Rosamund Pike: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2. Miriam - Barney's Version

In this tremendously underrated, award-worthy comic drama, Pike plays Miriam, the beautiful object of Barney's (Paul Giamatti) affections who, after divorcing his second wife, he eventually marries and ends up having children with. With an impeccable American accent, Pike is perfectly cast as a woman so fatally out of Barney's league, yet one who can't help but be won over by his alluring charm. The nature of her relationship with Barney requires Pike to run the gamut of emotions, delivering a multi-faceted, affecting performance that only helps enhance the fantastic lead work done by Giamatti. In a movie with so many volcanic performances (namely Giamatti and the brilliant Dustin Hofmfman as Barney's dad), it would've been easy for a lesser actress to fade into the periphery (even with the size of her role), yet in many ways, Pike is able to have the last word, and manages to mostly convince us that a woman as stunningly beautiful as her really could fall for a schlub like Barney.