Actor Appreciation: Christian Bale

Christian Bale is probably my favorite actor of modern cinema. When I say “modern”, I mean the year 2000+.

Notable performances include:

American Psycho (2000)
The Machinist (2004)
Rescue Dawn (2006)
Harsh Times (2005)
The Prestige (2006)
Public Enemies (2009)
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
The New World (2005)
Batman Begins (2005)
The Dark Knight (2008)
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Shaft (2000)
Reign of Fire (2002)
Equilibrium (2002)

A lot of people say that Bale’s one note, playing the same character in every film he's in, but I highly disagree. He adds something to each character he's portrayed and made it his own. He’s the master of accents and, for the most part, each one of his characters in the movies I’ve seen him in was different.

The first Christian Bale movie I saw him in was American Psycho. He knocked me on the floor. Everything about his portrayal was phenomenal. He goes from being playful and laughing, to bat-shit insane, then to calm and cool… in the same scene. His phone call toward the end was just the epitome of great acting.

Next, I saw him in Batman Begins. This masterful performance of Bruce Wayne and the caped crusader made me seek out his old and new movies. He can go from being suave and sophisticated, to a man in a bat costume that beats criminals to a pulp.

Once again in Rescue Dawn, Bale proves he’s got the chops to remain relevant in the acting profession for many years to come. His performance is easily the best thing in the movie and he carries it throughout.

Harsh Times is another film where he’s a completely different character from what he’s previously done. His performance is top notch.

In Public Enemies he was not ‘intense’; his character was calm and collected. He captured Purvis’s southern accent perfectly according to Purvis’s own son. He was the sleeper of that movie, in my opinion. As in, he gave the best performance and wasn’t recognized for it.

In Equilibrium he had to convey no emotion for the first half of the movie and he did it with flying colors. In the second half, he had to let the emotion flow as the death of his wife came back to haunt him.

Bale’s fantastic in movies that aren’t even considered ‘good’ by most people, but I still enjoy them. Reign of Fire, for instance, is tossed aside by most people. However, I think it’s pretty good. Bale’s great in it and this, along with Equilibrium were the beginnings of his action career. In Shaft, he plays a rich, racist, “daddy’s boy”. He’s not in it that long, but he commands the screen whenever he is.

Now most people are disregarding him because of his rant on the set of Terminator Salvation, but I think it just proves how much he takes his job seriously. Yeah, it wasn’t the most professional way to handle the situation, but the lighting guy was a moron.

I hope Bale comes back down and continues to churn out great performances demonstrated in American Psycho, Rescue Dawn, and Harsh Times.

There are many great performances I haven't touched on, so if the only Bale movies you’ve seen are the Batman’s, and want to get a taste of his greatness, check out
American Psycho (2000), The Machinist (2004), Rescue Dawn (2006), Harsh Times (2005), The Prestige (2006), Public Enemies (2009), and 3:10 to Yuma (2007). And if you've seen these, check out the noteable performances above.