Russell Crowe: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

1. Pearly Soames - A New York Winters Tale

Akiva Goldsman is one of the most confusing writers in Hollywood. In 1997 he seemingly put his career on ice (sorry) with Batman & Robin, yet less than five years later was accepting an Oscar for A Beautiful Mind. Directing-wise, its a bit more clear-cut. His first film was A New York Winters Tale, a period romance set in an alternate past where spirits and demons define destinies, or something, and its just dreadful.

Having worked with Goldsman on A Beautiful Mind and Cinderella Man (another awesome performance), Russell Crowe honours a favour and stars as the villain. Urgh.

To his credit, Crowe puts on a good Irish accent and maintains it throughout (thats a big deal), but he can never get past the fact his character is a destiny-halting demon posing as a cop in 1916 New York. Its hammy, but even though he tries, its still naff. Turns out he cant make shit sound good after all.

What's your favourite Russell Crowe performance? And what's his worst? Have your say down in the comments.