1. LA Confidential - "Why did you become a cop?"
The performance of Spacey's career for me, in a film absolutely stuffed with great performances. He plays celebrity cop Jack Vincennes, an LA cop who is searching for redemption while forced to work with the brutal and principled Bud White and ambitious newbie Ed Exley to solve a multiple homicide. Spacey is the standout in one of the best films of the 90's. His Vincennes begins the film as arrogant and brash, before slowly revealing more layers to his character as the superficiality of his actions and pursuits. By the time his story has drawn to a close, he has attempted to find meaning behind the gloss he once revelled in, which is beautifully portrayed in a number of key scenes by Spacey. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdcuaYdTTs The best of these is when Guy Pearce's Exley asks him for his help in solving the case, choosing to reveal to the contemptuous and suspicious Vincennes as to why he became a cop in the first place. Spacey surveys Pearce's monologue with a cold, uninterested stare, deliciously drawing out the word "lieutenant" with an edgy tone of mockery. As Exley finishes and asks Vincennes why he became a cop, Spacey's merest hint of a smirk slowly dissolves on his lips as he develops an aura of bewilderment and mumbles, "I can't remember". Quite simply the best portrayal of self-loathing that I've ever seen.