Alan Rickman: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
The late, great actor had his misses as well as his hits.
Let there be no mistake right away: there's only one thing that truly sucks about Alan Rickman, and that's the fact that he's no longer with us. When the British acting legend died in January, just over a month shy of his 70th birthday, the mass outpouring of grief that ensued had more than a hint of anger about it. Cancer had robbed us of yet another great. This man had brought so much joy to the world, and he surely had so more left to give.
Movies, it should be emphasised, were only a part of his body of work. Having initially enjoyed a successful career in graphic design, it wasn't until his mid-20s that Rickman opted to pursue the actor's life, studying at RADA and working extensively in theatre. Appropriately for a relative late bloomer, he didn't make his first movie until he was 42 - and that big screen debut would prove to be the role he is most fondly remembered for.
With Rickman's final live-action performance in military drama Eye In the Sky now in cinemas, and his final voice performance in Disney's Alice Through The Looking Glass on its way, what better time to look back over his filmography? And as you would expect of a national treasure, it's mightily impressive. Even in his perhaps less worthy cinematic endeavours, Rickman found a way of bringing his anarchic sensibilities into play, remaining inherently fun to watch even when much of what was going on around him was operating at a lower level.
Still, like any prolific jobbing actor, Rickman didn't necessarily manage to hit the nail square on the head every single time. Sometimes he took roles which were really too far beneath him, in films that didn't work. There were even a few instances in which he was simply miscast. He may have undeniably been one of the greats - but that doesn't mean everything he ever did was good.
With the release of Eye In The Sky in UK cinemas today which features his final live-action performance (he does voice the Blue Caterpillar once more in the forthcoming Alice Through The Looking Glass), let's first take a look at the true jewels in Rickman's celluloid crown, before contemplating the mud on his shoes.