Random Greatest Single-Scene Performances In Movie History (23 items)

• 

  (#1) Christopher Walken

  • 72

  The Scene: Young Butch Coolidge receives a visit from Air Force veteran Captain Koons, who gives the boy a gold watch that belonged to his father. Koons explains that he hid the watch in a very uncomfortable place just so that he could keep his promise by delivering it to Butch.

  The Role: Koons is a man with great purpose - a fact he reveals in a monologue describing his experience as a POW. He clearly took the mission to deliver the watch as seriously as any combat mission.

  The Performance: Walken has always been known for his quirkiness, but Pulp Fiction raised that to a new level. The story Koons tells is absurd, as it involves hiding the watch up his posterior. Nevertheless, Walken tells it with such sincerity that it becomes intoxicating. The sequence was so effective that it somewhat altered Walken's career. Many of his post-Pulp Fiction movies allow him to have some oddball out-of-nowhere speech. Such things have become his unofficial trademark.
• 

  (#2) Billy Crystal

  • 70

  The Scene: The film's hero, Westley (Cary Elwes), is "mostly dead but still slightly alive." He is revived by two miracle workers.

  The Roles: Billy Crystal is Miracle Max and Carol Kane is Valerie. Both are gray-haired, wrinkled, and a little nutty - despite their very specific skills. 

  The Performance: Buried under old-age make-up, Crystal and Kane improvised a lot of their lines, including the oft-quoted, "Have fun storming the castle!" Aside from their scene being naturally funny, this is a case in which the comedic voices of two different actors blend together perfectly. They suggest a long-lasting relationship between Max and Valerie that has seen ups and downs. The way they feed off one another offers a master class in how to build comedy.
• 

  (#3) Gene Hackman

  • 89

  The Scene: Frankenstein's Monster (Peter Boyle) is let loose from the laboratory. While wandering around the countryside, he encounters a blind man who offers him kindness.

  The Role: Gene Hackman plays that blind man, a lonely guy named Harold who prays for companionship, only to get it in a most unlikely form.

  The Performance: When Young Frankenstein was released in 1974, Hackman was known primarily for hard-edged dramas like The Conversation and The French Connection. Seeing him in a Mel Brooks comedy came as a complete shock. His four-minute scene is filled with jokes about the sightless Harold not knowing he's talking to a monster and inadvertently causing him harm. Those are made funnier because Hackman was smart enough to play it all straight. He doesn't let on that he's in a comedy. That gives every already well-crafted gag an extra kick.
• 

  (#4) Bronson Pinchot

  • 56

  The Scene: Detroit cop Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) arrives in Beverly Hills and stops into an art gallery to see his old friend Jenny (Lisa Eilbacher). Upon entering, he is greeted by her assistant Serge. 

  The Role: Serge has an accent of indeterminable origin. He is immediately taken with the rough-edged Foley, famously offering him an espresso with "a lemon twist." 

  The Performance: Coming out on top in a scene with Eddie Murphy isn't easy, yet Pinchot did it. In just a few minutes of screen time, he takes an otherwise irrelevant character and imbues him with purpose and meaning. Serge, who was inspired by Pinchot's makeup lady on a previous film, was such a fan favorite that they brought him back for Beverly Hills Cop III, despite the fact that his boss, Jenny, wasn't part of the film.
• 

  (#5) Bill Murray

  • 68

  The Scene: A sadistic dentist (Steve Martin) hits the jackpot when a masochistic patient (Bill Murray) lands in his chair. 

  The Role: Arthur Denton is that patient, and the more painful his dental procedure is, the giddier he becomes. 

  The Performance: Murray puts a comedic spin on the character Jack Nicholson played in Roger Corman's 1960 non-musical Little Shop of Horrors. The concept of the scene is undeniably twisted, but Murray softens it by bringing an over-the-top sense of humor. He matches Steve Martin's wild energy level note-for-note. Watching them play two sides of the same coin is consequently hilarious. The Washington Post said, "Murray and Martin together is the comic equivalent of the Thrilla in Manila, as the two peerless comedians of our era go at it hammer, tongs and, uh, drill."
• 

  (#6) Edie McClurg

  • 64

  The Scene: Neal Page (Steve Martin) has been trying to get from New York to his home in Chicago in time for Thanksgiving. The trip has had one misfortune after another. He attempts to rent a car, only to discover that the one he's been assigned isn't in the lot. Edie McClurg plays the car rental agent who's on the receiving end of Neal's profanity-laden tirade.

  The Role: "Car Rental Agent," as the character is credited, initially seems excessively chipper as she absent-mindedly yaps on the phone to a friend, ignoring the angry customer standing in front of her. But after Neal's outburst, she shows a willingness to give it right back to him. 

  The Performance: McClurg demonstrates her pitch-perfect comic timing in her one scene, which is arguably the funniest in the whole film. She takes the character from disinterested to obnoxiously perky to defiant - without ever losing credibility. Martin may get laughs from dropping the F-bomb on her 18 times, but McClurg earns the biggest laugh with her two-word reply: "You're f*cked." The delivery is masterful, turning an already funny scene into an unforgettable one.
• 

  (#7) Alec Baldwin

  • 60

  The Scene: The owners of a real estate business have sent over a hot downtown salesman to light a fure under the rest of the sales team. 

  The Role: Whereas most motivational speakers opt for a hopeful, you-can-do-it approach, Blake scares his audience by warning about the stark realities of failure - which include getting fired - in a blistering seven-minute scene. 

  The Performance: Glengarry Glen Ross is fundamentally about the pressure of working in a cutthroat business, where one's survival is at stake every single day. The intensity with which Baldwin plays Blake sets up the stakes the salesmen are under. Baldwin is in full command throughout the sequence, barking and yelling vintage David Mamet dialogue at the other characters. He makes Blake an alpha male who relishes his power, perfectly setting the tone for the rest of the film, which he's not even in.
• 

  (#8) Gary Oldman

  • 60

  The Scene: Clarence (Christian Slater) goes to the home of his new girlfriend's pimp to demand he let her go. He ends up taking the man's life. 

  The Role: Drexl Spivey is a dreadlocked dealer with conspicuous facial scars and an even more conspicuous manner of speech and personality.

  The Performance: The fact that this unusual character is played by Oldman just makes him even more unusual. It could have come off like a big joke had the actor not committed so fully to the role. Oldman clearly recognized that Drexl's idiosyncrasies could be menacing, so he went that route rather than a comedic one. He may only have a few minutes of screen time, but he makes the most of it. Everything about Drexl makes the audience's skin crawl.
• 

  (#9) Dave Bautista

  • 50

  The Scene: K (Ryan Gosling) shows up at a protein farm to "retire" an aging Nexus-8 replicant. He is met with resistance, leading to a smashing-through-walls fight.

  The Role: Dave Bautista is that replicant, Sapper Morton. He's physically strong yet also cultured, as his large book collection reveals. 

  The Performance: It isn't surprising to see Bautista putting up a good fight. That's what we're used to. What is surprising is the way he plays Sapper as a polite, cultured yet weary figure. There's a sadness to his performance that suggests the character has seen, and possibly done, a lot of bad things in life. That mournful quality is unexpectedly powerful, especially coming from an actor we don't typically see in that kind of dramatic mode.
• 

  (#10) Chris Evans

  • 37

  The Scene: Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) and Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) visit a movie set, where she reveals that she once dated the star. 

  The Role: Lucas Lee, an actor/skateboarder who has an (obligatory, league-mandated) ax to grind with Scott. The guy loves himself even more than his adoring fans love him. 

  The Performance: There's a trailer for one of Lucas's movies earlier in Scott Pilgrim, but Evans only has one scene where he's actually in character. He's hilarious playing an egotistical actor, one who yells "action" before his director can. Lucas even goes so far as to have his stunt team fight Scott so he can go grab a cup of coffee. Characters like this can be annoying, but Evans hits just the right note of comedic egotism. Lucas makes us laugh rather than cringe.
• 

  (#11) Alfred Molina

  • 65

  The Scene: Down-on-their-luck adult film actors Dirk (Mark Wahlberg) and Reed (John C. Reilly) attempt to swindle a local dealer. Their master plan is to pass off baking soda as a half-kilogram of coke.

  The Role: Rahad Jackson (Alfred Molina) is out of his mind yet still more mentally adept than Dirk and Reed. 

  The Performance: If you think of Boogie Nights whenever you hear the Night Ranger song "Sister Christian," it's because of the impact Molina makes in the role. He does a brilliant job creating a dangerous, anything-can-happen vibe as Rahad fiddles with a firearm and rocks out to the tune in the middle of a deal. (He especially loves the drum riff.) We know the moment is supposed to be tense for the heroes, but Molina makes the character so vivid that the audience gets agitated, too.
• 

  (#12) Viola Davis

  • 50

  The Scene: Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Meryl Streep) talks to the mother of a Catholic school student, informing her that she believes a priest may have acted inappropriately with the boy.

  The Role: Viola Davis plays Mrs. Miller, the woman who is surprisingly more worried about her son finishing out the school year than she is about the alleged impropriety.

  The Performance: Despite only one eight-minute scene in which she speaks (and one in which she's in the background), Davis earned an Oscar nomination for her role in Doubt. She sure put in the work to make the scene great, having written a 50-page biography of her character beforehand. This gave her an extensive idea of who Mrs. Miller was so that her eight minutes opposite Streep would have maximum emotional impact. Watching the film, we feel like we know this woman, despite meeting her only briefly. Roger Ebert wrote that Davis "goes face to face with the pre-eminent film actress of this generation, and it is a confrontation of two equals that generates terrifying power."
• 

  (#13) Steve Park

  • 64

  The Scene: In the midst of an investigation, cop Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) stops to reunite with an old classmate.

  The Role: Mike Yanagita, the friend from the past who reveals his wife is deceased as he awkwardly tries to make a pass at Marge.

  The Performance: The scene remains divisive among viewers, many of whom think it's a pointless diversion from the plot. In fact, it serves two vital purposes. First, it shows a little bit of Marge's life outside of work. Second, and more important, she later finds out that Mike lied about his wife. This, in turn, makes her question her belief about the inherent goodness of people and therefore look harder at prime suspect Jerry Lundegaard. Park's function isn't clear to everyone on first viewing. See it again and you realize how meticulous and fine-tuned his performance really is.
• 

  (#14) Alfre Woodard

  • 66

  The Scene: Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) walks up to the front porch of a plantation and has a conversation with Patsey (Lupita Nyong'o) and Mrs. Shaw.

  The Role: Harriet Shaw is a former slave who is now the wife of a wealthy plantation owner.

  The Performance: Alfre Woodard's brief role is tricky. She nails the fundamental trait of the character though. Mrs. Shaw remembers what it was like to be enslaved despite - as she points out - not having been in that position in a long time. Through the actor's performance, we can sense that Mrs. Shaw now views herself as having more in common with rich wives. In a chilling moment, she even suggests to Patsey that being the sexual prisoner of a plantation owner can have its advantages. Rather than disliking her for that, we recognize through Woodard's tone that Mrs. Shaw simply knows the unpleasant realities of what it takes to survive.
• 

  (#15) David Thewlis

  • 55

  The Scene: Jeff "The Dude" Lebowski goes to visit artist Maude (Julianne Moore) in the process of investigating a kidnapping. Before she arrives, he runs into her videographer friend.

  The Role: Knox Harrington is a genuine oddball with a shaved head, pencil mustache, and annoying, high-pitched giggle. 

  The Performance: The Coen Brothers' movies are always full of eccentric characters, but The Big Lebowski needed someone even more eccentric than usual for this particular sequence. David Thewlis was up to the task. Knox is a man of few words; he giggles more than he talks, making us unsure whether he's dangerous or just really weird. The smart thing about Thewlis's performance is that he takes the oddities just as far as they need to go but not so far that they overshadow the rest of the scene. He tempers his portrayal so it adds to the moment rather than serving as a distraction.
• 

  (#16) Chris Tucker

  • 47

  The Scene: Dealer and gun-runner Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) fears that one of his couriers, who just got pinched, will turn informant on him. He bails the guy out, convinces him to get in the trunk of a car, and then executes him. 

  The Role: Beaumont Livingston is a profane, fast-talking goofball who really doesn't want to get into that car trunk and puts up a passionate defense against it.

  The Performance: Going toe-to-toe with the estimable Samuel L. Jackson isn't easy, but Tucker does it. That feat is even more remarkable when you consider he only had a few film roles under his belt at that time and hadn't yet achieved his massive Rush Hour success. Tucker makes Beaumont's fear of getting in the trunk funny and tense simultaneously, leading to one of the most electrifying moments in a movie packed with them.
• 

  (#17) Dean Stockwell

  • 79

  The Scene: Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) is blackmailing singer Dorothy (Isabella Rossellini). When he discovers college student Jeffrey (Kyle MacLachlan) trying to help her, he forces both to accompany him to the apartment of his associate, Ben. Dorothy's family is being held hostage there. 

  The Role: Ben may be a bad guy, but he's got a sensitive side. He lets Dorothy see her family, then lip syncs to Roy Orbison's song "In Dreams," unexpectedly bringing the psychotic Frank to tears. 

  The Performance: In a movie filled with creepy elements, Ben might just be the creepiest. We know he's a bad guy, given that he associates with Frank, but he doesn't behave in an overtly menacing manner. Instead, he's calm and sophisticated. Stockwell ensures that the viewer can never quite get a good read on Ben, creating a deeply unsettling presence.
• 

  (#18) Ned Beatty

  • 81

  The Scene: Mentally unstable news anchor Howard Beale (Peter Finch) gets a lecture from the chairman of the conglomerate that owns his network. 

  The Role: Arthur Jensen is a money-obsessed businessman with grand - and prescient - theories about how a small handful of conglomerates control the world and the media.

  The Performance: Network's writer, Paddy Chayefsky, was known for intelligent, meticulously crafted dialogue. Ned Beatty delivers it masterfully, giving Jensen an intimidating bluster as he expounds on the changing state of business. He relishes being a titan. Through the actor's tour de force work, the character delivers a monologue that helps cement the themes and ideas Chayefsky and director Sidney Lumet wanted to explore. Audiences in 1976 may have gotten a little chill hearing Beatty's speech about the world being a corporation; anyone watching the film today can see how right he was.
• 

  (#19) Rooney Mara

  • 33

  The Scene: Future Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) gets dumped by his girlfriend.

  The Role: Erica (Rooney Mara) calls him out on his difficult personality, memorably dubbing him "an a**hole."

  The Performance: Mara appears in the first scene, verbally parrying with Zuckerberg, in turn exposing for the audience just what an egotistical jerk he is. In other hands, Erica could have been nothing more than a faceless character designed to provide exposition. The actor takes it a step further, making her disgust so vivid that we dislike the guy right from the get-go, simply because her anger feels so righteous. It's an important note for the film to begin on, and Mara ensures it hits hard.
• 

  (#20) Philip Seymour Hoffman

  • Dec. at 47 (1967-2014)

  The Scene: Gambler Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) heads to a casino table to play craps, only to get non-stop trash talk from another player. 

  The Role: Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the unnamed, low-class heckler who seems to get a kick out of distracting the older, more veteran gambler. 

  The Performance: According to Hall, Hoffman improvised most of his lines in the scene, calling him "a genius." That's high praise, and much deserved. The character is supposed to be obnoxious, and he is. At the same time, Hoffman is obnoxious in a completely original way. No other actor could have brought the good-ol'-boy quality to life in quite the same way. His delivery is unique, as is the quality of the jabs he tosses Sydney's way.
• 

  (#21) Javier Bardem

  • 49

  The Scene: Cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx) is convinced by hitman Vincent (Tom Cruise) to pose as him and visit a drug lord to obtain information.

  The Role: Felix is a ruthless crook who hired Vincent to wipe out a Los Angeles attorney and several witnesses who are scheduled to testify against him in court.

  The Performance: Bardem, like Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs, knows that sometimes less is more when it comes to portraying very bad people. He gives Felix a quiet intensity that you feel as much as observe. The menace comes from the way he casually sits in a nightclub booth, while still somehow looking as though he's ready to pounce at a moment's notice. His understated delivery of a monologue about Santa Claus that serves as a not-so-thinly veiled threat to Max is just as eerie. The actor brings a looming sense of dread to his relatively short scene, cluing us in on how much danger Max has quite accidentally found himself in.
• 

  (#22) Martin Scorsese

  • 73

  The Scene: Mentally unhinged cabbie Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) picks up a passenger, whose talk of violence plants a seed in his head. 

  The Role: Director Martin Scorsese plays "Passenger Watching Silhouette," the angry guy who makes Travis drive him to an apartment building so he can spy on his unfaithful wife. The character goes on a wild racist rant before announcing an intention to take matters violently into his own hands.

  The Performance: Scorsese wasn't even supposed to do this scene. Actor George Memmoli was hired, but after sustaining an injury on another film, he was forced to back out. With no one else around to step into his shoes, DeNiro suggested the director simply do it himself. Although not generally an actor in his own right, Scorsese knew what was needed for the sequence and, with his star's assistance, ended up knocking this paranoid moment out of the park with a suitably jittery performance.
• 

  (#23) Brian Tyree Henry

  The Scene: Fonny (Stephan James) runs into an old friend and invites him in for a few beers so they can catch up. 

  The Role: Daniel Carty spent a couple of years in prison. Whatever happened to him in there has clearly had a traumatic impact. 

  The Performance: Henry arrives at the 45-minute mark, adding a profound emotional jolt to If Beale Street Could Talk. His job is to make the viewer - and Fonny - understand how horrific prison life can be. Indiewire's Chris O'Falt nailed what makes Henry's performance so remarkable: "Henry shows us a man who has been broken, haunted by that unspecified horror of what happened to him in prison." Because the actor does that so perfectly, Daniel's words hang over the film's back half as we see Fonny himself behind bars.

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