1. The Sheriff Of Nottingham - Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves
Despite the fact that Rickman's performance as hans Gruber is cherished for his restraint and his swerve of cartoonish quirks, his Sheriff Of Nottingham is its gloriously successful antithesis. In Rickman's hands, Nottingham is a bubbling font of comical anger, quick to explosive outbursts, lascivious and a sharp-tongues wordsmith who is a picture of conflict between his public attempts to be seen as a regal leader and his world-shattering rage and conviction to kill those who defy him. He's basically the Queen Of Hearts with less of a merciful undercurrent. The performance is a joy: Rickman rolls words around his tongue like they're acid, spitting them out and dragging them across scenes like he's never had so much fun, and he steals what is otherwise only a okay film. And while his outbursts are delightfully comical and seem to paint the picture of a bumbling oaf of a leader, he segues stunningly into moments of precise violence and malignancy that you have no doubt of his capacity for evil. Which is your favourite Alan Rickman performance? Share your picks below in the comments thread.
