Michael Caine: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked
3. Jack Carter - Get Carter (1971)
Before Sir Michael Caine became the go-to guy for Christopher Nolan when he needed someone to play wise, elderly characters, the actor played extremely controversial characters like Jack Carter. The film follows Caine's titular character - a London gangster - as he returns to his home of Newcastle to investigate the suspected murder of his brother Frank. The film is as famous for its violence and intricate plot (for a British crime drama) than it is for Caine's brilliant performance. Jack Carter is the quintessential anti-hero. Crime is all Jack knows, and he's not afraid to get his hands dirty to find the truth of what happened to his sibling. A deep sense of irony and morality runs deep throughout the film's narrative, and Caine plays Carter so well that you'll find it hard to hate him, even after witnessing him murder multiple individuals. His one-man vendetta against both the London and Newcastle gangs reveals a grim conspiracy about the death of his brother, and Carter succumbs to the exact same fate that his dear departed brother does. Gritty, intriguing and so very British, Get Carter remains another of Caine's best films due almost entirely to the actor's performance of a man with nothing to lose rebelling against the very world that has earned him a living. Caine's stellar performance makes you understand that while Carter's actions are abhorrent in every sense of the word, they're understandable in his quest to uncover the truth.
Joe is a freelance games journalist who, while not spending every waking minute selling himself to websites around the world, spends his free time writing. Most of it makes no sense, but when it does, he treats each article as if it were his Magnum Opus - with varying results.
