Liam Neeson: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Jean Valjean - Les Miserables (1998)

While Hugh Jackman was good as Valjean, Neeson will always be the greatest actor to play the role. The movie is an emotional roller coaster and made more so by Neeson's incredible portrayal of the troubled man. Yet again he makes himself comfortable as an unlikely hero, almost the French, 19th century Batman. The petty thief who doesn't hate, who believes he doesn't have the right to kill his greatest adversary, who fights tooth and nail for his loved ones and for his freedom, he plays to perfection, once again, the every man. The look on Neeson's face at the end of the film is spot on and so priceless it gives me chills every time. Considering the length of the story and how dense the material is (depending on the edition, some 1,500 pages), Neeson shows such a range of incredible emotion throughout that he becomes distinctly different characters at each distinct moment in the story. Beginning as a petty thief and ending as a champion, a free and forgiven man, Neeson brings life to Valjean in a unique way because he's so incredibly likeable. There isn't a moment wasted when he's on screen and his performance makes what can be, at times, a long drawn out character in a long, drawn out story, fresh and exciting. That is no easy feat.