This Oscar-winning actor has no shortage of epic roles to choose from. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for Joaquin Phoenix’s finest performances in feature films.
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00:00 "When you bring me out, can you introduce me as Joker?"
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for
00:07 Joaquin Phoenix's finest performances in feature films.
00:11 "Ma'am, you were in the exclusion line."
00:13 "Yes."
00:14 "Did they explain to you what that meant?"
00:15 "Yes, yes."
00:16 Number 20. Meryl Hess - Signs
00:20 This M. Night Shyamalan thriller sold us with its eerie premise,
00:24 but Signs caught audiences off guard with its moments of humor.
00:28 "This crop stuff is about a bunch of nerds who never had a girlfriend in their lives.
00:32 They're like 30 and they work up little codes together and they analyze Greek mythology and
00:36 make up secret societies where other guys who never had girlfriends before can join in.
00:40 They do stupid crap like this to feel special. It's a scam."
00:44 Most of those laughs come from Phoenix's Meryl,
00:47 who moves in with his older brother following a family tragedy.
00:50 Although he helps look after his niece and nephew,
00:53 Meryl possesses a childlike curiosity that wants to believe.
00:57 While Phoenix brings levity to the profound subject matter,
01:00 the character has more inner demons than expected.
01:03 Having struck out in minor league, Meryl is aimlessly searching for direction.
01:07 "Meryl here has more strikeouts than any two players."
01:10 "You really got the strikeout record?"
01:13 "Felt wrong not to swing."
01:23 He doesn't know where he's going, but Meryl's search for a purpose ultimately
01:27 leads him back to his baseball bat.
01:29 Phoenix hits this supporting performance out of the cornfield.
01:33 Number 19.
01:35 Charlie Sisters - The Sisters Brothers
01:37 "What do you want?"
01:38 "It's about slapping each other in public.
01:41 After I slap you, you slap me back, or even.
01:44 So go ahead, hit me. Hit me."
01:46 Based on the 2011 Patrick DeWitt novel of the same name,
01:49 The Sisters Brothers is a dramedy about a pair of assassins in the Old West.
01:53 Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly bring the titular brothers to life
01:57 as Charlie Sisters and Eli Sisters, respectively.
02:00 "Charlie. Charlie."
02:03 "Peek-a-boo!"
02:03 [Laughs]
02:06 "Damn fool. I thought you were gonna kiss me!"
02:10 Now, Phoenix was certainly in good company playing opposite Reilly,
02:13 and the addition of Jake Gyllenhaal and Riz Ahmed only makes things easier.
02:17 But his is nonetheless arguably the standout performance of the bunch.
02:22 "What are we gonna do about them?"
02:23 "We leave them here. They'll end up killing each other or getting eaten alive."
02:29 While Eli has doubts about their bloody lifestyle and dreams of something simpler,
02:33 Charlie is drunk, angry, violent, unpredictable,
02:37 and wholly committed to their career as killers.
02:40 It's one of Phoenix's lesser-known recent films,
02:43 but a must-watch for any committed fan.
02:45 "A goddamn genius.
02:49 Huh, that even pop in your head just out of the blue."
02:52 Number 18. Ray Elwood – Buffalo Soldiers
02:55 "Hey, you want a beer? I'll get you a beer, huh?"
02:57 This 2001 satire, set around the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989,
03:04 follows Joaquin Phoenix as Specialist Ray Elwood, a soldier in the U.S. Army.
03:09 In the eyes of his commanding officer, Colonel Berman,
03:12 he is the definition of a good soldier. But in reality, Elwood is anything but.
03:17 "Where'd you get all this stuff?" "Santa Claus."
03:20 "Ha ha, Santa Claus. That's funny. So he came down the chimney and put it under the tree, huh?"
03:26 "Yep."
03:27 He's actually heavily involved in the trafficking of heroin in West Berlin's Black Market,
03:32 and when a new superior rolls in,
03:34 his carefully balanced disaster of a life is totally upended.
03:38 "Is there something going on I don't know about?"
03:40 "What do you mean?"
03:41 "Are you into some kind of shit on the side?"
03:45 Elwood is one of those characters who is at once despicable,
03:49 but also utterly magnetic thanks to his devilish charisma.
03:52 In lesser hands, this incorrigible character could have felt two-dimensional,
03:56 but Phoenix's performance sells it.
03:59 "Hey, this place gives me the creeps." "Yeah, it's supposed to."
04:03 Number 17. Jack Morrison, Ladder 49.
04:07 "Firefighter Jack Morris."
04:09 Joaquin Phoenix is known for playing eccentric, troubled, and strange characters.
04:13 He inhabits these roles in ways that few actors can pull off, but in a certain sense,
04:19 it's almost more impressive to see him similarly excelling in a more relatable role.
04:23 In Ladder 49, he plays Jack Morrison, a dedicated firefighter.
04:28 "I can't do this." "I'm right here, you can do it, Phil."
04:32 "I can't do this." "Yes you can, I'm gonna help you.
04:35 I got guys on the ground. Trust me, Phil. Trust me."
04:38 Over the course of the film, we get an overview of his adult life,
04:41 both professional and personal, and bear witness to the risks inherent to his career choice.
04:47 "You know, Mike asked me tonight if I still love the job the way I did.
04:51 Now for the first time in my life, I didn't know what to say."
04:59 Morrison's life has been one of heartbreak, trauma, and sacrifice, and yet he remains
05:05 committed to his calling, always willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice. The film gets
05:10 heavy-handed at times, but Phoenix's deeply human performance grounds it in genuine sentiment
05:15 rather than emotional manipulation. "Promise to take care of the kids.
05:19 Tell them that I'm always with them."
05:25 Number 16. Willie Gutierrez - The Yards
05:29 "Why don't you come down with me tomorrow and see for yourself? If you like it,
05:33 we'll talk to Frank about it." Directed and co-written by James Gray,
05:37 The Yards is a 2000 crime film about the competing contractors hired to repair railway cars in NYC,
05:43 and the lengths to which they'll go to come out on top.
05:46 "Why don't you come work for us instead of those governor's?
05:49 Don't waste my time." As Willie Gutierrez, Joaquin plays a young man who fully leans
05:56 into and embraces the corrupt lifestyle that comes with his line of work.
06:00 "We had a little, uh, little problem. We're gonna go back again."
06:06 He works hard, plays hard, and hustles even harder.
06:10 "I know so. I know these kind of things. Trust me, I'm blessed with a gift."
06:13 The character seems to have an unshakable confidence in himself despite the fact that
06:17 at any moment, his world could come crashing down. In the role, Phoenix switches faces on a dime.
06:24 Fun-loving and charming one moment, a terrifying force of violence and intimidation the next,
06:30 but always vibrating with energy. It's truly remarkable.
06:34 [Music]
06:39 Number 15. John Callahan. Don't worry, he won't get far on foot.
06:43 "Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage,
06:47 Portland celebrity cartoonist, John Callahan!"
06:51 In this 2018 film released by Amazon Studios and directed by Gus Van Zandt,
06:56 Phoenix plays real-life artist, cartoonist, and musician John Callahan.
07:00 After a car accident leaves John with quadriplegia, he tries to come to terms with his own alcohol use
07:05 with the support of AA, channeling his frustrations into his dark and macabre cartoons.
07:10 "Don't worry, boys. He won't get far on foot."
07:14 The film didn't get a whole lot of attention, which is a shame because it did well with critics.
07:18 And the cast, including Jonah Hill, Rooney Mara, and Jack Black, is fantastic.
07:24 "Good to know you, John Callahan, who is an alcoholic. You're in the right place, I think."
07:30 "I'm Donnie and I'm an alcoholic."
07:33 Phoenix is in full swing here, expressing the unwieldy frustrations of his character
07:38 in masterfully chaotic and humorous fashion. And Hill is right there with him.
07:43 The end result is a biopic that is utterly unique.
07:47 "Really, these are good. It's really good."
07:50 Number 14. Abbé de Colmier. Quills.
07:54 "Bravo, Dauphin. It's far better to paint fires than to set them, isn't it?"
07:59 "Yes."
07:59 "Wonderful."
08:03 Between Geoffrey Rush, Michael Caine, Kate Winslet, and of course, Joaquin Phoenix,
08:08 there's a whole lot of great acting going on in this underrated film.
08:11 A period drama directed by Philip Kaufman,
08:13 it's a reimagining of the end of the life of the Marquis de Sade.
08:17 "Take your pen in hand, Marquis. Purge these wicked thoughts of yours on paper."
08:23 Phoenix plays Abbé de Colmier, a role that demands he play it subtle and nuanced in a
08:28 film jam-packed with big characters played by even bigger names.
08:31 And you know what? One could argue that Phoenix's performance is the one that has aged the best.
08:36 "But isn't that the duty of art? To elevate us above the beast?"
08:40 Quiet, contemplative, but oh-so-deliberate, Phoenix's performance is a lesson in less is more.
08:46 "I've stared into the face of evil, and I've lived to tell the tale.
08:53 And now I beg you, for your sake, let me write you down."
08:58 Number 13. Bobby Green, We Own the Night.
09:01 "All right, all right, deal again, deal again, I'm feeling hot!"
09:04 In this crime drama, Phoenix plays Bobby Green, a manager of a nightclub in 1988 Brooklyn.
09:10 Though he comes from a family of cops, Green has chosen a life of pleasure.
09:14 "Hey, we've got the best club in Brooklyn, man. Just wait till I take over Manhattan, baby."
09:20 But despite his attempts to distance himself from his family,
09:23 the fact that Russian mobsters frequent his club puts him in the middle of a messy conflict.
09:27 "Congratulations, Captain Joe, good job!"
09:30 Like so many of his best roles, Phoenix plays Bobby as a deeply conflicted individual,
09:35 a man who attempts to remain aloof and detached,
09:38 only to dive headfirst into a world of extreme choices and actions.
09:42 The film was less well-received than Phoenix's previous collaboration with director James Gray,
09:47 but in a film made up of archetypes, Phoenix stands apart by playing Green complex and nuanced.
09:53 "You want me to inform? Are you kidding me?"
09:58 Number 12. Leonard Craditore, Two Lovers.
10:01 Leonard finds himself torn between two women in this romantic drama.
10:05 Although Vanessa Shaw's Sandra is the healthier choice in every sense,
10:09 Leonard can't help but be drawn to Gwyneth Paltrow's Michelle,
10:12 who's also torn between two lovers.
10:14 "So, Leonard, it was great to hang out with you."
10:16 "Oh yeah, you too."
10:18 "And I guess I'll see you around the building."
10:21 "How about I see you first?"
10:22 "Yeah, see you. Hey, you need a place to hide, you know where to come."
10:26 "Oh yeah, I'll keep that in mind."
10:28 Phoenix is at the center of this love square,
10:30 seeing a part of himself in the deeply flawed Michelle.
10:34 Sandra represents true happiness, which perhaps scares our protagonist more than anything else.
10:39 This builds to a resolution that some might read as a happy ending,
10:42 but it just as easily could be read as a tragedy.
10:45 "Are you okay?"
10:48 "No, what's going on? Where were you?"
10:50 "I got you something."
10:54 "Yeah?"
10:56 Giving a reserved performance,
10:59 Phoenix couldn't be more convincing as a man drowning in his own self-destructive nature.
11:04 Whoever he chooses, joy will likely never come naturally to Leonard.
11:08 Number 11. Jimmy Emmett - To Die For
11:12 With films like Parenthood, Phoenix established himself as one of his
11:15 generation's most promising child stars.
11:18 "Maybe I could stay with Dad for a while."
11:19 "What?"
11:23 "Well, I've been here a long time. Maybe I should live with him for a while."
11:30 "You wanna live with your father?"
11:33 He'd take a step back from the spotlight after playing Gary Buckman,
11:37 resurfacing six years later as Jimmy Emmett.
11:40 No longer a kid, Phoenix was ready for darker, more adult roles.
11:44 This black comedy delivered precisely that.
11:47 Working alongside fellow rising star Casey Affleck,
11:50 Phoenix stands out as an easily influenced young man who makes the leap from delinquent to murderer.
11:56 Nicole Kidman plays the seductive woman that Jimmy is willing to die for.
11:59 "A guy that does that to someone like you doesn't deserve to live.
12:04 That's the truth, he doesn't deserve to live."
12:07 "No, I suppose you're right. He doesn't."
12:14 While Jimmy could have just been a pawn in the grand scheme of things,
12:18 Phoenix masters a tricky balancing act of being creepy,
12:21 vulnerable, and hopelessly devoted, painting an authentic portrait of a manipulated soul.
12:26 Number 10. Napoleon Bonaparte - Napoleon
12:30 Portraying a historical figure as iconic as Napoleon is a tall order to fill.
12:36 And no, that's not a short pun because Napoleon was actually average-sized.
12:40 Phoenix is more than up to the task of playing the French military leader turned infamous ruler.
12:44 "I found the crown of France in the gutter and placed it atop my own head."
12:51 Capturing multiple sides of Napoleon, Phoenix seamlessly transitions between
12:55 being understated and commanding without ever missing a beat.
12:58 Phoenix unearths moments of dry wit, finding the humor in a conqueror who was simply never satisfied,
13:04 no matter how much power he amassed.
13:06 As intimidating as Phoenix can be in the role,
13:09 he demonstrates how Napoleon was also kind of pathetic.
13:12 Some will tell you that Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon,
13:15 but it was just as much his inflated ego, which Phoenix fully embodies.
13:20 "I'm destined for greatness. But those in power will only see me as their sword."
13:25 Number 9. Bo Wasserman - Bo is Afraid
13:29 In almost any movie, Phoenix usually plays the most unhinged character.
13:34 Although we wouldn't call Bo "normal,"
13:36 he is the least terrifying presence in this surreal expedition to the edge of all reason.
13:41 "I don't know whose phone this is, I just called the police, they're already on their way."
13:44 "Okay. Line?
13:51 Hello?"
13:55 On a journey to a funeral, Bo winds up at the mercy of a disturbed domestic family,
14:00 a traveling theater of lost souls, and a mother who will never untether him.
14:04 Battling figurative and literal demons, Phoenix earns our empathy as a man who cannot catch a break.
14:10 We'd say that Bo is the most sane person on screen,
14:13 although when you're a magnet for such madness, one must question their own sanity.
14:18 "Ahh!"
14:18 As far as Bo travels, Phoenix supplies the film with a claustrophobic sentiment
14:35 that will inevitably crush our hapless hero.
14:37 Number 8. Larry "Doc" Sportello - Inherent Vice
14:41 We all have preconceived notions of what a private detective should look and act like.
14:46 The same can be said about hippies. You wouldn't expect these archetypes to go together,
14:51 yet Phoenix effortlessly blends them with this one-of-a-kind performance.
14:54 Doc is smarter and more attentive than his shaggy sideburns suggest.
15:10 At the same time, Doc is every bit as dazed and confused as he appears,
15:14 often stumbling into altercations with bizarre supporting characters as a mystery unfolds.
15:19 Although the grooviness of the 60s is still alive in Doc,
15:23 he also reflects the paranoia and grit that would become more predominant during the 70s.
15:27 "This wouldn't be just more of your paranoid hippie bullshit, would it?"
15:31 "Look, have the lab check for traces of copper.
15:34 Not the kind that goes stumbling all over the crime scene, uh, contaminating evidence.
15:38 More like copper than metal. You see, gold teeth are never made with pure gold,
15:42 and it's like to allocate with copper."
15:44 Through Doc's stoned eyes, we're given a unique perspective
15:47 of a changing landscape where free love is harder to come by.
15:50 Once upon a time, Phoenix was a child star sharing the screen with legends like Diane Weist.
15:59 In "Come On, Come On," Phoenix is now the Hollywood vet with a young screen partner.
16:03 Woody Norman more than holds his own as Jesse, a nine-year-old who's placed in
16:07 his uncle Johnny's care while his parents go through a difficult period.
16:10 "Johnny!"
16:11 "You need something?"
16:12 "My mom tells me stories. They can be fiction or non-fiction."
16:19 "Boy, I don't know any stories."
16:24 Johnny isn't prepared to look after a kid, but he tries to make the best of the situation.
16:29 It turns out to be a learning experience for both, as Johnny unearths his parental side
16:34 while Jesse grapples with who he'll grow up to be.
16:37 "Everybody said a lot of things and there was a lot of concern and sometimes we don't
16:41 completely understand why we're doing the things that we're doing, right?
16:45 But I never did anything because I wanted to hurt your mom or hurt your dad or hurt you."
16:50 Johnny might be Phoenix's most relatable character, showing how even when you're
16:54 middle-aged, you'll still probably be a work in progress.
16:58 Number 6.
17:00 "Joe, You Were Never Really Here."
17:02 "I need my space."
17:03 "Your what?"
17:05 "My space."
17:06 "All right, go get your space downstairs."
17:08 We've seen Phoenix don a wide variety of masks throughout his career,
17:12 but never has he played such a visceral and brutal force of violence
17:15 than in this psychological action thriller.
17:17 In the movie, Phoenix plays Joe, a deeply troubled man who uses his military and FBI experience,
17:23 coupled with the fuel of his own history of abuse, to rescue a girl who's been kidnapped.
17:28 "Security, how many are there? Huh? So one, more than one? Two, three, come on, talk to me."
17:34 Phoenix doesn't say a whole lot in the film, but with his body language,
17:37 facial expressions, and limited dialogue, he speaks volumes about this character's inner turmoil.
17:42 It's strange to call an exercise in violence and despair such as this beautiful,
17:51 but what Phoenix does with the role is a masterclass in acting,
17:54 further elevated by Lin Ramsey's direction.
18:04 Number 5. Commodus, Gladiator.
18:07 With his first Oscar-nominated performance,
18:10 Phoenix revealed just how vindictively evil he can be as Commodus.
18:13 Murdering his way to his father's throne,
18:16 Phoenix plays Commodus with the sniveling punch ability of an entitled rich boy.
18:20 "Who would dare to lecture me?"
18:22 "Commodus, the Senate has its uses."
18:26 "What uses? All they do is talk. It should be just you and me, and Rome."
18:34 "Don't even think-"
18:35 It's a choice that could have backfired,
18:37 but Phoenix prevails as a villain who manages to be threatening and pitiful at the same time.
18:42 One minute, Commodus can be the most confident man in the arena.
18:46 The second that somebody like Maximus one-ups him though,
18:49 Commodus is exposed as the coward he is.
18:51 Phoenix brings a Shakespearean gravitas to the role,
19:02 matching the romanticized tone of this historical epic.
19:05 Although the history part might not always be accurate,
19:08 Phoenix and the rest of the cast all hit their targets.
19:11 Number 4. Johnny Cash, Walk the Line.
19:15 In another Oscar-nominated turn,
19:18 Phoenix delivers one of the definitive music biopic performances as the Man in Black.
19:22 On a dramatic level, Phoenix was well-suited to portray the tormented Cash.
19:26 His musical chops were uncharted territory however.
19:30 "What happened?"
19:32 "He didn't like our gospel.
19:33 So I played him some songs that I wrote.
19:37 And we made a record.
19:40 I mean a real, real record."
19:43 Rather than rely on archival recordings, Phoenix learned to sing for the role,
19:49 adopting a distinct bass-baritone voice that's haunting and soothing all at once.
19:54 Going a step further, Phoenix brushed up on his guitar-playing skills as well.
19:58 While this added to the transformation,
20:00 it's the heart and soul that Phoenix had to nail above all else.
20:03 [Music]
20:19 Phoenix succeeds in a performance that goes in harmony with Reese Witherspoon's
20:23 equally committed portrayal of June Carter.
20:25 Both walk the line between love and heartbreak in this emotional powerhouse.
20:30 Number 3. Theodore Twombly - Her
20:33 Phoenix excels at playing lonely losers,
20:36 and we mean that as the highest compliment possible.
20:39 If anything, we see a lot of ourselves in Theodore,
20:42 who only becomes more introverted with a divorce looming.
20:46 Theodore turns to technology for comfort,
20:48 falling in love with an operating system named Samantha.
20:51 "Oh, what do I call you? Do you have a name?"
20:53 "Um, yes. Samantha."
20:56 "Really? Where'd you get that name from?"
20:59 "I gave it to myself, actually."
21:01 "How come?"
21:03 "Because I like the sound of it."
21:06 Samantha Morton was originally cast as the virtual assistant,
21:09 acting on set with Phoenix,
21:10 although the two avoided making physical contact.
21:13 In post-production, director Spike Jonze chose to replace
21:16 Morton's recordings with Scarlett Johansson.
21:19 Despite this disconnection,
21:20 we completely believe the bond between Theodore and Samantha,
21:24 as if they're two people speaking face to face.
21:26 "I don't know, Samantha. I just... I don't think it's a good idea."
21:30 "You know, I think somebody's feelings are bound to get hurt."
21:33 "It'll be fun. We'll have fun together."
21:36 "I'm sorry. It makes me uncomfortable."
21:40 "I think it would be good for us. I want this."
21:43 The romance may reach an inevitable conclusion,
21:46 but Theodore emerges ready to love again and live like never before.
21:50 Number 2. Arthur Fleck - Joker
21:55 Various actors have been tasked with bringing this iconic character to life
21:58 on the big screen over the years,
21:59 and each of them has done something a little different, for better or worse.
22:03 "You don't listen, do you? I don't think you ever really hear me.
22:10 You just ask the same questions every week.
22:14 'How's your job? Are you having any negative thoughts?'"
22:18 We're not here to pit Phoenix's performance against that of Ledger or Nicholson.
22:22 That's for another time and a much larger discussion.
22:24 What we will say, however, is that with Joker,
22:28 Phoenix has turned in the performance of a lifetime.
22:30 He plays Arthur Fleck as a man utterly unhinged,
22:34 and yet for all his criminal insanity, he somehow remains sympathetic, if not relatable.
22:51 He's a tragic character, one who is at once hard to watch but impossible to turn away from
22:56 due to the sheer magnetism of Phoenix's acting.
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23:14 Number 1. Freddie Quill - The Master
23:19 Phoenix was in an uncertain place when The Master came out.
23:22 He'd only made one other movie in the past four years,
23:25 playing a mystifying version of himself in I'm Still Here.
23:28 "I'm nervous but I'm glad to share it with you.
23:30 And this is our night, it's not my night, this is our night. JP is all of us. Peace!"
23:36 To the bewildered public, Phoenix appeared to be a lost soul, not unlike Freddie Quill.
23:43 Following World War II, Freddie struggles to re-enter society.
23:47 Searching for meaning, Freddie goes from the Navy to dedicating himself to a cult
23:51 led by the charismatic Lancaster Dodd.
23:53 The film revolves around Freddie's journey of self-discovery.
23:56 "Is your life a struggle?"
23:57 "No."
23:59 "Do you like to be told what to do?"
24:00 "No."
24:02 "Is your behavior erratic?"
24:03 "No."
24:09 On Freddie's road to independence though, Dodd just might destroy him first.
24:14 The ending may leave Freddie on an ambiguous note,
24:17 but Phoenix unequivocally found his way back in a performance that solidified him
24:21 as one of the all-time greats.
24:23 What's your favorite Joaquin Phoenix performance? Let us know in the comments.
24:28 "Wait, what? Tell me."
24:29 "Stupid."
24:31 "I wanna know. Tell me."
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24:42 [Music]