James Gandolfini will always be remembered as an actor who could chill you to the bone with one withering look. In addition to upping the ante for TV drama in The Sopranos, he made a lasting impression on audiences in film. His final, posthumously-released, film role, in The Drop, hits UK cinemas this weekend, so we’re looking back at some of his finest performances. Which would you have chosen? Comment away, and let us know.
The Mexican
In one of many roles related to organised crime, Gandolfini – as hired gun Winston Baldry – saved this otherwise-fumbling crime caper comedy. The film saw a couple’s relationship tested to its limits atop a plot revolving around a treasured Mexican gun, and a two-bit criminal’s final attempt to bend the law. Without Gandolfini, who squeezed earnestness into Baldry’s relationship with his hostage, Gore Verbinski’s film may have completely bombed.
Where the Wild Things Are
Gandolfini went against type in Spike Jonze’s Where the Wild Things Are, voicing loveable monster Carol. There wasn’t a gangster in sight in the film, which was based on the classic kids’ story about a young boy’s imagined trip to a forest inhabited by a rag-tag cluster of monsters, but Gandolfini still pushed his character into familiar bouts of volatile rage.
True Romance
Tony Scott’s 1993 twisted love story about a couple on the run – and unexpectedly in possession of a sizeable amount of cocaine – featured Gandolfini in a minor, but sinister, role. He hunted down Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater’s protagonist characters on behalf of the Detroit mafia, and oozed a quiet menace in just about every line of dialogue from Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay.
In the Loop
Gandolfini brought his signature tough-guy edge to Lt Gen George Miller’s character in Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It film spin-off. He fit right into the original show’s sweary behind-the-scenes look at political manoeuvring, squaring up to Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker and perfecting his gravel-voiced “don’t mess with me” verbal menace.
Enough Said
Romcoms pitched at older audiences can easily trip up – just remind yourself of And So It Goes for proof. In Nicole Holofcener’s 2013 film, Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus nailed their roles as post-divorce love interests. The role was one of Gandolfini’s last, and proved his knack for comedic timing, emotional depth and realistically portraying even the most mundane moments of romantic relationships.
