4. Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln
And here's Alan Arkin's cranky-old-man spiritual twin-brother (I keep waiting for the announcement of a remake of Grumpy Old Men co-starring Alan Arkin and Tommy Lee Jones). In all seriousness though, these performances have a lot in common. Both actors approached these roles with the attitude that they were cast because of who they were, not who they can become, and that's probably true. Playing a variation on yourself, or on the character you've come to personify on film, isn't necessarily a negative thing either. Too many critics and fans alike tend to dismiss performances simply because, "it's what they always do." I will be the first to argue against this line of reasoning. Some of my all-time favorite actors, such as Cary Grant, basically made a career out of playing variations on the same character. The difference between when this line of criticism is legitimate and when it is not comes down to if the particular character in question ultimately benefits or detracts from the film itself. For instance, in the case of Cary Grant, he was a genius at tailoring his character just enough to perfectly fit the tone of the film. Tommy Lee Jones on the other hand just appears to be lucky when his performance actually fits the movie and when it doesn't. In the specific case of Lincoln, in his turn as the Radical Republican Senator Thaddeus Stevens, I think his "usual thing" mostly works, although the fact that Jones couldn't even bother one iota to work on his clearly Texan accent while playing a Pennsylvanian senator can only be chalked up to laziness. With his patented sarcastic one-liners in hand, it's unsurprising all the acclaim this performance received, and it fits the character well enough, but it's hardly a stretch for the actor. Yet again, I would have preferred the Academy honor some younger actor honing in on his skills than reward an old dog for doing old tricks.