best film: Jim Jarmusch is an underrated auteur (he currently sits outside the top 100 on the TSPDT list) so it may surprise some to see Dead Man (1995) as Johnny Depp’s best overall film. There is also much to admire in the artist accomplishments of Platoon (1986) from Oliver Stone, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) from Terry Gilliam and Sleepy Hollow (1999) from Tim Burton. Depp is on screen for maybe two scenes and is easy to miss in Platoon – he was just getting his start in the mid 1980s – but Depp is a major focal point of the other three films – of course being the centerpiece for Jarmusch’s finest film.
best performance: Dead Man. Depp’s deadpan performance here is an all-timer. This is clearly a comedic genius at work here. Depp’s William Blake character feels like a nod to Buster Keaton. Depp underplays the character perfectly – he lets all the loudness come in all around him from the supporting cast (headed up by Gary Farmer as Nobody) to Neil Young’s iconic score.
Johnny Depp in Dead Man (1995) – the rare comedy, western masterpiece. This is made during that stretch in the 1990s where Depp was an indie film god — taking on challenging films and roles, shunning his good looks, and working with auteurs who shared his creative spirit. Johnny Depp and Jim Jarmusch both share that rock and roll mindset. This is essentially a fish out of water comedy when it gets boiled down. Depp’s William Blake character is an easterner who is in the West. The film features that fantastic short film train opening – very elliptical – he sleeps and wakes up seeing the passengers and window landscape scenery get more and more wild/western. Jarmusch cuts back and forth to the train itself (exterior) – this editing is Yasujirō Ozu – the trains are pure Ozu – and the first word is six (6) minutes in spoken by Crispin Glover in support.
stylistic innovations/traits: Johnny Depp is an underappreciated cinematic humorist at this point. His run in Hollywood and indie cinema in the 1990s starting with Edward Scissorhands and ending with Sleepy Hollow (both with Burton) is why he is on this list. All five (5) of his best performances come during the decade and this is all really before he became an international superstar with Pirates of the Caribbean in 2003. Peak Depp in the 1990s includes a wide range: a minimalist western comedy (Dead Man), a zany as hell Terry Gilliam/Hunter S. Thompson drug film (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) and some straight crime drama excellence (Donnie Brasco). In fact, Brasco is just one of three (3) gangster films on Depp’s resume (add Michael Mann’s Public Enemies and 2015’s Black Mass here as well). These are vital to Depp’s career – gives him a harder edge to pair with the Tim Burton collaborations. Depp is strong as the titular character in Donnie Brasco and if it were not for Al Pacino being so brilliant, one would be walking away from Donnie Brasco singing Depp’s praises first. Depp can be a chameleon of course – but when wondering if there was something missing in his 21st century film/role choices (his run in the 1990s is almost unassailable) – perhaps more straight man choices would have been advisable. Depp is very fine in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993) and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) just to mention two (2) more outside of his top five (5) – so there is a lot of quality depth here. Depp was born in 1963, has twenty-one (21) films in the archives and three (3) Oscar nominations (all from 2003 to 2007 – all when he was at the height of his popularity – but after the era when he did his best work). Depp’s range could not only oscillate between comedy (he is bloody brilliant in Ed Wood) and drama (Gilbert Grape) – but he is known for playing characters using real life inspiration – like using Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones as a model for Jack Sparrow (and once you see the king of pop Michael Jackson in his Willy Wonka – it is hard to unsee it).
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) – Hunter S. Thompson’s writing is is sublime and well adapted – “ So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look West, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark — that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.” a great monologue from Depp (a really splendid voiceover performance) talking about San Francisco in the mid 1960s. For the uninitiated, it may take a few minutes to even recognize Depp in the role – which you know he would adore.
directors worked with: Tim Burton (5), Lasse Hallström (2), Terry Gilliam (2), Oliver Stone (1), Jim Jarmusch (1), Roman Polanski (1), Michael Mann (1)
Depp as the infamous Ed Wood – one of five archiveable film pairings between actor Depp and director Tim Burton
top five performances:
- Dead Man
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
- Ed Wood
- Edward Scissorhands
- Donnie Brasco
archiveable films:
| 1984- Nightmare on Elm Street |
| 1986- Platoon |
| 1990- Edward Scissorhands |
| 1993- Arizona Dream |
| 1993- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape |
| 1994- Ed Wood |
| 1995- Dead Man |
| 1997- Donnie Brasco |
| 1998- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas |
| 1999- Sleepy Hollow |
| 1999- The Ninth Gate |
| 2000- Before Night Falls |
| 2000- Chocolat |
| 2003- Pirates of the Caribbean |
| 2004- Finding Neverland |
| 2005- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory |
| 2007- Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street |
| 2009- Public Enemies |
| 2009- The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus |
| 2015- Black Mass |
| 2017- Murder on the Orient Express |
Johnny Depp is one of the rare actors to get both an Oscar nomination (PotC: The Curse of the Black Pearl) and a Razzie nomination (PotC: Dead Men Tell No Tales) for playing the the same character (Jack Sparrow).
@Drake- Where does Depp rank for you in terms of the most talented of all actors in his prime? He should be pretty high, right? There is a long list of eccentric characters only Depp could have played.
I don’t think I have ever seen an actor deteriorate as much as Johnny Depp from the early 2010’s to the late 2010’s. In such a short period of time. It feels like all the charisma he had just left him. Not just PotC: Dead Men Tell No Tales. He is not particularly impressive in the Fantastic Beasts series or Murder on the Orient Express either.
“The fountain does test you Gibbs, but better to not know which moment maybe your last. Every morsel of your entire being alive to the infinite mystery of it all. And who’s to say I won’t live forever, eh? Discoverer of the fountain of youth. I have no say in it Gibbs. It’s a pirate’s life for me. savvy?”
Given they nominated the film for every other thing, the Razzies missed a big opportunity by not nominating Johnny Depp & his glued on dead bird for Worst Screen Combo.
But seriously, I’m always impressed by Depp when he was in his prime. He needs to be brought up when talking about the most talented of actors. He can be super charismatic, witty, talkative in films like the first four Pirates of the Caribbean films but here in The Lone Ranger he barely talks. And keep within himself. It’s hard to guess when he is actually going to deliver his lines. There is a lot of confidence that is required to pull off a role like this. It’s very challenging. I think somewhere along the way he lost his smile and charm. But The Lone Ranger was before that.
Certainly, another thing with Depp is that he is a man of many faces. I’m not sure if any other actor has portrayed so many different looking people. His Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory looks nothing like his Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has a long line of playing very quirky, eccentric characters. I do think in general his 1990’s work is more raw, gritty, and realism based. While his 21st Century work are in films with a lighter tone, bigger spectacle, surrealistic, and a lot more makeup. It makes for a fascinating contrast.
It’s fascinating that in the Pirates of the Caribbean films Depp plays a character who is witty and never stops talking while in his later Gore Verbinski collaboration, The Lone Ranger he does a complete turnaround and only occasionally talks (with unconventional line delivery). Playing it deadpan in this Western. With the loudness coming in around him (Armie Hammer’s John Reid, Tom Wilkinson’s Latham Cole, William Fichtner’s Butch Cavendish etc.).
@Drake- What did you think of The Lone Ranger (2013)?
@Malith- I remember thinking more of it than the poor reviews- but I’d like to revisit (and will) both this and A Cure for Wellness
@ Drake- Do you see him doing M. Gustave? Feel like him and Wes could have been a great pairing in a different timeline
@AP- would certainly be different- I remember this https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-news/johnny-depp-to-star-in-wes-andersons-next-movie-246631/ and then Depp did Mordecai- which I don’t think I ever saw
@Drake-What are the Bill Nighy films do you have in the archives?
@Lionel- unvetted list here:
2004- Shaun of the Dead
2005- The Constant Gardener
2006- Notes on a Scandal
2007- Hot Fuzz
2011- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
2014- Pride
@Drake-Have you seen Living (2022)?
@Lionel- nearly started it once and its on my radar- but no- haven’t seen it yet
I think that scene at the end of Public Enemies in the theater watching Clark Gable’s Manhattan Melodrama is some of Depp’s finest acting. But he is hampered by the screenplay. That Romanian lady subplot at the end is very contrived and hurts his character. He doesn’t love Cotillard’s character that much? And sleeps with whores?
I think Pirates 2 and 3 (can’t speak for 4 and 5) definitely deserve another look. Take 2 minutes and scroll through these 2 links: https://film-grab.com/2021/08/09/pirates-of-the-caribbean-dead-mans-chest/ and https://film-grab.com/2021/08/24/pirates-of-the-caribbean-at-worlds-end/. The photography is actually
quite striking. 2 is sitting at a 53% on RT and 3 is sitting at a a 44% on RT. They are significantly underrated by the visuals alone, and that’s not even bringing in Depp’s incredibly captivating and charismatic performance (the entire ensemble is quite good too), John Williams iconic scores, or the inspired world building
@Matthew-I don’t remember much about 3. But I found Dead Man’s Chest to be excellent and very entertaining. Excellent soundtrack and amazing, groundbreaking VFX on the Bill Nighy character as well.
@Matthew- Thank you for sharing – I should do the whole series again at some point
I posted about this on the 2015 page. I loved Depp’s performance as Whitey Bulger, it is very over the top but in an effective way; he is absolutely chilling and it is a very physical performance. No offense to Scott Cooper but the material itself, which focuses on the relationship between Whitney about a corrupt FBI agent, and the acting talent involved could have made for a really strong film with a better director. I like film critic Wesley Morris in the Rewatchable Podcasts he does with Bill Simmons but respectfully disagree with his take of Depp’s performance:
“I don’t know what a murderous crime lord is supposed to look like, but it’s not Johnny Depp. Can Depp be delicate? Yes. Frisky? Melancholy? Sure. Likely to enter an outdoor parking lot near the Boston Harbor with a shotgun and fire until two men are very dead? I don’t think so. The makers of Black Mass seem to understand that they’ve got a prettiness problem with Depp. They also want to be careful that in dramatizing the dirty doings of James “Whitey” Bulger they don’t romanticize him. To that end, they’ve given Depp pale skin tight enough that it could flake at the merest expression of much beyond menace. Bulger’s thinned hair has been slicked back into a shell, and his crooked teeth appear to cast shadows.”
Between that film, Public Enemies, and Donnie Brasco it becomes clear that Depp can play tough guys and gangsters quite well. I think his range does not get as much credit as it deserves amongst people who mainly associate him with playing bizarre and eccentric characters, most notably his collabs with Tim Burton.
I would definitely have Sweeney Todd ahead of Donnie Brasco in his top 5 performances. Didn’t like his performance in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. That movie is quite unbearable apart from a magnificent Leornado DiCaprio performance. He is better in Arizona Dream released in the same year.