best film: I think Norton has been in 12 archiveable films and five of them are masterpieces. I’m throwing out his work with Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom and Grand Budapest) as he’s just not a big enough part of those films (I hope a future, bigger part in a Wes film is coming up). That leaves Birdman, Fight Club and The 25th Hour. I’m going to say Birdman is his best film but I haven’t seen it since the two things in theater in 2014 (way overdue) so I look forward to verifying and confirming this. Fight Club I’ve seen 20 times over 20 years and it keeps getting better- that could easily be my answer when I update this in 5 years.
best performance: To me 1-4 are virtually tied. He’s a possessed tour-de-force in American History X but the stakes aren’t as high as the film isn’t close to the quality of the other three. He might not even be the best performance in Fight Club (Pitt) or Birdman (Keaton) but he’s on in those films—and they’re spectacular. The 25th Hour is one of the most underrated films of the 21st century and Norton is at the crux of it. That’s my choice but I wouldn’t fight anyone who wanted to select another option.
stylistic innovations/traits: He’s been excellent in three masterpieces in each of the last three decades (Fight Club, 25th Hour, Birdman). He has range; his transformation in American History X and then a Woody musical, courtroom drama and a bipolar (faux) role in a psychological thriller all before the turn of the century. However, his career has slowed down and the promise of his start from 1996-2002 has not come to fruition even if he’s worked with Wes (these are not major achievements for him). The outlier during this down stretch is this utter brilliance in Birdman. I hope there’s more of that to come because his resume, at the top, is up there with any other actor of his generation—he just doesn’t have their depth.
directors worked with: Wes Anderson (2) and then once he’s worked with Woody Allen, Fincher, Spike Lee, Ridley Scott and Iñárritu
Top 5 Performances:
- The 25th Hour
- Fight Club
- American History X
- Birdman
- Primal Fear
Archiveable films
| 1996- Everyone Says I Love You |
| 1996- Primal Fear |
| 1996- The People Versus Larry Flint |
| 1998- American History X |
| 1998- Rounders |
| 1999- Fight Club |
| 2002- The 25th Hour |
| 2005- Kingdom of Heaven |
| 2006- The Illusionist |
| 2012- Moonrise Kingdom |
| 2014- Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) |
| 2014- The Grand Budapest Hotel |
I really like his work in The Score and Incredible Hulk.Is there any chance they will land in the archives in the future?
Where is The Score(2001),Painted Veil(2006) and Incredible Hulk(2008)?Any chance they will land in the archives in the future?
I think Norton’s actually pretty terrific in Moonrise Kingdom. The role is probably a little too slight to crack that top 5 (though much more central than his role in Grand Budapest), but I think it’s certainly a mark firmly in the plus column for his career.
@Matt Harris– I just want more of Ed Norton. Rumor is he’s not the easiest to work with– but he’s one of our great actors. We need him in more movies.
Definitely agree with that.
One of my favorite actors (if not my favorite) since the first time I saw Fight Club. I feel you heavily underrate American History X. Fight Club, American History X, 25th Hour in that order for his top 3 for me.
Love this man! Wish he was in more films, I cannot get enough of him. I would say AMX is actually his best performance in my opinion, he’s just soooooo good in it and while the film is good there’s not a whole lot to recommend about it aside from Norton’s fantastic performance.
I have watched a number of his early films in the last several weeks, is it an exaggeration to say he looked like he was on his way to being a top 15 actor of all time as of the early 2000s?
I mean his performances in Fight Club, American History X, and the 25th Hour are so incredible. I love him Rounders as well, I know that is no where near the same level of film but as an avid poker player that film means a lot more to be than most cinephiles and he’s great in it.
He’s obviously insanely talented and has an incredible range. It is too bad that he did not take more of an advantage from the great start to his career but still lot of time left. As others have noted he is supposedly not an easy guy to work with and that does matter even in a place like Hollywood which has an abundance of ego maniacs.
@James Trapp- yep, a long quiet stretch before Birdman and a long quiet one after now. If you had told me in 1999 that Pitt or DiCaprio or someone would have the far better career from that point forward I would have laughed.