The 50 Most Talented Male Actors By Screen Achievement...My Humble Opinion!

I was not a big fan of Leo when he first popped into the limelight, but after watching him tackle one role after another and given his ability to adapt to a multitude of roles right now I would have to put him right at the very top spot...and that is actually hard for me to do because he is not in my top ten favorite actors. But objectively speaking I can't think of anyone better right now.

Jeff Bridges is finally starting to get the recognition he has long deserved. Next to Leo he has probably pumped out more memorable roles than anyone other than Sir Anthony and Leonardo.

Since I put this list up I now think Bridges is right there with Leo so he is the new number 2. DOOR IN THE FLOOR a great lesser known movie.

Daniel Day-Lewis is another actor at the very top of his craft. He can play just about any role with the utmost perfection. From GANGS OF NEW YORK to MY LEFT FOOT to LAST OF THE MOHICANS to THERE WILL BE BLOOD he continuously puts out brilliant work. If he was busier he would probably be even higher on my list.

Update: after THERE WILL BE BLOOD he is right there with the big boys, maybe the most talented actor of the last generation for pure talent. Give it up for DDL

Despite the fact that the years keep churning by Anthony Hopkins continues to be relevant and at the top of his game. Two or three years ago he would have been my shoe-in for number one but Leo's work of late inches him past Sir Anthony by a nose.

Update: Sir Anthony is still probably as good as anybody but the choice parts are now going to others.

Al Pacino is certainly one of our greatest actors of the last quarter of the twentieth century. I remember him first from SERPICO(1973) and after that it was one great performance after another: DOG DAY AFTERNOON, THE GODFATHER MOVIES, SCARFACE, GLENGARY GLENROSS, SCENT OF A WOMEN, CARLITO"S WAY, HEAT, DEVIL"S ADVOCATE, INSOMNIA and on and on. But as great as Pacino's career has been he would have never cracked my top two or three simply because he was always playing Al Pacino first and foremost. I just never thought he had the range of a Nicholson, De Niro, DiCaprio or even Jeff Bridges. But I think he fits well at number six...at least for now.

There seems to be a lot of people out there who just don't want to like Philip Seymour-Hoffman and to a point I understand that. While he sometimes comes across as full-of-himself there can be no denying his wide range and ability to play a myriad of roles. The fact that he is on the heavy side also keeps him from playing the leading man and out of action films...whether that is why he will never be accepted as an A lister or not is beyond me, but there can be no denying his tremendous talent. He seems like he should be a top five choice but I just can't put him there yet.

De Niro would have been at the very top of my list if I did this just three years ago, but the really meaty roles are starting to become a little fewer and farther in between. My all-time favorite actor. He's as good a method actor as there is currently plying his craft. He the mens version of Meryl Streep.

Update: This almost kills me to say it but De Niro is finally not a top five actor and age is now limiting his parts. Get me a hankie, I'm tearing up...Bobby was always my man and if he was in a movie it was a must see, no more.

"Jack" has long been one of my very favorite actors. Ten years ago he would have been either number one or two on my list, but as father time marches on the roles available becaome more and more limited and Nicholson has not seen the juicy roles he was being offered ten to twenty years ago. His performance in THE DEPARTED shows that he is still capable of carrying a movie. He first blew me away with one of the greatest performances of all time, his role in Ken Kesey's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S nest and continued to impress in such films as THE SHINNING, TERM OF ENDEARMENT, THE WILD RIDE(one of his first movies where he plays a James Dean type role), THE SHOOTING(Jack did several westerns early in his career), EASY RIDER(his breakout film...I thought his performance was brilliant), FIVE EASY PIECES, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE, THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS, CHINATOWN, THE MISSOURI BREAKS, REDS, PRIZZI'S HONOR, THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK, BROADCAST NEWS, IRONWEED, BATMAN, THE TWO JAKES, A FEW GOOD MEN, THE CROSSING GUARD, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, THE PLEDGE, ABOUT SCHMIDT and ANGER MANAGEMENT(oh yes, Jack can do comedy just fine). Looking back at that list it wouldn't be hard to argue that Nicholson is one of the most versatile and best actors ever.

Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award a record twelve times winning three Oscars.

Ben Kingsley has been an amazing actor for such a long time and continues to remain relevant. While his Academy Award years may, or may not, be behind him he continues to churn out exceptional performances.

Edward Norton burst onto the Hollywood scene in his very first movie, the thriller PRIMAL FEAR(a role that was offered to DeCaprio who turned it down Norton auditioned for the part and won it), in which he played Aaron the alter boy accused of murder and received his first Academy Award nomination . He followed that up playing Larry Flint's lawyer in the under rated PEOPLE VERSUS LARRY FLINT. Next he got the starring role in Woody Allen's EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU followed immeadiately by ROUNDERS, AMERICAN HISTORY X and the modern classic FIFGT CLUB. By this time Norton was being talked about as the next great American method actor. For whatever reason he has not received the same critical acclaim in his more recent roles as he did in his first half dozen movies. His more recent roles include THE SCORE where he got to play across from Robert DeNiro and DEATH TO SMOOCHY, THE ITILIAN JOB, KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and the juicy role of Eisenhiem in the ILLUSIONIST. His last juicy role in my opinion was as the convicted arsonist Gerald "Stone" creeson who uses his wife the lovely Milla Jovovich to try to seduce his parole officer played by Robert DiNero to ensure his parole. The movie was a dissapointment for me but Norton was at his best again. I'm not sure what the future holds for Norton as he seems to be cutting back on his movie making. Five years ago Norton would have been in the top ten but right now I have him at 14 and trending downwards.

The English actor Tom Wilkinson is one of the finest English actors alive today. His ability to play almost any role on either side of the Atlantic is quite remarkable. And he has had so many truly amazing parts from his role in MICHAEL CLAYTON, to his role in ROCK-N-ROLLA to his tragic and poignant role in IN THE BEDROOM. Wilkinson is indeed a man for every season.

Though Penn is not of late getting the choice roles that he once was receiving and that made him one of the hottest commodities in his field there can be no denying that he is still one of the finest actors plying his trade and seldom disappointes when cast in the right role. A true actors actor. There is little doubt that he still has his acting chops when cast properly.

LEFT OFF LIST BECAUSE: For me the only role Matt Damon really plays well is Matt Damon. When it comes to range he has very little in my opinion (there's that word opinion again) and plays the same all-American looking kid even when he is supposed to be the bad guy. Take departed for instance, he was totally non-convincing as a bad apple and strained to even be taken seriously. In the one movie that he had a chance to stretch his acting chops - INVICTUS - he came up horribly short. Sorry Matt Damon fans but this list could be the best 150 actors and I still wouldn't be able to include Matt Damon.

Whatever became of Val Kilmer? At one time he was one of my favorite up and coming actors playing such different roles as Jim Morrison in THE DOORS, DANNY Parker in THE SALTON SEA, John Holmes in WONDERLAND and Doc Holliday in TOMBSTONE. Sadly he hasn't made a really quality movie since the comedy KISS KISS BANG BANG. AND lately he has been relegated to the B movie pile cranking out one stinker after another. If you want to see how bad his career has gotten watch 2009 THE STEAM EXPERIMENT sometime...just plain embarrassing. If you look at his photo to the left of this blurb it looks like he's gained 100 pounds in the past few years. And rightly or wrongly, Hollywood is not big on leading men type who suddenly go on an ice cream diet.

Poor Nicholas Cage...he was terrific in a couple of films, especially WILD AT HEART, CONAIR and ADAPTATION. But for whatever reason Cage just can't seem to find a niche that fits him. Is he an action hero? Well not really. A leading man? Not with that hair. A great comedic talent? Hardly. Nickie Boy has probably churned out more junk than just about any other big name actor. He has to have the worst hair weave ever created for man (Didn't he ever hear of The Hairclub For Men?) And he often seems to be out of step with the rest of the characters in whichever movie he tackles lately. My gut tells me in five more years Nick Cage will just sort of fade out of the public eye...I think I'm starting to tear up!

Costner is a great example that your lousy acting will eventually catch up to you. HOW DANCES WITH WOLVES ever won any awards let alone the Oscar is beyond me. He somehow parlayed BULL DURHAM, FIELD OF DREAMS and DANCES WITH WOLVES into a long if ho hum career. I mean really WATERWORLD and THE POSTMAN. They don't get much worst than those mega budget disasters. Costner is another one who let boy-next-door good looks define his options and now he is reaping what he has sown. What a letdown he has been.

I always liked Harrison Ford, probably because his one really critically accepted movie WITNESS was shot in my hometown and I got to spend a whole day on the set where, in the movie, he ived with the Amish family. He's a heck of a nice guy with a good sense of timing, but acting wise...well, suffice it to say he never gets the juicy roles and for good reason. He has such a flat affect that it is hard for him to play anyone other than a particular type of character. If he could only...ahhh it's a day late and a dollar short now.

Dustin Hoffman was at one time one of our very best actors, but in acting terms he has not aged well. For whatever reason Hoffman, after a fantastic early career, has not aged well in acting terms. In a relatively short amount of time he went from having his pick of scripts to being offered supporting role parts in below average scripts. All one needs to do is look at his last five movies to see that Hoffman is no longer relevant in Hollywood: LITTLE FOCKERS, BARNEY'S VERSION, THE TALE OF DESPERAUX, LAST CHANCE HARVEY, KUNG FU PANDA, MR. MAGNORIUM'S WONDER EMPORIUM(small roll), STRANGER THAN FICTION, PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERE, THE LOST CITY, RACING STRIPES and LEMONEY SNICKEST'S A SERIOUS OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS(okay that's ten). Why Hoffman has lost his mojo I can't put my finger on but he has fallen and fallen hard in terms of roles he has played.

Maybe I haven't seen the right movies, maybe I'm just plain wrong but for my money Sam Neill is a B-movie actor at best. When it comes to Americanizing his voice he's horrible. He seems to struggle with hitting the right emotional tone for whatever character he's playing. Okay I'll put it bluntly he's just flat out unconvincing. I've seen better acting in high school plays. Watch DAYBREAKERS some time and I think you'll agree.

Cruise had his noments but in many ways he seems to come across us a very vain person who believes in that crazy scientology garbage and he is another one of those actors who suffers from the John Wayne theory. No matter what the part he is always Tom Cruise before you even have a chance to play along and see if he has decided to branch out.

I don't mean to rip on any of the bottom ten...well I guess I do actually. But if you look at these last ten quickly snap off three movies that each actor has made. Not as easy as it sounds, my guess is that is why all them leave nothing more than a faint memory,