Ralph Fiennes: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

4. Gareth Mallory - Skyfall (2012)

Look, I loved Skyfall just as much as the next guy. It was the kind of James Bond movie we've been waiting for ever since Pierce Brosnan hung up his cufflink detonators and drank his last shaken martini, but just focus on Ralph Fiennes' performance and you may see why it's listed here. Forget the sensationally entertaining Javier Bardem, the tenacious Judi Dench, the vulnerable Daniel Craig and the gorgeous cinematography for a moment. Fiennes plays Gareth Mallory and you can chalk it up to the predictability of the role itself but placed next to his whole filmography this is a very weak performance by his lofty standards. He portrays his character as the stiff bureaucrat that he is, but there's no Fiennesian conviction in a single word he says. In all of his scenes with Dench he's reciting his lines not delivering them, and you can almost hear the buzz of the teleprompter. In moments of action during the court room shootout, inanimate objects like fire-extinguishers have more of a screen presence than he does. His poor performance goes unnoticed because the film is aces in every other department and Fiennes really only has to show up, but if you want to see a secretly phoned in performance, watch Skyfall. Here's hoping Bond 24 will give him more of an opportunity to be his usual brilliant self.