 328,607 | Gross: $22.46M
By far one of the best performances by Tom Cruise. Nominated for and Oscar with good reason.
6. The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
PG-13 | 126 min | Drama, Thriller
An American POW in the Korean War is brainwashed as an unwitting assassin for an international Communist conspiracy.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury
Votes: 79,851
Angela Lansbury is just evil. And in my opinion one of her best.
7. Foxcatcher (2014)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
U.S. Olympic wrestling champions and brothers Mark Schultz and Dave Schultz join "Team Foxcatcher", led by eccentric multi-millionaire John du Pont, as they train for the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, but John's self-destructive behavior threatens to consume them all.
Director: Bennett Miller | Stars: Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, Mark Ruffalo, Vanessa Redgrave
Votes: 149,317 | Gross: $12.10M
Wow Steve Carell gives the performance of his life
8. Sexy Beast (2000)
R | 89 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Brutal gangster Don Logan recruits "retired" safecracker Gal for one last job, but it goes badly for both of them.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Ray Winstone, Ben Kingsley, Ian McShane, Amanda Redman
Votes: 69,308 | Gross: $6.95M
One very powerful and crazy Ben Kingsley. Amazing and Dark.
9. Angels in America (2003)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Several disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
Stars: Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson, Mary-Louise Parker
Votes: 29,801
One of Al Pacinos greatest roles.
10. Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)
R | 102 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
Hitman "El Mariachi" becomes involved in international espionage involving a psychotic CIA agent and a corrupt Mexican general.
Director: Robert Rodriguez | Stars: Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Johnny Depp, Willem Dafoe
Votes: 169,771 | Gross: $56.36M
Johnny Depp is brilliantly deranged.
11. Killer Joe (2011)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
When a debt puts a young man's life in danger, he turns to putting a hit out on his evil mother in order to collect the insurance.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church
Votes: 83,345 | Gross: $1.99M
Mathew McConaughy is crazy as it gets.
12. Inglourious Basterds (2009)
R | 153 min | Adventure, Drama, War
In Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a plan to assassinate Nazi leaders by a group of Jewish U.S. soldiers coincides with a theatre owner's vengeful plans for the same.
Director: Quentin Tarantino | Stars: Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger, Eli Roth, Mélanie Laurent
Votes: 1,585,072 | Gross: $120.54M
Brad Pitt wants his scalps.
13. Unthinkable (2010)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Follows a black-ops interrogator and an F.B.I. agent who try to press a suspect terrorist into divulging the location of three nuclear weapons set to detonate in the U.S.
Director: Gregor Jordan | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Michael Sheen, Stephen Root
Votes: 94,179
Sam Jackson like you've never seen him.
14. The Flock (2007)
R | 96 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A hyper-vigilant employee of the department of public safety, while training his young female replacement, has to track down a missing girl who he is convinced is connected to a paroled sex offender he is investigating.
Director: Andrew Lau | Stars: Richard Gere, Claire Danes, KaDee Strickland, Ray Wise
Votes: 12,256
Excellent acting by Richard Gere.
15. Insomnia (2002)
R | 118 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Martin Donovan
Votes: 319,268 | Gross: $67.36M
Robin Williams shines in a very dark way.
16. 12 Monkeys (1995)
R | 129 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Joseph Melito
Votes: 646,875 | Gross: $57.14M
Love crazy Bruce Willis in one of his of the wall performances.
17. Land of the Dead (2005)
R | 93 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The living dead have taken over the world, and the last humans live in a walled city to protect themselves as they come to grips with the situation.
Director: George A. Romero | Stars: John Leguizamo, Asia Argento, Simon Baker, Dennis Hopper
Votes: 100,822 | Gross: $20.70M
Simon Pegg as a zombie what's not to like?
18. Street Kings (2008)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
An undercover cop, disillusioned by the death of his wife, is implicated in the murder of an officer and must struggle to clear himself.
Director: David Ayer | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Chris Evans
Votes: 120,851 | Gross: $26.42M
Very underrated movie with a great cast and one of Chris Evans best.
19. The Take (2009)
TV-MA | 36 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Based upon the novel by Martina Cole, this TV series is mostly about Freddie Jackson, portrayed by Tom Hardy, who is just out of prison. He has the right connections and now he's ready to use them.
Stars: Shaun Evans, Tom Hardy, Charlotte Riley, Kierston Wareing
Votes: 9,145
Tom Hardy is just perfectly evil in this mini series. Watch if you can.
20. Low Winter Sun (2013)
TV-14 | 43 min | Crime, Drama
Murder, deception, revenge, and corruption that starts with the murder of a cop by fellow Detroit detective Frank Agnew.
Stars: Mark Strong, Lennie James, James Ransone, Sprague Grayden
Votes: 6,050
Cancelled after only one season but well worth watching for two very fine performances from Lennie James and Mark Strong.
21. Gandhi (1982)
PG | 191 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
Director: Richard Attenborough | Stars: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi, Roshan Seth
Votes: 240,233 | Gross: $52.77M
Daniel Day Lewis break out role.
22. This Must Be the Place (2011)
R | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Cheyenne, a retired rock star living off his royalties in Dublin, returns to New York City to find the man responsible for a humiliation suffered by his recently deceased father during W.W.II.
Director: Paolo Sorrentino | Stars: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch, Eve Hewson
Votes: 36,985 | Gross: $0.14M
Sean Penn is just brilliant. Very very worth watching. And some very good tunes with a brilliant performance by Talking Heads.
23. Sling Blade (1996)
R | 135 min | Drama
Karl Childers, a simple man hospitalized since his childhood murder of his mother and her lover, is released to start a new life in a small town.
Director: Billy Bob Thornton | Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter
Votes: 98,827 | Gross: $24.48M
Many great actors in this moving movie but Robert Duval is brilliant.
24. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 2,325,277 | Gross: $37.03M
Angel Face Jared Leto before he became a Joker.
25. Band of Brothers (2001)
TV-MA | 59 min | Drama, History, War
The story of Easy Company of the U.S. Army 101st Airborne Division and their mission in World War II Europe, from Operation Overlord to V-J Day.
Stars: Scott Grimes, Damian Lewis, Ron Livingston, Shane Taylor
Votes: 527,664
Many actors in this T.V epic and amongst them Tom Hardy in his very first acting role.
26. The Unusuals (2009)
TV-14 | 60 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Darkly comedic drama focusing on the dysfunctional cops and staff of an infamous NYPD precinct.
Stars: Amber Tamblyn, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Joshua Close
Votes: 5,519
Short lived but Jeremy Renner was brilliant in it. If you haven't seen it I strongly recommend you do.
27. The Midnight Meat Train (2008)
R | 100 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A photographer's obsessive pursuit of dark subject matter leads him into the path of a serial killer who stalks late night commuters, ultimately butchering them in the most gruesome ways.
Director: Ryûhei Kitamura | Stars: Vinnie Jones, Bradley Cooper, Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields
Votes: 71,144 | Gross: $0.08M
Bradley cooper does horror.
28. The Brave (1997)
123 min | Drama
A down-on-his-luck American Indian recently released from jail is offered the chance to "star" as the victim of a snuff film, the resulting pay of which could greatly help his poverty stricken family.
Director: Johnny Depp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, Marshall Bell, Elpidia Carrillo
Votes: 10,842
One of Marlon Brando's last and craziest roles directed by and starring Johnny Depp.
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