There are very few actors with as much talent and commitment to their skill as Academy Award Winner Christian Bale. And with his latest successful acting accomplishment in David O. Russell's Oscar-bound film,
American Hustle, hitting theatres all across the country this weekend, it felt like the perfect time to pay a tribute to this fine actor. As huge of a Christian Bale fan as I am (and I was admittedly a little late to the party), I know none bigger than my good friend, and
Reel True owner, Greg Rouleau. Therefore, December's Movie List of the Month will look at Greg's Top 10 Christian Bale performances of all-time.
*** Feel free to check out
November's Movie List of the Month, which links back through the entire segment's archive.
#10. I'm Not There (2007)
I’m
Not There is a unique look at the life and career of Bob Dylan, with six
different actors taking on a different aspect and time-period of the
folk-singer’s career. Because of the format,
each actor is limited in screen time, but Bale makes an impression with his
take on the early beatnik days, and born-again phase of Dylan. It’s evident in the performance that Bale was
dedicated to the role and could have easily portrayed Dylan for an entire
film.
One of
this year’s releases, Christian plays Russell Baze, the older brother of an
Iraq War veteran who gets mixed up in the underground world of bare-knuckle
fighting. While the film ventures into
familiar revenge story territory, it remains a showcase for another incredible
role for Bale. Russell juggles taking
care of an ailing father, pleasing a girlfriend whose patience is waning, and
keeping his brother out of trouble. Bale
tackles all of these elements successfully, in addition to nailing down the
difficult accent of rural Braddock, PA.
#8. Batman Begins (2005)
While
Bale’s performance remained consistent throughout The Dark Knight Trilogy, it
was in the opening chapter where he truly gave us the best all-around showing. He plays Bruce Wayne in different stages of
his life; lost as a naïve college student filled with rage and then, as the
older Bruce who has learned to harness his anger and turn it into a symbol of
hope for Gotham City. Once he dons the
cape and cowl, he easily transitions into a figure that inspires change by
fighting crime and finding a balance between hero and vigilante. With his great turn as both Bruce Wayne and
the Dark Knight, audiences were given the best Batman to date.
#7. American Hustle (2013)
In
another 2013 release, Christian plays Irving Rosenfeld who is based loosely on
Mel Weinberg, an influential individual in the Abscam operation of the late
1970s. It seemed director David O.
Russell took the real Weinberg and turned him up to 11 in order to give us the
character of Irving. Thankfully, it’s
another platform for Bale to show off his incredible range. What seems to be absent from many of Bale’s
roles as of late is some humor, and we see plenty of Christian’s great comedic
timing with Rosenfeld. Torn between an
unstable housewife, a mistress he adores, and a hot-headed FBI agent, Bale
injects a lot of heart into this character, despite being a sleazy
con-man. We hope for the best with Irv,
and Bale is the driving force behind a very great ensemble.
#6. The Prestige (2006)
Bale’s
second of many collaborations with director Christopher Nolan was The Prestige, a film
about rival magicians in late 19th century London. Christian goes toe-to-toe with Hugh Jackman
as each becomes obsessed with outdoing the other. The story takes some dark turns and each man
experiences small victories as well as tremendous loss. Bale plays Alfred Borden and portrays the
con-man aspect of magicians perfectly.
He isn’t as fascinated with the presentation as his counterpart, but
it’s still an art to him, as we understand.
Throughout his journey, we feel the obsession that drives him as this
once friendly rivalry eventually turns deadly.
#5. The Fighter (2010)
In
2010, Christian would earn his 1st Oscar with his role of washed-up
boxer Dicky Eklund in The Fighter. The
Academy loves broad performances and this is Christian’s broadest to date, but
that isn’t to say his elusive first statue wasn’t well-deserved. Bale is like a firecracker when on screen,
playing well off of Mark Walhberg’s more stoic portrayal of his younger brother,
Micky. The movie comes to life whenever
Dicky is on screen. His character also
has a nice arc as he battles drug abuse, a torn-apart family and fading dreams
of making a comeback to the ring. It’s a
truly fun, engaging performance.
#4. Rescue Dawn (2007)
Perhaps
the most underrated performance of the Welsh actor’s career is the war drama Rescue Dawn. Yet another in the line
of dramatic weight-loss required roles, Bale dropped 55lbs to play Dieter
Dengler, a pilot whose plane gets shot down over Vietnam and is captured and
imprisoned. There are a few strong
supporting turns by Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies, but this is largely Bale’s
movie. We’re with him every step of the
way as he endures torture and struggles to find a way to freedom, making it one of the most inspiring portrayals of
survival ever put on film.
#3. The Machinist (2004)
It’s
been well documented how dedicated Christian is to his roles. He packed on the
pounds to play the con-artist Irving in American Hustle, and he’s also been
known to drop a scary amount of weight to portray some of these
characters. Perhaps the most famous example
is his role as Trevor Reznik in The Machinist, where he lost roughly 63
pounds. As Trevor, Bale plays an
insomniac, awake for roughly a year, who begins to slip further and further
into madness as his body disintegrates. We also empathize with Reznik because
his only real human connection is with a prostitute named Stevie. As a viewer, it
almost becomes uncomfortable to see this transformation, yet, it’s even more
difficult to turn away.
#2. Empire of the Sun (1987)
This
great career that we’ve examined through this list all began with Steven
Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun in 1987.
12-year-old unknown actor Christian Bale beat out 4,000 other young
actors for the role of Jamie Graham, a wealthy British child obsessed with
various fighter planes and aircraft. As
the war between Japan and China escalates, Jamie is separated from his parents
and imprisoned in a Japanese labor camp.
Another story of survival, but made all the more impressive by a young,
debuting actor. Bale is fascinating to
watch, a spoiled brat as the movie begins, although still charming. His love for aircraft and his will to survive are infectious. A couple of the many
standout scenes for Bale are when he finds a broken down fuselage early in the
film and then the P-51 “Cadillac of the Sky” flies by him later on. Very few actors are able to carry a
154-minute film, but even fewer are capable at age of 12.
#1. American Psycho (2000)
One
could argue that this performance led to the successful career that Bale now
enjoys. It was said that Christopher
Nolan cast him as Batman because he saw the dedication Bale was able to put
into a role in American Psycho and that an audience would buy into this man
going to great lengths to become a crime-fighting superhero. Headlining a successful franchise inevitably
led to a greater selection of roles, many of which comprise this list. Another common theme with Bale’s career is
dedication, and it’s wildly evident in American Psycho that the actor is
willing to go to scary lengths to bring his characters to life, to essentially
go “all in”. He committed to a strict
fitness regimen to fully embody the vain, image obsessed protagonist of the
film. In one particular scene where
Batemen and some colleagues are comparing their business cards, Bale starts to
sweat from the anger swelling up inside of him.
During various takes of the scene, the actor would sweat on cue, which
led to director Mary Harron dubbing him “robo-actor”. Any of the scenes where he describes, in-depth,
his love for certain 80s songs are standouts.
Another impressive aspect of Bale’s portrayal is how he so convincingly
blends many emotions into one performance.
In Bateman, there’s some terror, dark humor, physical comedy and an
actor 100% dedicated to his craft.
