Top 10 Christian Bale Performances

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.  

#9. Out of the Furnace (2013)

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 19^th 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 1^st 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.