Donald Sutherland: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

1. John Baxter - Don't Look Now (1973)

Widely considered today by many to still be Sutherland's greatest performance, Don't Look Now is quite possibly one of the greatest British films ever made, let alone of the '70s. Following the accidental death of their daughter, John and Laura Baxter travel to Venice when the former is commissioned to start work on restoring a church. Upon meeting two elderly sisters in their new home, Laura is told by the strange siblings that their deceased daughter is not only trying to communicate with them, but that they can communicate with her directly. What follows is a film that appears, on the surface, to be a run-of-the-mill thriller, but is actually an emotional story about coping with loss, fatality, and the premature death of a child. All of these concepts are perfectly encapsulated in Sutherland and Julie Christie's performances, and their characters are so authentic that some even claim that the iconic sex scene between the two characters in the film were actually real and not simulated. Aside from that though, it's Sutherland's portrayal of the initially sceptical John that steal the show. As stranger and stranger events start to unfold around him and his wife, he starts to believe what the two sisters are telling him, and the emotional journey that he subsequently finds himself on is one that Sutherland nailed perfectly. Unfortunately though, there's always two sides to a coin...