Brad Pitt
Forget about Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston and screw Joe Black. When Brad Pitt was first getting major attention he was known first and foremost for his looks. To this day, you could argue, that he’s still known mostly for his blue eyes, flyweight body, big smile and model-like facial features. Watch his old movies and it almost feels as if you’re watching a batshit version of James Dean.
Looks won’t get an actor the kinds of jobs Pitt has landed. His first starring role, as the title character in Tom DiCillo’s cult favorite, Johnny Suede, was the start of great things. He gives a performance in the film that, at the time, felt a bit odd. Now, almost two decades later, we recognize that strangeness, as Pitt has used the same manic approach to acting here and there ever since. He’s not quite the constant weirdo that Johnny Depp is when on screen, but he’s definitely not James Dean.
Looking over the Ze Catalist film library today we realized that we have a huge number of films starring Pitt, many of which we love. So, as we did with Robert De Niro, Tom Hanks and Bill Murray when first launching this site, we ranked Pitt’s best films and best performances. And, damn, we’re impressed. Pitt, at only 46, is already a living legend, having contributed in major ways to many of the best films of his era. He’s worked with many of the great directors of his time and been involved in 26 pretty great films, 15 of which we’d consider classics.
Away we go …
BEST PERFORMANCES
26. Meet Joe Black (Martin Brest) - C
25. Seven Years in Tibet (Jean-Jacques Annaud) - C
24. Cool World (Ralph Bakshi) - C
23. Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan) - C+
22. Kalifornia (Dominic Sena) - C+
21. Troy (Wolfgang Petersen) - C+
20. Thelma & Louise (Rob Reiner) - C+
19. Burn After Reading (Coen Brothers) - B-
18. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Doug Liman) - B
17. Ocean’s 13 (Steven Soderbergh) - B
16. Ocean’s 12 (Steven Soderbergh) - B
15. Sleepers (Barry Levinson) - B
14. The Mexican (Gore Verbinski) - B+
13. True Romance (Tony Scott) - B+
12. Ocean’s 11 (Steven Soderbergh) - A-
11. Legends of the Fall (Edward Zwick) - A-
10. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino) - A-
9. Snatch (Guy Ritchie) - A-
8. A River Runs Through It (Robert Redford) - A-
7. The Assassination of Jesse James (Andrew Dominik) - A
6. 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam) - A
5. Johnny Suede (Tom DiCillo) - A
4. Se7en (David Fincher) - A
3. Babel (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) - A+
2. Fight Club (David Fincher) - A+
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher) - A+
BEST FILMS
26. Seven Years in Tibet (Jean-Jacques Annaud) - D
25. Cool World (Ralph Bakshi) - D
24. Meet Joe Black (Martin Brest) - D
23. Troy (Wolfgang Petersen) - C-
22. Kalifornia (Dominic Sena) - C+
21. Thelma & Louise (Rob Reiner) - B-
20. Mr. & Mrs. Smith (Doug Liman) - B-
19. Ocean’s 13 (Steven Soderbergh) - B
18. Ocean’s 12 (Steven Soderbergh) - B
17. Burn After Reading (Coen Brothers) - B+
16. Interview with the Vampire (Neil Jordan) - B+
15. The Mexican (Gore Verbinski) - B+
14. The Assassination of Jesse James (Andrew Dominik) - A-
13. Legends of the Fall (Edward Zwick) - A-
12. A River Runs Through It (Robert Redford) - A-
11. Johnny Suede (Tom DiCillo) - A-
10. Ocean’s 11 (Steven Soderbergh) - A-
9. Sleepers (Barry Levinson) - A
8. 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam) - A
7. True Romance (Tony Scott) - A
6. Snatch (Guy Ritchie) - A
5. Se7en (David Fincher) - A
4. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher) - A
3. Babel (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) - A+
2. Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino) - A+
1. Fight Club (David Fincher) - A+
Not bad, Pitt. With a starring role in Terrence Malick’s fifth film around the corner and a huge number of unmentioned cameo roles in great films, you can count us as a Pitt Believer. We’re not huge fans of his taste in women, but, otherwise, we regard this handsome stoner dude as a man of great taste.
Written by G. William Locke