oliver9184

Although I can think of some great and plenty of good performances by young actors, it seems that think acting tends to improve with age. The passing of time sees physical agility and good looks are diminished gradually; this is inversely proportionate to the increase in character and wisdom and, I think, is a fair trade. I want to see more performances by actors who were, say, over fifty at the time. There's something uniquely satisfying and sometimes humbling about a really worthwile performance coming from a wizened and familiar face that has nothing to do with what the character's place in the story and everything to do with the simple pleasure of hearing that particular actor saying words.

What are your favourite over-50 performances and why? Here's four for starters, two leading performances and two supporting.

Max Von Sydow (aged 58 in 1987) as Lassefar in Pelle the Conqueror
Over the past few years he's carved out a sort of niche for himself in American films generally playing the more distinguished, learned gentleman but Von Sydow's sole Oscar-nominated (Dustin Hoffman wrongly won it that year for Rain Man) turn was for Danish period film Pelle the Conqueror. It's the story of a widower peasant trying to provide for his young son in windswept coastal Denmark, having emigrated from Sweden around the turn of the 20th century. Von Sydow's quiet and selfless determination to do right by his boy against soul-crushing odds is both humbling and riveting.

Richard Harris (aged 70 in 2000) as Marcus Aurelius in Gladiator
Harris had a very physical and at times a pretty tough life; and so presumably too did his character in Gladiator. This totally comes through in his scene with Maximus, in which he's utterly exhausted, and there's palpable heartache and regret in the following scene with Commodus: he steals both scenes and Gladiator, along with the first two Harry Potters and the brilliant The Count of Monte Cristo marks a high (if not quite the highest) point in the twilight years of a tumultuous career.

Jack Nicholson (aged 65 in 2002) as Warren Schmidt in About Schmidt
About Schmidt is the perfect cap on a near-perfect career for Jack Nicholson. Warren Schmidt is the perfect antithesis of the roles that made his name at the start of his career (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Carnal Knowledge, The Last Detail), in which he played amoral (or at least morally ambiguous) characters: generally dangerous, out of control human demons and/or irresistable lotharios. Schmidt is responsible, moral and boring. A film about him should be those things too and probably would be if anyone but Nicholson had played Schmidt. The comedy almost all comes from character and is so wonderfully underplayed that repeat viewings may be necessary if one is to savour every last tiny humourous moment; there's also a thick vein of pathos running through the film that pays off in spades at the end.

John Huston (aged 68 in 1975) as Noah Cross in Chinatown
Probably the most effortless performance on the list is John Huston as Noah Cross. David Thomson can say it better than I can: "That's what makes Huston's Noah Cross in Chinatown one of his greatest gifts to the screen: a man of the West, a pioneer and maker of cities, a realist, a killer, and a man of unflawed confidence and selfishness - a terrible, charismatic paradox, a bastard and an arisotcrat." It seems likely that this performance was an inspiration for Daniel Day-Lewis's spectacular Daniel Plainview in There Will Be Blood.

FuglyStick

No particular role, but Christopher Lee's career has become more and more prolific. He's come a long way since his Hammer Horror days (which I love, btw).

And what I wouldn't have given to drink a bottle of scotch with Richard Harris.

oliver9184

Good call - Christopher Lee and Mickey Rooney have the longest IMDB resumes I can find of any living well know actors - Rooney's first credit is from 1926 and he has projects in development as we speak: so his career stretches across ten decades! While his and Lee's prolificness and longevity are staggering they're both a bit too genre and ham for me - I've never been seriously moved by or found memorable any of their performances. But I've only seen a tiny proportion of their output so Fugly, please recommend me a really great but lesser-known Christopher Lee film. I'm not at all au fait with Hammer but I'm willing to take a deep breath and roll my sleeves up....

Lasereth

Helen Mirren in The Queen

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Baraka_Guru

Mickey Rourke (aged 55 in 2008) The Wrestler

This performance was incredible, as the character had a number of struggles both physically and emotionally: a professional wrestler comes to terms with the fact that he's aging in a body he's abused for years. He tries to live a normal life while he strives to find love, as well as reconcile with his estranged daughter.

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teh2000

How about Dustin Hoffman? He is excellent

Reese

Clint Eastwood. He was 62 in Unforgiven in 1992 which was possibly one of the best westerns ever. Now he's 80 and still got some impressive roles in Million Dollar Baby and Gran Torino.

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Willravel

Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon. I've never seen a play transferred to film so well before, and it's in large part due to the Richard Nixon role played beautifully by Frank Langella. It wasn't an impression, either (though the voice was there). Langella created a more confident, larger-than-life and yet still broken and corrupt man and it worked beautifully with the story.

Ken Watanabe in Letters from Iwo Jima was truly heartbreaking. His role as the general put in charge of holding that which was impossible to hold was brave and stoic, but also sad and regretful. You could tell he placed the weight of every single Japanese soldier on that island on his shoulders and felt every death. Ken has to be one of the greatest actors alive.

oliver9184

He WAS excellent. Now you mention him I have to get this off of my chest,

Dustin Hoffman once played a character called Mumbles (in Dick Tracy). Now all he does is mumble and call it acting. It pisses me off because I liked him loads in the first half of his career: by my reckoning he was a brilliant and compelling actor between The Graduate and Death of a Salesman. Soon after came Rain Man, which was the crucial turning point, and then Hook which worked but in which he was a fucking joke.

Like Harrison Ford, Hoffman has lost it and become downright embarassing with age; unlike Ford he really did have something special to lose in the first place so it's much more sad. He just stopped trying. He stopped trying and started mumbling. He was coasting from the turn of the 90s but it's really irritating to see him in a role post, say, Sleepers because he's not wise and distinguished and kindly like an old guy should be; every character he plays seems to be some combination of Mumbles and Rain Man with a token bit of whatever his character's supposed to be thrown in. He mumbles and grumbles - even somehow managing at times to overact as he does so (Confidence) - and if we're lucky he gesticulates too and looks kinda funny with slightly wild hair and we're supposed to lap it up and still respect him and say it's fucking brilliant like the great acting he did thirty years ago. At least Sean Connery had the good grace to retire.


Hoffman's best role since becoming an old fucker

boink

erm...Ron Jeremy

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