20 Best & Worst Movies From 2019 Oscar Nominees
5. Viggo Mortensen
Best: The Lord Of The Rings (2001-03)
If the Oscars can count all three of Peter Jackson's Middle Earth trilogy as a single entity, then so can we, so Viggo Mortensen's performance as Aragorn, which is the best of the entire series, counts for all three appearances.
The films are as much his story as they are Frodo's and Mortensen's arc finding his position as the one true king is entirely captivating because of the likeability he brings to the role. He is regal, dependable and deeply compelling and it's impossible to think of anyone else in the role.
Worst: On The Road (2012)
Sadly, this adaptation of Jack Kerouac's seminal novel proved more than anything that it was always unadaptable. Mortensen isn't really terrible in it, but he's just not in it enough and when he is he brings very little to the film to arrest its insufferable sense of self-congratulation.
Nobody saw it and there's lots of reasons why.