Sean Connery's 10 Greatest Movie Performances

As he entered his 70s, Connery all but retired from acting, and Finding Forrester was an ideal choice for a final great role. In Gus Van Sant’s underrated drama he plays a reclusive legendary author (inspired by J. D. Salinger) who befriends a Bronx teenager with literary talent.

It’s the culmination of Connery’s evolution as an actor, from a younger performer playing hyper masculine roles as taciturn men of action to an older, wiser individual who can believably portray this great but troubled writer.

He unwraps the character of Forrester over the course of the film, peeling back the layers of this strange, reclusive old man to reveal a lifetime of tragedy and regret, great highs as well as the bitter sorrow and disappointment of possibilities unmet.

It’s a warm and generous performance, and his chemistry with young Rob Brown (as Forrester’s teenage protege Jamal) is what makes the film. Finding Forrester isn’t quite his final film, but it was a great way to fade out into a comfortable retirement.