James Gandolfini: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. Lt. Gen. George Miller - In The Loop (2009)

Gandolfini was best known for his dramatic works, but he was one of the few "proper" actors who managed to parlay his talents into comedic parts as well. Most notably with his turn in In The Loop, the big screen adaptation of Armando Iannucci's singularly sharp political satire The Thick Of It, with current Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi leading the pack as foul-mouthed adviser Malcolm Tucker. The film expanded the purview of the show across the Atlantic, which is where Gandolfini's pacifistic Lieutenant General Miller comes in. A loose commentary on the the Invasion of Iraq, Miller comes in as a military adviser who's against intervention in the Middle East. Some of the American cast struggles to match up to the towering talents from Britain, but Gandolfini acquits himself rather well: for the majority of the running time he's a gentle giant, but at the film's high point he manages to stand up to the formidable Tucker in a spectacularly violent and scatological tirade that needs to be seen to be believed.