8. Jacki Weaver - 'Janine Cody' in Animal Kingdom (2010)
Animal Kingdom is about as Aussie as a film gets. Set in Melbounre suburbia, the story centers around a criminal family and their struggle for survival against both the federal police and themselves. Not your standard Hollywood blockbuster by any stretch of the imagination, yet it managed to break out of the Australian market and find an international audience. This was mainly due to the role of the family matriarch, Janine Cody (lovingly refereed to as 'Smurf' by her boys) played by Jacki Weaver. Weaver delivers an exceptional performance as the over-nurturing mother and grandma that will go to any length to protect her boys. The only woman in a house of tough men, Janine really is the glue that holds the dysfunctional Cody family together. While she originally appears to be your average kind, quiet spoken Grandmother figure, as the film progresses we start to see a ruthless, cold-blooded woman lies beneath her gentle exterior. A woman capable of orchestrating monstrous acts of violence without so much as a hint of remorse. Weaver moves so marvelously between the two personalities that you begin to wonder how you misplaced her demonic smile and sarcastic way of speaking as sincere emotions earlier in the film. It takes an immense talent to steal the focus from great Australian actors like Guy Pearce, Joel Edgerton and Ben Mendelsohn (who were all at the top of their game in AK). To take something as everyday as a kiss between a mother and her son and transform it into a moment that is unsettling and almost intrusive to watch is phenomenal. Weavers subtle touches are the films finest moments.