Peter Dinklage: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. Miles Finch - Elf (2003)

Another brief turn, but an absolute scene-stealer. Dinklage plays self-serious children's author Miles Finch, a man in command of both a formidable ego and a nasty temper. When Will Ferrell's Buddy crashes a meeting between Finch and James Caan's book magnate, he mistakes Finch for a Christmas Elf, and in his naive ignorance refuses to notice his faux pas. Finch responds with a verbal and physical tirade, sinking dialogue like "I get more action in a week than you've had in your entire life" into the heart of a family film. He's abrasive and the line delivery is killer, but what's more, Dinklage reads the comedic tone perfectly. He's severe to a fault, discussing the vulnerability of tomatoes as if they were concentration camp survivors struggling out of a cruel dictatorship. The movie loses minor points for using Dinklage's height as a gag (that's going to be a recurring theme) but his brief turn steals the scene with a cynical arrogance perfectly at odds with Ferrell's childlike disposition.