best film: The Dark Knight is the very rare collision of a top tier auteur working in the action genre or superhero subgenre. Christopher Nolan brings his penchant for big set pieces and parallel editing to the table behind the camera – but it is Heath Ledger in front of the camera who dazzles and owns. The closest competition here is Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain from 2005.
best performance: Heath Ledger is hypnotic as the Joker – and terrifying. In The Dark Knight, Ledger flat out commands the camera’s attention. The statement on method acting and Ledger’s drug use and subsequent death is definitely not a fun subject – but the display of acting genius here is undeniable. This is right up there with the best acting performances of the 2000s. That list of the best acting performances of the 2000s also includes Ledger’s work in Brokeback Mountain.
the talk leading up to The Dark Knight in 2008 was that Ledger taking on this role was a very bad idea. Jack Nicholson had already played the Joker in Tim Burton’s financially and artistically successful Batman film in 1989. The narrative turned sharply when the film was released, Ledger’s performance outstrips and outshines Jack and everything else around him – it feels seismic.
stylistic innovations/traits: Tragically, Ledger died at age twenty-eight (28) with only five (5) movies in the archives. He would be easier to write off with just one masterful performance, but his one-two punch makes it impossible. He was going to be one of the great ones — and that career was cut short of course. But when you start adding up the actors that gave two of the finer performances of a decade (the 2000s in Ledger’s case) – the results, even if they are not what they could have been, are still a career that surpasses the brief body of works of a River Phoenix, James Dean or a John Cazale – all immensely gifted actors.
Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar in Ang Lee’s poetically tragic Brokeback Mountain. Ledger spars with a very game Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Williams. Ledger is has a nearly undecipherable accent – and certainly sounds and looks like a young Marlon Brando or Paul Newman.
directors worked with: Ang Lee (1), Todd Haynes (1), Christopher Nolan (1), Terry Gilliam (1)
top five performances:
- The Dark Knight
- Brokeback Mountain
- Monster’s Ball
- I’m Not There
- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Monster’s Ball (2001) is a fascinating film in terms of casting – Billy Bob Thornton is a budding star all of a sudden at the time, Halle Berry wins her Oscar, Puff Daddy is in a bit over his head … and Peter Boyle and Heath Ledger get plenty to chew on as Billy Bob’s son and father.
archiveable films:
| 2001- Monster’s Ball |
| 2005- Brokeback Mountain |
| 2007- I’m Not There |
| 2008- The Dark Knight |
| 2009- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus |
Prediction #75-Russell Crowe
Good thing Matt Damon has not arrived so far because his best film just dropped
@AP- haha I thought about the timing of this as well. RDJ said this is the best movie he’s been in. https://people.com/robert-downey-jr-says-oppenheimer-best-film-hes-ever-been-in-7561615
@ Drake- I was able to get to it yesterday and have to agree.
It is a very consistent film and has some incredible high points. Solid masterpiece after one viewing.
@AP – That certainly sounds very exciting – thanks for sharing
2nd best. Zodiac is still his best
I’m longer confident this is the best performance in a Nolan film.
*no longer
@Harry- My first thought walking out of the theater was, “I just watched a masterpiece.” My second thought was what you mentioned. Before Oppenheimer, if anyone asked me the best performance in a Nolan film, my answer would be Ledger in half a second. I’m no longer sure that’s the case after Murphy’s performance. He is incredible.
After watching Brokeback Mountain for the first time recently I wanted to look at how you ranked Gyllenhaal’s and Ledgers performances against each other and where each sits in this top 100 list. I’d probably have Ledger’s performance slightly ahead although I think they are comparable and Gyllenhaal isn’t completely outshone like I’ve heard a couple times. I actually thought Williams gave the best performance in the flick but I digress.
Then that leads me to asking why Ledger is ranked above Gyllenhaal in the all time list. Is it purely based off his momentous performance as the Joker, or do you also just believe, pound for pound, Ledger is a more ‘talented’ actor? I agree with the latter statement, that when just weighing each of theirs talent, Ledger had a higher ceiling, but it’s also pretty unarguable that Gyllenhaal has the better resume, which I’m sure you’d agree on. His work with Villeneuve and Zodiac gives him a strong filmography, even though he doesn’t give the best performance in those movies. But when you include Nightcrawler which is a tour de force performance, he has a strong case to be above Ledger. When combining all their performances I’d have Nightcrawer second behind the Joker.
So was wondering how much weight do you put on quality and quantity when making these lists. Or is his performance in the Dark Knight just that good alone it lands him at 74? I mean it’d be a top 5 performance this century which is fair. And do you also include some projection for what their careers may have been? Although that turns murky as you could say if Tarkovsky lived till 70, he’d have 3 more MP and be the goat. That’s just my two cents though.
Just to be clear, on raw talent I believe Ledger > Gyllenhaal, but when taking into account overall filmography and depth I’d have Gyllenhaal slight ahead
@Joel- good share here – thanks, it is largely resume based. I have to keep it brief here to work on writing and updates on the site. Gyllenhaal feels like he’s one big performance in a great film away – which is sometimes all it takes to drop somebody 20 or 30 slots on this list.
@Joel@Drake – some more thoughts about filmography of Gyllenhaal movies
Zodiac – MP – lead performance although you could argue there are 3 leads as you also have Ruffalo and Downey Jr. While Gyllenhaal has the most screen time you could argue that he only gave the 3rd best performance but even so that would be more about the other two giving amazing performances, Gyllenhaal was terrific, and this is a MP
Enemy – MS – lead performance
Brokeback Mountain – HR/MS – co-lead performance
Donnie Darko – HR/MS – lead performance
Jarhead – HR/MS – lead performance
Nightcrawler – HR – lead performance (I think it’s closer to MS but even so still a strong film)
To tally it up Gyllenhaal is in
MP – 1 film
MS – 1 film
HR/MS – 3 films
HR – 1 film
So that’s 6 films with HR or better and he’s the lead in 4 or 5 of them depending on how you view Zodiac
In Denis Villeneuve Enemy (2013) Gyllenhaal plays both roles in a very strong Doppelganger film. Funny enough that was actually his 2nd collaboration with Villeneuve in 2013. They worked together in Prisoners and while I don’t think it was as strong as Enemy, Gyllenhaal was terrific.
In Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler (2014) Gyllenhaal gives an incredible performance. I do see this on some lists of best 2014 performances but overall, I still feel like this one does not get as much acclaim as it deserves, but admittingly this is just my general impression. For me Lou Bloom is a great villain, it’s such a terrifically creepy and physical performance for Gyllenhaal who lost a lot of weight and had this sickly pale look you could mistake for a vampire film. But there is more here than just his appearance, he has this idiosyncratic way of speaking and mannerisms.
Brokeback Mountain, I have only seen it one time and it was a while ago. Heather Ledger definitely had the better performance, but Gyllenhaal was very strong himself. I still need to see Jarhead so can’t say much the about it, but it is HR/MS on this site. With Donnie Darko he is very good in a strong film.