Seeing this movie, Ronin (1998), around the same time I saw City of Industry (1997) birthed one of my theories of enlightened movie-watching: the best movies of stars are (usually) not their best known.
De Niro is the best I've ever seen him in Ronin; Keitel in City of Industry. Not their best performances as actors (that's probably Raging Bull for De Niro and From Dusk Till Dawn - no joke - for Keitel). But their best as character actors; the personae that make them so compelling to watch.
Keitel is so Keitel in Industry; same with de Niro in Ronin. They carry the respective movies and make them tours de force of what makes them attractive.
Using this theory, here are the other action heroes and their best character roles. In rare cases, are the movies their biggest.
- Schwarzenegger = Predator
- Eastwood = The Outlaw Josey Wales
- Mel Gibson = Road Warrior
- Sean Connery = Zardoz (just kidding: Hunt for Red October) - [although this is a close second with the Untouchables]
- Burt Reynolds = Sharkey's Machine
- Paul Newman = Slap Shot
- Jack Nicholson = Chinatown
- Bruce Willis = Last Boy Scout
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