10 Greatest Movie Villains Of The Last Decade
3. Calvin Candie - Django Unchained
Some of the great villainous performances can actually do damage to the movie at large. Not unlike Heath Ledger’s turn as The Dark Knight’s Joker, Leonardo DiCaprio is so superb as plantation owner Calvin Candie that the film loses significant momentum when he isn’t on screen.
DiCaprio’s part is relatively small, but he packs his screentime with incident. The actor was then on a hot streak after several decent films with regular collaborator Martin Scorsese, but under the auspices of Quentin Tarantino he really cuts loose. He’s as slimy as he’s ever been, relishing the role of pure cartoonish villain.
He can turn on a dime, though, to something far more frightening and genuinely sinister. Candie is a man of immense privilege who has used his power to indulge in cruelty, and DiCaprio channels the inner spoiled child of the character to fearsome effect.
The character and performance are charismatic while retaining the vile core, and Di Caprio makes a fantastic double act with Samuel L Jackson, also enjoying one of his greatest on screen moments. The film never hits the same heights without them.