best film: Manhattan. This is far from being Meryl Streep’s signature role and film. Hers is a small role and she is no better than the fifth best – or most important – performance in the film. If one is seeking out Streep’s best film where she plays a significant part- look to the best picture winner of 1978. The Deer Hunter is #227 on the all-time top 500 films list so at this level near the top of the best female actors of all-time- this category is still a weakness for Streep. Streep is fantastic in Michael Cimino’s film though and she proves herself with a very game Robert De Niro (right in his prime) and Christopher Walken (the best he has ever been). The next best film would probably be Sydney Pollack’s gorgeous Out of Africa– but- again- this is not a category of strength for Streep.
Meryl Streep in 1978’s The Deer Hunter opposite Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken. This was just Streep’s second film after 1977’s debut in Fred Zinnemann’s Julia. Her work in The Deer Hunter earned Streep her first of more than twenty (20) Oscar nominations. Cimino’s film proves to sort of update on Wyler’s The Best Years of Our Lives – the story of the return home from war.
best performance: Sophie’s Choice. It is not a good sign to dip down to the level of a film of Sophie’s Choice’s caliber for this category- but Streep practically levitates she is so good in the 1982 Alan Pakula film. This does feel like the single performance for which she will be remembered for. It features her trademark accent and dialect perfection and it is very far from being an average film even if it is clearly no masterpiece. Sophie’s Choice features that pivotal titular choice flashback scene that would be amongst the minority of scenes one would show to someone if you wanted to showcase just how good screen acting can be. The Deer Hunter, Out of Africa (another highwire accent-laden epic) are fine choices- and both Adaptation and Kramer vs. Kramer (Streep owns the opening and closing of this film in particular) have Streep throwing fastballs in more limited screen time performances.
from Sophie’s Choice– a few times a decade at most an actor gives a performance in a film outside of the year’s top ten of the year that requires mention among the very best. Streep’s close-up confession here- these are probably her finest moments on screen.
stylistic innovations/traits: Streep is at twenty-three (23) total films in the archives and counting- still going strong. She is the record holder in Academy Award nominations for an actor. She may lack quality performances in masterpieces (1) but her depth and clear range as an actress is her case. Few if any actors could match Streep’s fifteenth (15th) best performance (maybe something like Ironweed or The Manchurian Candidate) but the flip side of that is comparing Streep’s top with the top of the other actors- and there she suffers. Her vast range includes those accents and authenticity but she clearly does not need an accent to wallop audiences with her performance either. In fact, in three of her three of her best five performances (The Deer Hunter, Kramer vs. Kramer, Adaptation) she is playing accent-less contemporary characters.
Kramer vs. Kramer– Streep gives Joanna Kramer an impressively rich duality and complexity . Joanna’s perspective in the film is not given the same attention as Dustin Hoffman’s character- and yet- Streep pulls off the triumph of making Joanna a full character and tells her side of the tory in a fraction of the screen time. It is hard to picture another actor pulling this off.
directors worked with: Mike Nichols (3) and then Michael Cimino, Woody Allen, Alan Pakula, Sydney Pollack, Clint Eastwood, Jonathan Demme, Robert Altman, Steven Spielberg, Spike Jonze, Steven Soderbergh, Greta Gerwig, Adam McKay all once a piece. This is solid and very long list of collaborators. No disrespect intended to Mike Nichols, but this makes Streep’s path markedly different than many of the previously mentioned actresses here like Masina, Gish, Karina, Vitti, Ullman and a few others that paired up so often with a top auteur.
Streep in 1985’s Out of Africa. Streep’s strengths are her obvious talent, chameleon-like accent work and her depth of filmography. With over twenty (23 and counting) archiveable films Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett are really the others battling her for the most all-time for a female actor.
top five performances:
- Sophie’s Choice
- The Deer Hunter
- Out of Africa
- Kramer vs. Kramer
- Adaptation
archiveable films
| 1977- Julia |
| 1978- The Deer Hunter |
| 1979- Kramer vs. Kramer |
| 1979- Manhattan |
| 1981- The French Lieutenant’s Woman |
| 1982- Sophie’s Choice |
| 1983- Silkwood |
| 1985- Out of Africa |
| 1987- Ironweed |
| 1988- A Cry in the Dark |
| 1990- Postcards from the Edge |
| 1991- Defending Your Life |
| 1995- The Bridges of Madison County |
| 2002- Adaptation |
| 2002- The Hours |
| 2003- Angels in America |
| 2004- The Manchurian Candidate |
| 2006- A Prairie Home Companion |
| 2008- Doubt |
| 2017- The Post |
| 2019- Little Women |
| 2020- Let Them All Talk |
| 2021- Don’t Look Up |
I see a noticeable difference in the quality of her Oscar nominations until Bridges of Madison and then after that. She is basically 10/10 until Bridges of Madison, then 2 out of the subsequent 10(rough- working with much less interesting directors/projects) and a strong final one (The Post).
@Malith- Her oscar noms is a very interesting topic.
I think her 21 noms owe a great deal to just pure shortage of great female acting performances throughout 80s (when se was at her peak). It was a weak decade for female acting performances. her decade was mostly comprised of (i hate this term by I don’t know a better word for it, maybe traditional) Oscar-bait films. This continued throughout.
I don’t think it’s NOT all her fault either. It wasn’t like she was offered a Kirsten Dunst Melancholia type role and she refused it for a showy, accent laden, caked in makeup biopic.
I can easily deem about 10 of her noms unworthy but lack of other choices probably comes in the way.
Nothing against Streep but to me praises like ” i didn’t recognise it was her until I saw the credits” or “i didn’t realise it was Streep not Margaret thatcher or Julia child” are not very worthy praises. Historically speaking I’m almost never blown away by such performances.
@Malith and @Drake- what would you say to someone who recognises say Meryl Streep Silkwood performance as a great achievement in cinema history whereas seems Dunst’s Melancholia performance as good but unworthy to stand next to Iron Lady or Julia child performances of Streep.
I mean I think 1980’s is Streep’s best decade and all of her Oscar nominations here are solid. So we are worlds apart here. And I do believe Sophie’s Choice is one of the great acting performances of all-time. I think things started going south since Bridges of Madison County and she started getting Oscar nomination just because she was acting in a film. Especially in that 2009-2016 period with Julie & Julia, Into the Woods, August: Osage County, Florence Foster Jenkins and a win for The Iron Lady. That’s a horrid run. I mean she basically got nominated over Amy Adams in Arrival in 2016(for Florence Foster Jenkins) and Tilda Swinton in We Need to Talk About Kevin(for The Iron Lady).
@M*A*S*H – I’ve had this discussion so many times over the years with so many people. I try really hard not to sound like I’m insulting Streep – but maybe we can question her choices for who she works with – and not her talent- but her lack of maybe lasting work (relative to others of course).
@Drake-Do you you have specific roles in mind over the years where Streep would have succeeded?
All of her first 10 Oscar nominations(with 2 wins) are in the archives. Then since The Bridges of Madison County only 2 of her subsequent 10 Oscar nominations are in the archives(including a win for a poor film). This is when her Oscar campaigning got miserable and she got in many times over much more deserving actresses. But her final nomination is good for The Post. Then bizzarely ignored for a solid work like Let Them All Talk. All in all 21 Oscar nominations and 3 Wins. I don’t think anyone will get anywhere close to this.
What about Clint Eastwood for the directors worked with section?
@Ross- good catch – thank you
Love this list so far! I am very curious to see where my favourites Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Amy Adams fall in the list.
@Anirudh Arun Madappallath- Thank you for visiting the site and the kind words here.
curious, would you say Sophie’s Choice is a top 20 female performance of all time or would it fall lower in your estimation?
@Ce- Thanks for the comment. I do plan on putting together a list of the best performances after this list.