Colin Farrell: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked

By Stuart W. Bedford /

2. Tigerland (2000)

This is undoubtedly the movie that broke Farrell away from the pack and proved way back then that he does in fact have what it takes to be a leading man. Schumacher is at his best here since 1993€™s Falling Down and it€™s his direction and Klavan and McGruther€™s reality-based screenplay that gives him the stage, but Farrell takes to it with his trademark charisma, and in that moment cemented himself as a Hollywood fixture. In Tigerland, he was able to show off his impressive range relatively early in his career. You€™ve got to remember that Farrell is deeply Irish, yet he€™s comfortable enough with accents that he€™s been cast as characters hailing from all over the globe, from Ireland, to Russia to various states in America. In Tigerland, his deep Texan drawl is so convincing that, as I mentioned earlier, you'd be forgiven for not realising that he was Irish upon first glance. He€™s effortlessly convincing here as Private Roland Bozz, a trainee soldier with a knack for fighting the system. In fact you might say Tigerland was the beginning of him being picked to play the €˜bad boy€™ in many movies since. Either way, his performance here is surely one of his best and without it, we€™d probably be looking at an entirely different Quade in the Total Recall reboot.