Let’s put it out there so there’s no misconception: Willem Dafoe is kind of a creepy guy when it comes to certain roles because he does have kind of an odd look and his mannerism can be kind of strange at times. But in terms of his acting he’s one of the better individuals in show business and has been for many years since he can put forth a performance that’s second to none depending on the movie he’s in. He’s been the lead, the supporting actor, and even more of an extra than anything, but he’s managed to take whatever role he’s in and make it an integral part of the film, enough so that if he wasn’t there you’d probably miss him. The fact that he does act in an eccentric manner is just one more mark in his favor since it’s the kind of act that makes him memorable and ultimately more popular.
Here are a few of Willem’s best movies.
5. The Boondock Saints
Smecker is a one of a kind detective whose methods don’t make sense to a lot of people but manage to get results and to accurately describe what went down in a given scene since he knows how to look at each situation and where to draw his conclusions. Connor and Murphy are just two vigilantes out on the street trying to clear up a bit of scum, but by the time Smecker really starts getting close to nailing them he finds that they’ve been doing more good than ill and doesn’t really seem interested in taking them down. Instead he finally allows them to deal out a bit of justice in the end as he watches from a safe distance.
4. The English Patient
When a man is brought into a critical care unit near death he recounts the tale of his life that brought him to this state. It had a lot to do with discovery of a cave, an affair, and the outcome of said affair when it’s broken off. The patient retells his story throughout the film, making those that listen understand what happened and why. At the end however he begs for death as the woman he loved and left behind so as to get help has passed away, and his pain is simply too great to bear. For those that love stories that are this detailed and involved it’s probably one of the better ones around.
3. The Florida Project
Somehow this was seen as a very powerful and impressive movie when in truth it’s about a woman that does anything and everything she can to provide for herself and her daughter while scamming others and even going so far as to steal when she needs to. There is a way to make this into a triumph apparently but it’s hard to see from a certain perspective since the whole idea is that Moonee is kind of a young delinquent while her mother needs a great deal of help to land on her feet. Bobby is perhaps one of the only really stable people in the whole film and even he can’t do everything.
2. The Last Temptation of Christ
There are many ways to tempt someone, even the son of God. In this film the director went into a great deal of depth when describing the life of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and even showed a wide array of moments from his life that many of us don’t ever think about as such things are not often preached upon in church. The one thing that we all seem to agree on but still have different views when it comes down to ideology is that Jesus Christ was a man, and that he did walk the earth. But from that point on things tend to become divided and the belief systems that people cling to start to create schisms between various religions and denominations.
1. Platoon
In films where he gets to be the good guy Willem is either still kind of creepy or just a bit pathetic at times even though he’s one of the more stand-up kind of guys. In this film he gets to play the guy that seeks to be the upstanding and honorable member of the platoon, though this brings him up against the more violent members of the group more often than not, and in the end it winds up getting him killed in the heat of battle. Vietnam was no picnic for anyone that went over there, but the stories of friendly fire and the horrors that were brought back in the memories of the soldiers are unfortunately true in a lot of cases.
He doesn’t really make for a warm and cuddly character most times but if you need someone to be solemn, creepy, or smarmy he does pretty well.
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