10 Awesome Obscure Alan Rickman Roles You Probably Missed
2. The Search For John Gissing
If Alan Rickman plays any role better than another, its that of the dapper, tight-jawed Englishman intent on living the high life at all costs, and he took that role to new heights as eccentric businessman John Gissing. The corporate king is about to be usurped in his six-figure salary job by a cocky young American named Matthew Barnes (Mike Binder), only Gissing throws so many spanners in the works that the sworn enemies end up contemplating that most terrible of things: collaboration. Throw in a beautiful muse, a French sociopath and a sex-obsessed nun and you have all the makings of a cult classic. Rickman himself channels James Bond, Hans Gruber and even a little John Cleese circa Fawlty Towers to make the role one of his most quietly enduring. Despite enjoying only modest takings at the box office, the movie was a huge success on the underground festival circuit, doing particularly well at South By Southwest, Raindance and the Sarasota Film Festival where it won Best Picture. The film landed in 2001, just months before the release of the first Harry Potter movie would forever immortalise Rickman as Severus Snape.
