best film: Dead Man is the easy winner here and I’m a big admirer of the artistic accomplishments of Public Enemies, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Ed Wood. Of course, you could bring up the two scenes where Depp appears on screen in Platoon but even when considering Platoon I’m going with Jarmusch’s masterpiece as Depp’s very best film. Jarmusch is a top 100 all-time auteur (I had him at #68 the last time I updated) and this is his best single film.
best performance: Dead Man. Depp’s comic performance here is an all-timer. There’s a deadpan genius at work here that, to me, puts it ever so slightly over performances 2-5 below here. It helps that it’s a film teeters constantly with being on my all-time top 100 list, top 10 of the 90’s—and Johnny is so central to the film- in every scene.
stylistic innovations/traits: Depp is an underappreciated comedian at this point. His stretch from 1990-1998 starting with Edward Scissorhands and ending with Donnie Brascoe (really before he became an international superstar in Pirates) is why he’s on the list. He’s on absolutely fire in five films that belong in the top 10 of their years. Those films range from minimalist indie-comedy (Dead Man) to zany-as-shit-Terry Gilliam (Fear and Loathing), to straight drama excellence (Donnie Brascoe). The three gangster films on Depp’s resume (Brascoe, Black Mass and Public Enemies) are extremely important to his career and the balancing act he’s doing. I admire his performance in Pirates and Sweeney Todd as well so there’s a lot of depth here.
directors worked with: Tim Burton (5), Lasse Hallström (2), and then stalwarts like Stone, Jarmusch, Gilliam, and Michael Mann
Top 5 Performances:
- Dead Man
- Ed Wood
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Public Enemies
- Edward Scissorhands
Archiveable films
| 1984- Nightmare on Elm Street |
| 1986- Platoon |
| 1990- Edward Scissorhands |
| 1993- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape |
| 1994- Ed Wood |
| 1995- Dead Man |
| 1997- Donnie Brascoe |
| 1998- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas |
| 1999- Sleepy Hollow |
| 2000- Before Night Falls |
| 2000- Chocolate |
| 2003- Pirates of the Caribbean |
| 2004- Finding Neverland |
| 2005- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| 2007- Sweeney Todd |
| 2009- Public Enemies |
| 2015- Black Mass |
@Drake- Do you reckon his career’s over?
@Finn– it sure feels that way. Black Mass is no more than a fringe recommendation or I’d have to go all the way back to the previous decade (skipping the 2010’s completely) for an archiveable Depp film. He’s a great actor with an impressive career if that’s the case- but that would be too bad if he’s done.
We can’t give up on him just yet! Hopefully like Reeves and McConnaughey he’ll have a resurgence at some point (hopefully one that will last longer than the latter’s), but really who knows.
If the list was expanded what performances would be up next?
@Matthew – I’d have to give the order some thought but Sweeney Todd, Pirates, Donnie Brascoe, Gilbert Grape feel like 6 thru 9.