4. Primal Fear (1996)
Nortons Character: Aaron
Why It Was Awesome: By all accounts Primal Fear is a fairly solid court movie. It follows Richard Gere as a hotshot attorney who agrees to defend a teenager (Norton), who stands accused of murdering a priest. Thats all well and good, but its not the plot itself that makes Primal Fear a stand-out movie. In fact its Nortons own debut performance that makes this legal thriller absolutely unmissable. So good was Edward Nortons first ever mainstream Hollywood performance, that he was nominated for best supporting actor at the academy awards that year. In Aaron, he plays an increasingly complex character and its there from where the majority of the films more electrically charged moments emanate. A stunning turn for a then no-namer, which I guarantee the critics didnt see coming.