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THE TOP 10 OPINIONS: THE BIGGEST COMEBACKS EVER!

A Writer's Point of View

The role of Vincent Vega in "Pulp Fiction" resurrected John Travolta's career back in 1994

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By Josh Kirschenbaum

We all love it when one of our favorite stars comes back from a string of bad movies and begins to reap in the awards for it. People love a good comeback. AMPAS loves to award stars that make a good movie after years of trash (or of nothing at all). Comebacks allow stars to reinvent themselves while simultaneously reminding people why they became famous in the first place. This year features a slew of comebacks, including: The Coen Brothers, Mira Sorvino, Daniel Day-Lewis, Julie Christie, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Robert Redford, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Julia Roberts. The following ten films are the ones that (I feel) feature the biggest comebacks ever. They are listed in order of the degree of comeback, not in order of quality of performance:

10. William Hurt in A History of Violence

It may be hard to believe, but back in the 80s, William Hurt was a major star. He starred in films like ‘The Big Chill’ and ‘Body Heat’ before winning his first (and only) Oscar® for his leading role in ‘Kiss of the Spider Woman.’ He went on to be nominated two more times for his leading roles in ‘Children of a Lesser God’ and ‘Broadcast News’ before dropping off the face of the earth. He had roles in ‘Dark City’ and ‘Michael’ just to remind people he was still working. After a supporting role in M. Night Shyamalan’s 2004 fiasco ‘The Village,’ things were looking bad for Mr. Hurt. Then came a miracle: He was cast in David Cronenberg’s masterful ‘A History of Violence.’

With Richie Cusack, Joey’s (Viggo Mortensen) older brother, Hurt had a role that allowed him to play an eccentric character. After playing it strait for twenty years, his campy role in AHOV surprised a lot of people. Hurt ended up stealing the show from costars Mortensen, Maria Bello, and Ed Harris. Despite having a role that was less than ten minutes long, he finished the Oscar® season with a handful of critic’s awards and an Oscar® nomination for best supporting actor. Since then, he has appeared in Robert DeNiro’s ‘The Good Shepard’ and will be seen this year in Sean Penn’s ‘Into the Wild.’

9. Jodie Foster in The Accused

In 1976, anyone involved in the film industry could have told you that Jodie Foster was going places. She had just starred in two films. One was ‘Freaky Friday’ which was a fairly successful film. The other was ‘Taxi Driver’ for which she received an Oscar® nomination for best supporting Actress. Five years later, most people would have told you she was a has-been. With rumors circulated about her wild lifestyle and having not been in a hit film since 1976, it looked like things were over for Foster. Then, in 1988, she starred in ‘The Accused.’

The film centers around Sarah Tobias. After being raped, Sarah in unsatisfied with her assailants’ sentence. She decides to press charges against the people who watched her be attacked but neglected to do anything. Such a baity role was destined for Oscar® glory. She ended up winning a best actress Oscar® for the role. Three years later, she starred in Jonathan Demme’s classic thriller ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and won the prize again. She went on to be nominated for 1994’s ‘Nell’ and star in a series of successful films including ‘Contact,’ ‘Panic Room,’ and ‘Inside Man.’

8. Sean Connery in The Untouchables

After finishing his last official Bond film in 1971, Sean Connery’s career looked bright. He starred in the excellent ‘The Man Who Would Be King’ with Michael Caine. For one reason or another, he began to fall off the Hollywood’s radar. He was reduced to cameos (Time Bandits), capitalizing on Bond (The unofficial ‘Never say Never Again"), and general trash (Highlander). Sean Connery became a joke. Then in 1987, Brian De Palma’s ‘The Untouchables’ was released.

Connery played Jim Malone, a tough no-nonsense cop who teaches Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner, who is currently in desperate need of a comeback by the way) how to be a cop. The role had plenty of baity scenes for Connery to show off his acting chops. Most importantly, Connery created the persona that would serve him for the rest of his career: the tough old mentor. Connery won a best supporting actor Oscar® for the role.

7. Woody Allen in Match Point

Truly one of the most prolific directors of all time, Woody Allen has been making brilliant films since the late 60s. The high point in his career came after he won best picture, director, and original screenplay for ‘Annie Hall.’ He then had a string of masterpieces including ‘Manhattan’, ‘Stardust Memories’, ‘Hannah and her Sisters’ (for which he won best original screenplay), and ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’. Then came the Soon Yi scandal. Slowly but surely, Allen’s films began to decrease in quality. After ‘Mighty Aphrodite’, Allen began a series of films that did little more than emulate his own style. Things were looking especially grim after ‘Anything Else’ and ‘Melinda and Melinda’. But when Allen changed the setting of his next film to London, he created a dark and thoughtful masterpiece that ranks among his best films.

‘Match Point’ centers around a retired tennis player (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers) who marries into a rich London family, then begins an affair with his brother-in-law’s fiancée (Scarlett Johansson). The film explores similar themes as ‘Crimes and Misdemeanors’, but while that film had plenty of comedic scenes with Allen, ‘Match Point’ is pitch black. In Scarlett Johansson, Allen found his next muse. She later starred with him in his follow-up ‘Scoop’, a light comedy. She will also be appearing in ‘Midnight in Barcelona’ his film set in Spain. ‘Match Point’ got Allen a best original screenplay nomination. More importantly, it reminded people how talented he really is. I expect we’ll see a lot more of Allen in the next few years.

As the iconic Bill "The Butcher," Daniel Day-Lewis reminded us why he is one of the most versatile actors of all time

6. Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York

In 1989, Daniel Day-Lewis appeared in ‘My Left Foot’. His performance was lauded as a monumental achievement and was promptly awarded best actor, beating out an impressive array of actors including Kenneth Branagh, Robin Williams, and Morgan Freeman. Some people saw the role as a breakthrough for Day-Lewis. In reality, he had been consistently turning in great performances in great films for the past five years. Some of which include ‘A Room with a View’ and ‘The Unbearable lightness of Being’. Being one of the few method actors left in Hollywood, Day-Lewis went on to star in ‘The Last of the Mohicans’ and ‘In the Name of the Father’ (for which he was nominated for Best Actor). After that, he sort of fell out of public view before returning in 2002 in Martin Scorsese’s ‘Gangs of New York’.

With Bill the Butcher, Day-Lewis created one of the greatest villains of all time. He did something incredibly rare in film acting: gave a performance of incredibly magnitude without overacting. His dedication to the role is unnerving. While filming, Day-Lewis kept his accent even when not on set. He continued filming on one scene despite a broken nose. He refused to wear a warm coat because they didn't exist in the film’s time frame and had to be given antibiotics to combat the illness he developed. Day-Lewis won a total of fourteen critics awards for the role, as well as an SAG award and an Oscar® nomination. His comeback would be much higher on this list if it weren’t for what happened next. He went on to star in ‘The Ballad of Jack and Rose’, which was directed by his wife, Rebecca Miller. The film was generally poorly received and Day-Lewis again faded from view. His next film will be Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘There Will Be Blood’. His performance looks to be magnificent from the trailer. With any luck, it will be his second comeback.

5. Diane Keaton in Something’s Gotta Give

I absolutely adore Diane Keaton. She has comedic skills that are unmatched by any actress working today. She is lovable in every role. Her collaborations with Woody Allen are fantastic. After winning best actress for ‘Annie Hall’, she starred in many of his best films. She also appeared in Warren Beatty’s forgotten (but excellent) ‘Reds’. In the 90s, she began to choose significantly worse projects like ‘Look Who’s Talking Now’ and ‘The First Wives Club’. She then starred in a string of TV movies before being cast in Nancy Meyers’ ‘Something’s Gotta Give.’

The film was a huge hit with audiences, pulling in over $120 million in the US alone. But what most people were buzzing about was Keaton. At the age of 58, she appeared topless before millions of viewers. Luckily, people saw more in the performance. She won a Golden Globe for comedy and received an Oscar® nomination, rare for a comedic performance. Most importantly, she settled into a new niche. Instead of playing the neurotic love interest in films, she now plays the neurotic mother in films. Though her latest films are of dubious quality (‘Because I Said So’ was horrendous), my bet is she will continue to use her new persona for many years to come.

4. John Travolta in Pulp Fiction

John Travolta first appeared in ‘Carrie’, Brian De Palma’s adaptation of the best-selling Stephen King novel of the same name. Though far from good enough to steal the show from the magnificent Sissy Spacek (Who recently had a comeback in ‘In the Bedroom’, unfortunately there are only ten spots on the countdown), the role got him noticed. He then starred in ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and was nominated for a best actor Oscar®. After his role in the mega-hit musical ‘Grease’, Travolta status as a star seemed assured. Travolta had a penchant for choosing the worst project possible though. This led to such films as ‘Staying Alive’ (capitalizing on his SNF role) and the ‘Look Who’s Talking’ series. Then came ‘Pulp Fiction’.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last fifteen years, chances are you’ve heard of ‘Pulp Fiction’. Chances are it’s one of your favorites films. Quentin Tarantino’s masterpiece is currently listed at #5 on IMDB’s top 250 films of all time. Travolta appeared with Samuel L. Jackson (in his breakout role), Bruce Willis, and Uma Thurman. Travolta proved to the world that he could act, netting himself a nomination for Best Actor. Since then, he has been at an equilibrium of trash to good films (for every ‘Battlefield Earth’ there’s a ‘The Thin Red Line’). Hopefully he won’t need another comeback anytime soon (although 2007 has proven incredibly prolific for him one more time).

3. Terrence Malick in The Thin Red Line

Terrence Malick is one of the great artists of film. His first film, 1973’s ‘Badlands’, is an absolute masterpiece of cinema. His follow-up, 1978’s ‘Days of Heaven’, is a marvelously filmed piece of garbage. Though it is one of the most beautiful films ever made, there is almost no plot to speak of. Malick was so disappointed with it that he retired. He returned twenty years later with ‘The Thin Red Line’, an adaptation of the James Jones novel.

The film starred Adrien Brody, John Cusack, Jim Caviezel and George Clooney as soldiers fighting in the pacific during WWII. It was very well received and was given a total of seven academy award nominations, including picture and director. The film also netted a Golden Bear award from the Berlin Film Festival and a slew of critics awards. Malick’s follow-up, 2005’s ‘The New World’, got mixed reviews. Malick’s work with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (who would go on to photograph ‘Children of Men’) created a beautiful film though. It was nominated for best cinematography. Malick is currently working on his next film, ‘Tree of Life’.

2. Marlon Brando in The Godfather

Marlon Brando is widely considered to be the greatest actor of all time. His performances in ‘On the Waterfront’ and ‘A Streetcar named Desire’ are amazing achievements of acting. He was the first actor who actually played the character as it was written. Before him, actors would use their regular persona for every role. Yet there are very few people who know what happened between 'OTW' and ‘The Godfather’.

After appearing in several moderately successful films (‘Guys and Dolls’, ‘Mutiny on the Bounty’), Brando took roles in forgettable films for which he was paid quite a bit. Brando began to gain weight and built a reputation of being a sell-out. However public opinion of him completely reversed almost overnight when ‘The Godfather’ was released.

There is absolutely no way that you haven’t heard of ‘The Godfather’. As such, I’ll save myself the trouble of describing it to you. I should mention that it is listed as the best film of all time by IMDB and the second best of all time by the AFI. Brando’s aging and gained weight completely worked to his advantage for his role. He won best actor, and the respect of every moviegoer on the planet. He went on to star in such films as ‘Last Tango in Paris’ (for which he was nominated for a best actor Oscar®) and ‘Apocalypse Now’.

1. Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children

Jackie Earle Haley broke into the film business with the 1976 hit comedy ‘Bad News Bears’. He went on to star in the Oscar®-winning ‘Breaking Away’. Then, for ten years, he became a journeyman actor for TV shows. He appeared in singular episodes of ‘Loveboat’, ‘MacGyver’, and ‘Murder, She Wrote’. In 1993, he starred what would be his last acting role for 13 years. The film was called ‘Prophet of Evil: The Ervil LeBaron Story’. I doubt you could find it on DVD if you tried.

Last year, Haley appeared in two films. One, ‘All the King’s Men’, was a flop of epic proportions. The second, ‘Little Children’, was a masterpiece. Haley played Ronald J. McGorvey, a convicted sex offender who moves into a suburban neighborhood. The character is lecherous, but Haley makes you care for him. He gives a subtle, complex performance. Haley won a total of seven critics awards, becoming the veritable critics darling. He also received SAG and Oscar® nominations in the supporting actor category. After a thirteen-year hiatus from film and over 25 years since his last good film, Haley came out of left field and gave one of the bravest performances of the year: earning him the number one spot on this countdown.

But what do you think? Do you agree with our countdown? What other Oscar comebacks have amazed you? Discuss it in our forum!
 

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