3. Robin Williams One Hour Photo (2002)
Famed across the land for being an absolutely uncontrollable screw-ball, Williams made his name as a pseudo-serious actor before turning himself into a family comedy legend throughout the 80s and 90s. Even when looking back through his more critically acclaimed performances, Williams is generally paired with clear-cut, positively aligned characters, like Sean McGuire from Good Will Hunting for example; a man hiding deep wells of emotion, but a good guy with a warm heart. And it went that way for years. So when I saw sat down to One Hour Photo, I was intrigued, if a little sceptical. Williams plays Sy Parish, a lonely Photo Processing Manager at a chain supermarket who becomes obsessed with a family whose photos he has developed for years. Its such an atypical part for Williams to choose that it almost demands to be watched, if nothing else just to see what this zany family-comedy regular will do with such an ambiguous role. And what he does is as astonishing and surprising as it is dramatically succulent. Delivering a completely and uncharacteristically restrained performance, youll forget within the first five minutes that this is actually Williams youre watching. Hes both skin-crawlingly creepy, yet somehow manages to tug the heart strings in presenting a character whos desperate loneliness is driving him to insanity. Later that year, Williams featured as a serial killer in the Pacino vehicle Insomnia - a performance that maybe matched Sy Parrish for unexpected creepiness but after One Hour Photo, his success in Insomnia was perhaps to be expected.