Beauty Break: The Best of Colin Farrell
Thursday, May 31, 2012 at 11:11PM Colin Farrell turned 36 years hot today and after a tumultuous career that saw him win major celebrity status well in advance of anyong seeing his actual Acting, he finally seems to have settled into life as a reasonably famous, reasonably scandal-free (unlike before), well employed and consistently delivering screen presence in films both big and small.
Photographed by Tom Munro
The two things he doesn't totally have yet are a reputation as a great actor (though he's certainly a good one) or a bankable star. He'll take another shot at both of those missing ingredients this year with Seven Psychopaths (which reunites him with writer/director Martin McDonagh who yanked an Oscar-nom worthy performance out of him in In Bruges) and the sci-fi remake Total Recall (in the Arnold Schwarzenegger role).
Regarding the latter, the last time the Irish actor headlined an 80s remake audiences ignored him. Will he fare better this time? We'll find out in August almost exactly a year after Fright Night bowed and was promptly staked.
Five Favorite Farrells and Five Favorite Fotos after the jump...
Matt Lucas and Colin Farrell in the little seen Tigerland (2000)His Best Performances
01 In Bruges (2008)
This one I've written about before.
02 Tigerland (2000)
Director Joel Schumacher has committed many sins against the cinema in his long career but he's probably been condemned for the Bat Nipples for long enough. He also basically handed Colin Farrell his career -- also with nipples -- so points for that.
03 Fright Night (2011)
The movie was weirdly shunned by mainstream audiences but god he was entertaining in it and fully invested.
04 The New World (2005)
Such a heartbreaking beautiful movie with tender performances. I prefer this Malick to The Tree of Life though I guess I'm in the minority.
05 Minority Report (2002)
Wherein he really proved his star magnetism, totally popping and focus pulling even standing right next to a bonafide mega star like Tom Cruise.
Those were easy picks for the top five though I should note that I haven't yet seen Ondine, Cassandra's Dream or London Boulevard. The rest of his performances are more problematic but they're not without their definite highlights. The worst that can be said for his performances is that sometimes they carry a whiff of "trying too hard" -- Daredevil, Alexander, A Home at the End of the World, The Way Back and Phone Booth come quickly to mind -- but trying too hard is much much better than phoning it in, which he never seems to do. At the very least trying too hard is more entertaining and what are movie stars if not entertainers?
Four More Favorite Farrell Fotos...
Smoking is Hot for you. I MEAN BAD FOR YOU.
The T-Shirt lies. He was born in 1976
Photographed by Greg Williams
all wet (photo by ???)How do you like your Colin Farrell?
How do you like your Colin Farrell served up? What do you think is his best work?
Reader Comments (20)
Huzzah, another person who prefers The New World to Tree of Life!
Ondine is such a strange little movie. It's a pleasant (if slight) contemporary fairy tale for the first two acts, and then it does a total cliff dive into WTFery for the last one. I do think that it's definitely in the top five of Colin Farrell's performances, though nothing tops In Bruges for me. But in Ondine, he's tender and gruff and charming all in one. I wouldn't say the movie is essential viewing or anything, but for Farrell fans, I would definitely recommend it. I'd like to see him work with Neil Jordan again on another project, one with a bit more heft.
I'm also mystified by Fright Night's flop. All the crappy remakes/reboots/whatever that make money, but a worthy one flops? So unjust. I wish the studio had held it for a Halloween release.
Total Recall is a much larger property than Fright Night—audiences familiar with the original stayed away, potential audiences were prevented by the R rating, and the amount of people into funny horror is completely too small for Hollywood to throw new money at.
Colin seems older, early thrust into the line light, now his choices on paper seem promising, but remakes aren't that bankable unless they're superhero related.
Do I have to enjoy his acting to enjoy him? Brown eyes make me an easy lay.
Any movie with Colin in the buff is my kind of movie...
Every year when the HFPA nominates/awardes something WTF I catch myself thinking "But they gave Colin the GG for In Bruges!" and they get a free pass. For me also his best performance.
But Liz describes him perfectly in Odine - "tender and gruff and charming all in one"
Thanks for all the beautiful pictures, what a great way to end the week (I like him all wet).
He was sensational in In Bruges, Pride and Glory, Triage, The New World, Tigerland, etc.etc etc. Maybe if people stopped focusing on how hot he is, he would get the reputation that he so deserves - a GREAT actor!
He was sensational in In Bruges, Pride and Glory, Triage, The New World, Tigerland, etc.etc etc. Maybe if people stopped focusing on how hot he is, he would get the reputation that he so deserves - a GREAT actor!
I almost never feel like going on a rant in the comments, but every time In Bruges in mentioned, I feel the need to express my hate for it. Few films have rubbed me in such a wrong way. Painfully unfunny, obnoxious and smug to the max about it. Though, to be fair, the screenplay is mostly to blame for that.
My favorite of his films and his work is A Home at the End of the World. I think it's where he showed there was more to him than the action mode he was slipping into. If anybody was trying to hard in that movie it was Robin Wright and her misguided hippy. Both Colin and Sissy Spacek were perfect.
The rest of my top five would be
Triage-Little seen but he is amazing in it.
In Bruges
Tigerland
Cassandra's Dream
I think this can benefit each of us. Thanks for sharing it with all.. Stay blessed!!'
@Jan
You are free to express your hate for In Bruges, but I feel sorry for you that you're losing out on a wonderful film experience. It's simply one of the most brilliantly written, directed and acted films I've ever seen. It's probably the same for all the other people who sing its praises.
Honestly I think his role in Horrible Bosses in one of his best, he completely steals the show and it proved he could do silly comedies (which a lot of actors can't). Also you metion you haven't see London Boulevard, well I have and you don't need to.
Fright Night was great, but releasing in the summer was real stupid. It's the type of movie that could have been a surprise hit in the spring or fall, but in the summer it got buried under all the big budget competition.
Nathaniel, that last picture was taken by Bruce Weber for Vanity Fair, 2002 I think.
Hey, people, he was SUPERB in Miami Vice. Michael Mann always delivers much more than excellent genre pieces, and Farrell's love story with Gong Li in that movie was brilliant. Perfect chemistry, pain, seduction, etc, etc, etc. That got me completely off-guard. Farrell and Gong Li, what a S M O K I N ' H O T couple!
Funny, i have no memory of colin in minority report. steve harris, check. neal mcdonough, check. The best impressions on me were left my lois smith and peter stormare.
Oscar-nod worthy in Cassandra's Dream.
Colin Farrell with a shaved head giving a wolf whistle is... well, how to put this as delicately as possible... sex on legs.
Also, THE NEW WORLD > THE TREE OF LIFE. I will defend that belief until the day I day.
I love his eyebrows and sad eyes.
One of the best actors of his generation. And seems like a cool guy too.
Best performance was Phone Booth. A true tour de force and the only film of Schumacher's that I've liked.