Ten Great Performances from Mike Nichols' Films
Friday, November 21, 2014 at 10:00PM Amir here. Mike Nichols was a true giant of show business, with a career that lasted more than six decades and sprawled across many different media and genres. Nathaniel's heartfelt eulogy already highlighted the dreamy number of classics he directed and the collaborations with Meryl Streep that resulted in some of her most memorable roles; but Meryl wasn't the only performer whom Nichols guided to career-best work.
Team Experience decided to make a list of ten great performances from Mike Nichols' films; we were truly spoilt for choice. If you want a testament to the man's sheer brilliance and chemistry with his actors, look no further than the missing names from our list. An equally long, equally illustrious alternative list can be made of the likes of Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, Melanie Griffith in Working Girl, Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War, Jude Law and Natalie Portman in Closer, and many others.
Here is our team's unranked, personal picks:
Anne Bancroft, The Graduate
Let’s talk about making difficult parts work. On the page, Mrs. Robinson is as slippery, duplicitous, and out-and-out a villainess as they come. But in the hands of the glorious Anne Bancroft, working with but also brilliantly against Nichols’ effervescent direction, Mrs. Robinson becomes someone different and deeper but no less mercurial or indelibly iconic. Fleetingly sensitive, impossibly stylish, and smarter than everyone else around her, Mrs. Robinson still makes life difficult for Benjamin Braddock, but complicates our sympathies and keeps a cryptic, critical, and spellbinding distance while doing so. That’s not just making a difficult part work; it’s making a difficult part soar. - Matthew Eng
Shirley MacLaine, Postcards from the Edge
When Suzanne Vale's mother comes to visit her in rehab we're not told that the woman we're about to meet is a movie star, but as soon as Shirley MacLaine swans in, we know. Adept at creating an audience wherever she goes, MacLaine's Doris Mann is a delicious caricature of the aging star: the Norma Desmond of the musical-comedy era. (Her "I'm Still Here" will floor you.) Her immense ego and her sincere motherly love coexist contentiously, with poignant results. Instead of hammering at monster-mother camp, MacLaine keeps her humanity close, never losing it to the absurd. -Margaret de Larios
Mike Nichols, Nichols and May
Before he was the wunderkind of Broadway or the well-respected Hollywood director, Mike Nichols was half of the smash comedy duo Nichols and May. Later in his career, Nichols would tell actors, “You made it funny. Now make it true.” This was his gift as a comedian: the ability to ground increasingly absurd situations - a phone call between a rocket scientist and his mother, a man losing his dime in a phone booth - in funny, true reactions. Nichols was the master of the exasperated double-take and the monotone quip, two skills he would later pass to actors. -Anne Marie Kelly
Mary Louise Parker, Angels in America
Upon winning the 2003 Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries, Mary Louise Parker thanked her "mighty" director Mike Nichols by explaining "you could get a great performance out of a quiche". She was right. In "Angels in America" he turned her character, Harper Pitt, from a thankless supporting wife into a sublime exploration of self-discovery. As someone trapped in a marriage with a closeted gay man, Parker beautifully opened up to Harper's fears, disillusionment and horniness. Nichols had her acting opposite CGI penguins and still she remained perhaps the most recognizably human figure in the film. -Jose Solis
Julia Roberts, Closer
Patrick Marber's crude barbs are spat from her mouth but Nichols' work in drawing Roberts into twisted versions of her romantic comedy smashes is equally instrumental in making this, I'd wager, her best ever performance. Roberts unleashes venom and allows her infamously angular features to manifest much of her character's ugliness, in a way that speaks volumes of her trust in the man directing her. She is at the same lithely sexual in a way she'd never been before; Nichols found the panther beneath the kittenish America's Sweetheart, an even deeper level of revelation than her Oscar winning turn four years prior, and the closest she's ever felt to reality. -David Upton
Kurt Russell, Silkwood
I'm going to relish this sentence, because saying it feels like such a rarity, but Mike Nichols’ artistry was so often and so brilliantly focused around women that it can be easy to forget the sensitivity and intelligence he granted men. Kurt Russell is not an actor known for subtlety, but in Silkwood, Russell finds something in himself that defies the rough and tumble box Hollywood liked to put him in. He's just as masculine, just as strong as he ever was as Snake Plissken, but there's a self-assured playfulness to his acting in Silkwood. He's looser here – sexier! – than anywhere else. Masculine posturing was irrelevant in Mike Nichols world, and for that and much more I thank him. - Teo Bugbee
James Spader, Wolf
By 1994, Spader could play the venal yuppie with feathered hair and a predatory smile in his sleep. But it was under Nichols, in this savage parable of the New York publishing world, that his stock character reached its height. Playing the human villain in a story about werewolves and still feeling like the most dangerous person in the cast is no mean feat, but Spader did it with smarmy ease, while being the only member of the cast to successfully navigate the film’s wobbly shift into explicit horror, largely because his backstabbing striver was already a fairy tale monster. -Tim Brayton
Emma Thompson, Wit
Vivian Bearing would be the second of three roles under Nichols’ direction for Emma, and the most significant. University professor Vivian may be dying of cancer but she retains her Thompson-esque traits – that slightly sardonic piquancy, the quiet dignity, the wit. But even as the affectations are all Emma, the performance is suffused with Mike, his warmth, his quiet effectiveness. The film, invariably, depends on their duet. Mike’s direction trusts Emma, giving her room and allowing her to devastate as Vivian. In a career of superlative work it’s hard to call Vivian Bearing Emma’s best but it’s a type of performance I’m grateful to Nichols for getting out of her, in touch with her usual sensibilities as an actor but pushed just further to become one of the most superior displays of suffering on screen. -Andrew Kendall
Robin Williams, The Birdcage
Williams was at his best when he harnessed his boisterous madcap energy into a fully delineated character whose quieter moments shaded his brassy zingers. His Armand, which could have so easily turned into a caricature with his loud shirts, his bushy mustache and his campy sense of humor comes alive with Williams' warmth: "Yes, I wear foundation. Yes, I live with a man. Yes, I'm a middle- aged fag. But I know who I am." -Manuel Betancourt
Patrick Wilson, Angels in America
In a cast full of established masters (Streep, Pacino) and future stars (Jeffrey Wright, Mary Louise Parker), it would take a truly great performance to stand out, and that’s exactly what Wilson gave in the miniseries that put him on the map. It’s one of the script’s showier roles, to be fair – a Mormon denying his sexual identity – but Wilson plays it with note-perfect sensitivity, confusion, self-doubt, and yearning. The actor’s subsequent decade of fine, but hardly complicated performances in limiting projects only serves to make his achievement here that much more impressive. -Tim Brayton
Reader Comments (39)
Oh, wow. So many great choices I can't be all too surprised by what's been left off. For me the ones that really stick are:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Sandy Dennis in Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff?
- Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman, and Katherine Ross in The Graduate
- Ann-Margaret and Art Garfunkle in Carnal Knowledge
- Meryl Streep and Cher in Silkwood
- Meryl Street in Heartburn
- Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl
- Meryl Streep, Shirley MacLaine, and Annette Bening in Postcards from the Edge
- Annette Bening in Regarding Henry
- Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest, and Hank Azaria in The Birdcage
- Emma Thompson and Kathy Bates in Primary Colors
- Al Pacino, Meryl Streep, Patrick Wilson, and Mary-Louise Parker in Angels in America
- Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, and Natalie Portman in Closer
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson's War
That's nearly 30 exceptional performances right there. My was he gifted with actors!
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Damn it.
..... where's all the performances from 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'
Ya'll forget?
Jeffrey Wright in Angels is one of my all-time favorite performances. Great list above nonetheless.
"In "Angels in America" he turned her character, Harper Pitt, from a thankless supporting wife into a sublime exploration of self-discovery."
Harper was never a thankless role. What an idiotic statement. Read the play.
Good call on Wilson from AIA and lovely writeup on Bancroft but...
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I think the interpretation of Harper Pitt as either thankless support or fascinating integral character depends on your point of reference. I saw part one on stage with an actress who was terrible.....I couldn't wait for her scenes to end and felt like she was nothing more than a plot device and part two with a different woman who was wonderful and brought the work to life. Without Harper, the piece loses balance but that play needs talent to make it fly. I'm not sure I would call it Parker's best work, but she gave a wonderful performance.
I think the best example of Nichol's genius as a director is Griffiths in Working Girl.
01. Anne Bancroft, The Graduate
02. Meryl Streep, Silkwood
03. Meryl Streep, Angels In America
04. Clive Owen, Closer
05. Patrick Wilson, Angels In America
06. Elizabeth Taylor, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
07. Sandy Dennis, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
08. Mary Louise Parker, Angels In America
09. Al Pacino, Angels In America
10. Dustin Hoffman, The Graduate
Annette Bening in Postcards from the Edge
YES, thank you Mareko!!! one of the greatest, most vivid cameos of the 90s.
Julia Roberts gave the worst performance in Closer. She almost ruined the movie for me. If Cate Blanchett hadn't had to drop out of the film, the film would have been so much better. Luckily, Clive Owen saved the day.
Clive Owen & NATALIE PORTMAN!! :)
Just a note to those of you asking "where's x performance?", this list was not meant to be a top ten at all. I just asked the contributors to write about whichever performance they felt like writing about after Nichols' passing.
As mentioned in the intro, it's completely unranked.
A fun and unexpected list. Wilson in particular was a nice call out - every time I see Angels, I wonder why we never saw as much from him again. These feel like the slightly unsung heroes of Nichols' filmography (aside from Bancroft).
How I will miss this genius! There is such an ease and lightness to his direction yet it never feels lazy or bare-boned. The Graduate was probably the first grown up movie that I watched, and I was struck by its visual beauty. It felt so rich and geometric and, at the same time, so real and grounded.
I miss Anne Bancroft, as well. Anne gives one of my favorite performances. Her Oscar loss has always been a bit disheartening to me; especially, since the Academy decided to give a superfluous Oscar to Katharine Hepburn for one of her weakest performances and characters.
On a lighter note
It TWIRRRLLEED up!
Mike Nichols was an undeniable genius, and thank you for this article. BUT… to echo what two others have already said, Harper Pitt is an unbelievably exciting character in the original stage script of Angels in America. She doesn't even need an actor. Just read it on the page. It's all there. A testament in writing to the genius of Tony Kushner.
Amir- I know you are a film lover but to limit the list to "10" is kind of embarrassing - which I guess you know? I'm related to him so I'm a little biased but I'm also a devote of TFE. There are SO many performances, formed by MIke that should be celebrated. Why limit it to the 10(other than the fact that it is is more marketable)?
Mike Nichol's sense of mise-en-scène was, particularly for the first 4 films, exceptional; which was impressive considering the fact that he came from the world of theater, and yet he had an instant knack for camera composition and camera movement. And THEN came the fact that he, having worked extensively on the stage, was brilliant with actors.
If I had to mention one performance I would go with Melanie Griffith in Working Girl; it's easy to knock Melanie Griffith today, I can't stand her today either, but she had a string of great performances in the 80s to mid 90s. And she's really wonderful in Working Girl, even got an Oscar nomination, which doesn't mean shit, off course, but still...!
It's not that I don't like Mary Louise Parker in Angels in America, I absolutely do, but I really have to say that Harper Pitt is NOT a thankless role at all.
If I had to pick one performance, I would go with Emma Thompson in Wit for two reason: she's sublime and she lost almost every single award that year to Judy Davis.
I love Closer and of course Julia & Clive was the best part of the movie. Their breakup scene thrills me every time I see it.
So many great performances in Nichols movies. My favourite is Streep in Silkwood but also Taylor, Roberts, Owen, Bancroft...
everyone - for what it's worth this isn't a top ten like "we voted and here it is" it is the individual writer's favorite performances. sans meryl since i already covered her. If i had added to the write-ups I would have picked Elizabeth Taylor in Woolf. 'Hump the hostess!"
Thanks for writing up Russell in Silkwood and Roberts in Closer, two perfect performances that don't get enough ink.
If I may do some highlighting - Griffith and Cusack in Working Girl. Two fun, fantastic performances that I think about far more often than I probably should.
Mike -- omg. Joan Cusack in that movie. Genius and a shocking but welcome Oscar nom.
I love Margaret's tribute to Shirley. That is one of my favorite performances. Even though Doris is a movie star, I think we all know mothers like that.
"I can't possibly compete with you. What if somebody won? You want me to do well... just not better than you."
Julia is gr8 in Closerso wounded yet sexy,you understand the spell she casts,weird there was no love for her in 2004.
Roberts for Closer and MacLaine for Postcards deserved nominations for the Oscar, especially Roberts who was more than amazing.
I liked Patrick Wilson in Angels in America, but I would not put him above Jeffrey Wright with his master classes in giving monologues or Justin Kirk with his passionate dissapointed and cynic character. Those two are the best male performers in Angels in America, partly Pachino too. For me then comes Wilson, but that doesn't mean he was bad in any way. And yes I understand it's an individual list. This is just my individual opinion also. ;)
I'm glad I've watched this masterpiece.
Julia Roberts was excellent in Closer. Her casting alone brought a different vibe to that role. It was a phase in her career prior to her "bitter" phase and she played Anna with a haunted, tragic air. Her words bristled with sadness as if she already expected every word thrown at her and she was not angry about it, just disappointed. I just imagine Blanchett in this role and No!
Another great performance in a Nichols film is Ann Margret in Carnal Knowledge. An arc that goes from sexy and open to needy and desperate. It was like Portman and Roberts' characters in Closer combined. Truly great.
Picking a "best performance" in Angels in America is like picking your favorite grain of sand on the beach.
Ellsworth- Honestly, just because a list of 20-30 would be too long for one post and organizing it in less than 24 hours would be impossible. I understand your disappointment, and as I mentioned in the intro, I'm completely aware that an equally great (and even longer) list can be made of similarly top notch performances. Just a matter of time and space constraint.
The fact that everyone is clamoring to question, add to or append this list is a sign of how much Nichols is respected and how many of us care about the characters he put on film. Thanks for sharing your idiosyncratic picks!
I'd have put Hoffman on this list -- his performance in the The Graduate is not just great, it's iconic.
Julia was brilliant, haunting and superb in Closer and deserved a nom.
Oh why not:
1. Elizabeth Taylor, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
2. Jeffrey Wright, Angels in America
3. Clive Owen, Closer
4. Natalie Portman, Closer
5. Nathan Lane, The Birdcage
6. Richard Burton, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
7. Meryl Streep, Angels in America
8. Anne Bancroft, The Graduate
9. Mary Louise Parker, Angels in America
10. Shirley MacLaine, Postcards from the Edge
Julia Roberts in Closer just missed the cut, and I haven't seen Wit, Wolf or Carnal Knowledge.
a) Reading the play, I never felt that Harper was a thankless role.
b) The double break-up scene in Angels in America is one of the great pieces of screen acting from our era.
c) My list would've basically been Angels in America (all of them), Taylor and Burton, Nicholson, and Jude Law.
Arkaan: I agree about Harper on the page. I didn't read it until after seeing both parts (I saw replacement casts on Broadway. I don't remember the terrible actress but the one I loved in the part was Megan Gallagher.). It's such dense, rich writing but certainly not thankless. The plane monologue alone is golden.
My top choice would have to be Elizabeth Taylor. It's one of the most fiery performances I've ever seen captured on film. However Mike Nichols brought out that level of work from her I'll always be grateful.
I don't see how someone can say with a straight face that Julia Roberts gave her worst performance in "Closer." It was some of her most honest and shattering work, and that says a lot coming from Patrick Marber's very acidic and stylized source material.
I always waver between Justin Kirk and Jeffrey Wright as MVPs for "Angels in America." In a pinch, I'll say Wright for Belize's "I hate America" speech to Louis. Kushner, man, heavens.
Harper a thankless character? Alrighty then . . . I do think that Mary-Louise Parker did better and more complex work on "Weeds." But get that Emmy for something, and Harper Pitt is an award-worthy character too.
My 12 favorite Nichols' directed performances ever
Taylor - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Streep - Silkwood
Streep - Postcards from the Edge
Bancroft - The Graduate
Burton - Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Streep - Angels in America
Owen - Closer
Hoffman - The Graduate
Wilson - Angels in America
Wright - Angels in America
Maclaine - Postcards from the Edge
Pacino - Angels in America
with an honorary for Annette Bening in Postcards which may well be my favorite cameo of all time
1. Streep - Silkwood
2. Taylor - Virginia Woolf
3. Roberts - Closer
4. Owen - Closer
5. Bancroft - The Graduate
6. McLaine - Postcards
7. Streep - Postcards
8. Burton - Virginia Woolf
9. Hoffman - The Graduate
10. Wright - Angles in America
I'm surprised more people haven't mentioned Cher in Silkwood. She was heartbreaking. Always reminds me of what she could do when she was paired with a truly great director.
I'm so heartened that everyone else was as shocked and disappointed six years ago to see Harper described as a "thankless supporting wife" as I was just now reading this article for the first time. I read the play before seeing it anywhere, and she was ELECTRIFYING on the page. One of the great female roles of American theater.