Top 5 Brad Pitt Performances
By Austin Johnson
5.) Floyd in True Romance (1993)
“Don't condescend me, man. I'll fuckin' kill ya, man.”
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Starting this list off at number 5 is Brad Pitt’s performance as Floyd in the Tony Scott directed masterpiece True Romance. Quentin Tarantino wrote this hilarious and gritty film right after Reservoir Dogs. It seems like he took special care of Floyd when writing because every single line that comes out of his mouth is fucking money. I’ve smoked my fair share of grass and Floyd is 100% believable as a stoner. There are countless stoner characters in film history, but Floyd is the best of them all. I’m well aware that Brad Pitt has plenty of performances that are way more important than this one, but that’s not what these lists are about. I had to make some seriously defeating cuts for this one, but I wouldn’t be able to sleep well at night if Floyd were missing.
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4.) Tyler Durden in Fight Club (1999)
“Listen to me! You have to consider the possibility that God does not like you. He never wanted you. In all probability, he hates you.
This is not the worst thing that can happen.” |
I had Fight Club at number 3 on my Top 5 David Fincher list and at number 2 on my Top 5 1999 list. I also did a Top 5 Edward Norton performances list recently and had his role as The Narrator at number 2. It would be an understatement to say that I love Fight Club. I think it’s a pretty misunderstood film and endlessly rewatchable. Brad Pitt became a god after I saw Fight Club in middle school. Just like Norton, I had to see everything else the guy had done or was going to do. Tyler Durden is a dream character for anyone to play, but I really have a hard time imagining anyone other than Pitt rocking the red leather jacket, red-tinted sunglasses, and spitting up blood.
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3.) Lt. Aldo Raine in Inglourious Basterds (2009)
“I'm gonna give you a little somethin' you can't take off.”
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Here’s another wicked important film to myself and Filmgazm as a whole. We have talked about this film multiple times on our podcast because it’s probably the best World War II film ever made. The most unique anyways. I had Basterds at number 4 on my Top 5 Tarantino list and I had it at number 2 on my Top 5 2009 list. It’s got everything you want in a Tarantino film and Aldo Raine is without a doubt one of the best characters he has ever written. The dude has so much fucking nuance and he’s a war hero that fights fire with fire. You gotta love it!
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2.) Cliff Booth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
“What, carrying his load? Yeah, that's about right.”
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Isn’t it great that Pitt has an Oscar now? He won it the weekend the film came out last July honestly. No one was looking at anybody else for Best Supporting Actor. Tarantino obviously has a great connection with Pitt and I’m a big fan of that connection. Cliff Booth is basically the idea we all have had in our heads of Brad Pitt. The cool hair, the Hawaiian shirt, the shades, the cigarette smoking, and his pure badassery all flow so fucking well for Cliff because Pitt just owns that shit. This is the kind of performance that we all wait for, go to the theater for, and can’t stop talking about it afterwards.
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1.) Billy Beane in Moneyball (2011)
“When your enemy's making mistakes, don't interrupt him.”
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And at number 1 is Billy Beane, the only nonfiction character on the list and what I see as my all-time favorite Brad Pitt performance. Moneyball should’ve taken Best Picture in my opinion and Pitt should’ve won Best Actor. When I rewatch Moneyball, I always get this sort of sensation that I can’t put my finger on. Aaron Sorkin is such a skilled writer and he can take a social scenario and turn into dynamite dialogue scene after scene. I also think it’s Bennett Miller’s best work, which says a lot because he has a few wonderful films and I don’t even like baseball. I love sports, but baseball just isn’t my cup of tea. I do however want the Oakland Athletics to win the World Series every year because of Billy Beane. Brad Pitt is an American treasure at this point and I could easily stretch this list to 10 performances because he has that many brilliant ones to choose from.
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