Alan Rickman's 10 Best Performances
British actor Alan Rickman got his start on the stage and was part of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He got his big break in Hollywood playing the villain Hans Gruber in Die Hard. Rickman brought a sense of professionalism and class to every project he was involved in. We sadly lost him to cancer in 2016.
10. ALICE IN WONDERLAND - 2010
Rickman provided the voice of Absolem the caterpillar in Tim Burton's continuation of Lewis Carroll's story. The film itself is a bit of a mess but it's a gorgeous looking mess. Rickman's recognizable deep voice gives the caterpillar an intellectual yet arrogant quality. He repeatedly refers to Alice as stupid girl and yet she keeps going to him for advice. She even seems sad as he's about to enter his cocoon which is due mainly to the melancholy in his voice as he gets ready for his transformation. He's my favorite part in this otherwise overblown film.
9. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - 2005
This is another adaptation that makes a bit of a mess of its source material, but then again Douglas Adams brilliant satire was kind of unfilmable to begin with. Once again Rickman is the stand out as the voice of Marvin the android (it's Warwick Davis inside the costume). Marvin is terminally depressed and everything he comments on has a negative spin. Rickman is hilarious with his deadpan delivery and sardonic responses. After Marvin is shot in the head, all he can do is complain of a headache. But it's Marvin who saves the day by shooting the enemies with a depression ray. Of course, he's not excited about it.
8. LOVE ACTUALLY - 2003
This ensemble comedy - drama happens to be my wife Marissa's favorite movie, which means I've seen it dozens of times. It also happens to be quite charming and well acted. It's filled to the brim with England's best actors such as Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and the sole American, Laura Linney. Rickman plays Linney's boss and Thompson's husband, and well, he's a bit of a prick. He spends most of his scenes in a flirtatious relationship with his employee played by Heike Makatsch. Rickman plays Harry as a concerned boss and loving father and husband on the outside, but we see his true colors as a selfish clod. His best scene and possibly the funniest scene in the movie is when he tries to secretly buy an expensive piece of jewelry for his would be girlfriend without his wife finding out. The attendant at the jewelry counter is amusingly played by Rowan Atkinson who takes a year and a day wrapping up the gift. Just when Harry thinks he's done, he's adding cinnamon sticks and a sprig of holly. This is funny on its own but what really makes the scene are Rickman's reactions. The more Atkinson wastes time, the more impatient and exasperated Rickman gets. It's great comedic timing and a bright spot in this terrific film.
7. DOGMA - 1999
I have to admit I have a real soft spot for Kevin Smith's rather silly film about rebellious angels and the last descendant of Jesus Christ. Alan Rickman plays Metatron, an angel who speaks for God. He comes to inform our heroine Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) of her mission to stop angels Matt Damon and Ben Affleck from inadvertently destroying existence. He pops back into the film at various points to explain the plot and make sardonic comments. Rickman realizes he's in a ridiculous movie (it's got a poop monster for godsakes) and he plays the role very tongue in cheek. I love how he talks down to everyone but with his majestic wings and marvelous voice, who's gonna argue?
6. GALAXY QUEST - 1999
Galaxy Quest is a clever underrated comedy about the has been cast of a Star Trek type show. The actors now make a living doing appearances at conventions and local businesses. Then real aliens show up, mistaking the actors for their tv counterparts and soon they're in the middle of an intergalactic war. Rickman plays Alexander Dane who wants to be thought of as a serious actor, except now he's doomed to wearing alien makeup and forever spout the same catchphrase over and over. Rickman plays him with a great disdain for the show, his fans, and especially his costar Jason Nesmith played by Tim Allen channeling his inner Shatner. Rickman is given a chance to grow in the film as Dane transforms from a coward into a hero when the alien waste hits the fan. It's a fun performance in an amusing movie.
5. PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER - 2006
This is an odd underseen gem of a film from German director Tom Tykwer of Run Lola Run. It has beautiful art direction, lush cinematography and quite the twisted plot. Ben Whishaw plays a disturbed young man who has a great nose for scents, but doesn't emit a scent of his own. He works as an apprentice for a perfume maker played by Dustin Hoffman. There he learns how to preserve scents, but soon goes out into the world to learn more. He discovers that young beautiful women have his favorite scents and he begins murdering them and extracting and preserving their scents to make the ultimate perfume. Rickman shows up as the wealthy father of a young girl Grenouille has targeted. Now Rickman could have easily played him as a one note antagonist, but because this is Rickman we're talking about, we are given many shades of gray. His character Richis shows a deep protective love for his daughter, but is also prideful, vengeful and a little sadistic. That being said, during the scene in which he is torturing Grenouille in the water tank, there is the slightest look on Rickman's face of remorse. Rickman's rich performance only adds to the robust nature of this strange film.
4. ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES - 1991
Kevin Reynolds' take on the often filmed Robin Hood story is a bit of a mixed bag. It has beautiful camera work, elaborate sets and exciting action scenes. It also has an extremely wooden performance from the very American Kevin Costner and an overwhelming sense of self seriousness, with the large exception of... Alan Rickman as George, the Sheriff of Nottingham. He's the only one who seems to be having fun. He brings a villainous glee to the Sheriff, which then transitions to a hilarious frustration once Robin starts ruining all his evil plans. Yes he's over the top, but because it's Rickman, he makes it believable. And we don't mind anyway because he's just so entertaining to watch.... And cancel Christmas!
3. DIE HARD - 1988
Die Hard was a huge hit and made a superstar out of Bruce Willis. It's also the first mainstream project American audiences saw Alan Rickman in. Personally I think it's a rather silly film with a paper thin plot tied to some great action scenes. Fortunately the film's saving grace is Rickman as terrorist Hans Gruber who holds hostages inside a skyscraper, only to be thwarted by Willis' one man wrecking crew. Rickman is the perfect model of a professional criminal all the way through. He speaks his mind with his over articulate vocabulary and doesn't even blink an eye when blowing a man's brains out. He treats the material as if he were reciting Shakespeare, instead of as the villain in a big dumb action film.
2. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET - 2007
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is an extremely faithful adaptation of the Broadway musical about a vengeful barber who turns his customers into meat pies. Rickman plays the villainous Judge Turpin who stole the barber's family and sent him to prison years ago. Rickman plays the role with a callousness and an air of superiority. He's so cold, he sentences a young boy to hang. As evil as Todd becomes in the film, Turpin is even more despicable, showing us why Todd wants to kill him so badly. And then just when you think Turpin is all fire and brimstone, he sings. Rickman has a beautiful melancholic voice and does a memorable duet with Johnny Depp as they sing about pretty women. It's a gory, strange musical and Rickman fits in perfectly.
1. THE HARRY POTTER FILMS - 2001 - 2011 - WARNING SPOILERS!
Alan Rickman as Hogwarts potions professor Severus Snape has the most complete and complex story arc over the eight films in the Harry Potter franchise. If I had to pick one of the films as his best, I would have to say Deathly Hallows Part 2, but you really can't separate them, it's one really long movie. During the first four films Snape comes across as a villain of sorts. He's rather mean to Harry in his potions class, and the kids even suspect him of stealing Nicholas Flamel's stone. But Snape defies the kids' expectations, saving Harry during the quidditch match and being a trusted advisor to Dumbledore. Rickman plays Snape in these early films with just the right amount of impatience towards Harry and mystery. By the Order of the Phoenix, we get to see a little bit behind the cloak. Dumbledore has ordered Snape to give Harry lessons in Occlumancy, protecting one's mind from someone else invading your thoughts. During one of these sessions, Harry accidentally sees a memory of Snape as a child, friends with Harry's mother Lilly and being teased by Harry's father James. At this moment Rickman shows Snape at his most vulnerable, projecting towards Harry shame and anger. In Half Blood Prince it is revealed early on that Snape is working for the dark lord Voldemort and has made a vow to protect Harry's enemy Draco Malfoy. By the end of the film Snape has betrayed Hogwarts and murdered Dumbledore, fully embracing the evil of Voldemort. All of that is turned on its head at conclusion of Deathly Hallows Part 2, when Snape, at the moment of his death reveals his memories to Harry. We find out that Snape was a double agent, working for Dumbledore all along. Dumbledore had asked Snape to kill him as an act of mercy and to solidify Voldemort's trust in Snape. But most important of all, it's revealed that Snape had been in love with Lilly since they were kids and swore to protect Harry after Lilly was killed. Rickman is just wonderful in this sequence showing his utter heartbreak at Lilly's death and his horror at learning that Dumbledore's plan was to protect Harry up until the precise moment they would need him to die.
Over the course of eight films, Rickman took what could have been a two dimensional secondary character and elevated him into a complex tragic hero.
10. ALICE IN WONDERLAND - 2010
Rickman provided the voice of Absolem the caterpillar in Tim Burton's continuation of Lewis Carroll's story. The film itself is a bit of a mess but it's a gorgeous looking mess. Rickman's recognizable deep voice gives the caterpillar an intellectual yet arrogant quality. He repeatedly refers to Alice as stupid girl and yet she keeps going to him for advice. She even seems sad as he's about to enter his cocoon which is due mainly to the melancholy in his voice as he gets ready for his transformation. He's my favorite part in this otherwise overblown film.
9. THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY - 2005
This is another adaptation that makes a bit of a mess of its source material, but then again Douglas Adams brilliant satire was kind of unfilmable to begin with. Once again Rickman is the stand out as the voice of Marvin the android (it's Warwick Davis inside the costume). Marvin is terminally depressed and everything he comments on has a negative spin. Rickman is hilarious with his deadpan delivery and sardonic responses. After Marvin is shot in the head, all he can do is complain of a headache. But it's Marvin who saves the day by shooting the enemies with a depression ray. Of course, he's not excited about it.
8. LOVE ACTUALLY - 2003
This ensemble comedy - drama happens to be my wife Marissa's favorite movie, which means I've seen it dozens of times. It also happens to be quite charming and well acted. It's filled to the brim with England's best actors such as Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Bill Nighy, and the sole American, Laura Linney. Rickman plays Linney's boss and Thompson's husband, and well, he's a bit of a prick. He spends most of his scenes in a flirtatious relationship with his employee played by Heike Makatsch. Rickman plays Harry as a concerned boss and loving father and husband on the outside, but we see his true colors as a selfish clod. His best scene and possibly the funniest scene in the movie is when he tries to secretly buy an expensive piece of jewelry for his would be girlfriend without his wife finding out. The attendant at the jewelry counter is amusingly played by Rowan Atkinson who takes a year and a day wrapping up the gift. Just when Harry thinks he's done, he's adding cinnamon sticks and a sprig of holly. This is funny on its own but what really makes the scene are Rickman's reactions. The more Atkinson wastes time, the more impatient and exasperated Rickman gets. It's great comedic timing and a bright spot in this terrific film.
7. DOGMA - 1999
I have to admit I have a real soft spot for Kevin Smith's rather silly film about rebellious angels and the last descendant of Jesus Christ. Alan Rickman plays Metatron, an angel who speaks for God. He comes to inform our heroine Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) of her mission to stop angels Matt Damon and Ben Affleck from inadvertently destroying existence. He pops back into the film at various points to explain the plot and make sardonic comments. Rickman realizes he's in a ridiculous movie (it's got a poop monster for godsakes) and he plays the role very tongue in cheek. I love how he talks down to everyone but with his majestic wings and marvelous voice, who's gonna argue?
6. GALAXY QUEST - 1999
Galaxy Quest is a clever underrated comedy about the has been cast of a Star Trek type show. The actors now make a living doing appearances at conventions and local businesses. Then real aliens show up, mistaking the actors for their tv counterparts and soon they're in the middle of an intergalactic war. Rickman plays Alexander Dane who wants to be thought of as a serious actor, except now he's doomed to wearing alien makeup and forever spout the same catchphrase over and over. Rickman plays him with a great disdain for the show, his fans, and especially his costar Jason Nesmith played by Tim Allen channeling his inner Shatner. Rickman is given a chance to grow in the film as Dane transforms from a coward into a hero when the alien waste hits the fan. It's a fun performance in an amusing movie.
5. PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER - 2006
This is an odd underseen gem of a film from German director Tom Tykwer of Run Lola Run. It has beautiful art direction, lush cinematography and quite the twisted plot. Ben Whishaw plays a disturbed young man who has a great nose for scents, but doesn't emit a scent of his own. He works as an apprentice for a perfume maker played by Dustin Hoffman. There he learns how to preserve scents, but soon goes out into the world to learn more. He discovers that young beautiful women have his favorite scents and he begins murdering them and extracting and preserving their scents to make the ultimate perfume. Rickman shows up as the wealthy father of a young girl Grenouille has targeted. Now Rickman could have easily played him as a one note antagonist, but because this is Rickman we're talking about, we are given many shades of gray. His character Richis shows a deep protective love for his daughter, but is also prideful, vengeful and a little sadistic. That being said, during the scene in which he is torturing Grenouille in the water tank, there is the slightest look on Rickman's face of remorse. Rickman's rich performance only adds to the robust nature of this strange film.
4. ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES - 1991
Kevin Reynolds' take on the often filmed Robin Hood story is a bit of a mixed bag. It has beautiful camera work, elaborate sets and exciting action scenes. It also has an extremely wooden performance from the very American Kevin Costner and an overwhelming sense of self seriousness, with the large exception of... Alan Rickman as George, the Sheriff of Nottingham. He's the only one who seems to be having fun. He brings a villainous glee to the Sheriff, which then transitions to a hilarious frustration once Robin starts ruining all his evil plans. Yes he's over the top, but because it's Rickman, he makes it believable. And we don't mind anyway because he's just so entertaining to watch.... And cancel Christmas!
3. DIE HARD - 1988
Die Hard was a huge hit and made a superstar out of Bruce Willis. It's also the first mainstream project American audiences saw Alan Rickman in. Personally I think it's a rather silly film with a paper thin plot tied to some great action scenes. Fortunately the film's saving grace is Rickman as terrorist Hans Gruber who holds hostages inside a skyscraper, only to be thwarted by Willis' one man wrecking crew. Rickman is the perfect model of a professional criminal all the way through. He speaks his mind with his over articulate vocabulary and doesn't even blink an eye when blowing a man's brains out. He treats the material as if he were reciting Shakespeare, instead of as the villain in a big dumb action film.
2. SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET - 2007
Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd is an extremely faithful adaptation of the Broadway musical about a vengeful barber who turns his customers into meat pies. Rickman plays the villainous Judge Turpin who stole the barber's family and sent him to prison years ago. Rickman plays the role with a callousness and an air of superiority. He's so cold, he sentences a young boy to hang. As evil as Todd becomes in the film, Turpin is even more despicable, showing us why Todd wants to kill him so badly. And then just when you think Turpin is all fire and brimstone, he sings. Rickman has a beautiful melancholic voice and does a memorable duet with Johnny Depp as they sing about pretty women. It's a gory, strange musical and Rickman fits in perfectly.
1. THE HARRY POTTER FILMS - 2001 - 2011 - WARNING SPOILERS!
Alan Rickman as Hogwarts potions professor Severus Snape has the most complete and complex story arc over the eight films in the Harry Potter franchise. If I had to pick one of the films as his best, I would have to say Deathly Hallows Part 2, but you really can't separate them, it's one really long movie. During the first four films Snape comes across as a villain of sorts. He's rather mean to Harry in his potions class, and the kids even suspect him of stealing Nicholas Flamel's stone. But Snape defies the kids' expectations, saving Harry during the quidditch match and being a trusted advisor to Dumbledore. Rickman plays Snape in these early films with just the right amount of impatience towards Harry and mystery. By the Order of the Phoenix, we get to see a little bit behind the cloak. Dumbledore has ordered Snape to give Harry lessons in Occlumancy, protecting one's mind from someone else invading your thoughts. During one of these sessions, Harry accidentally sees a memory of Snape as a child, friends with Harry's mother Lilly and being teased by Harry's father James. At this moment Rickman shows Snape at his most vulnerable, projecting towards Harry shame and anger. In Half Blood Prince it is revealed early on that Snape is working for the dark lord Voldemort and has made a vow to protect Harry's enemy Draco Malfoy. By the end of the film Snape has betrayed Hogwarts and murdered Dumbledore, fully embracing the evil of Voldemort. All of that is turned on its head at conclusion of Deathly Hallows Part 2, when Snape, at the moment of his death reveals his memories to Harry. We find out that Snape was a double agent, working for Dumbledore all along. Dumbledore had asked Snape to kill him as an act of mercy and to solidify Voldemort's trust in Snape. But most important of all, it's revealed that Snape had been in love with Lilly since they were kids and swore to protect Harry after Lilly was killed. Rickman is just wonderful in this sequence showing his utter heartbreak at Lilly's death and his horror at learning that Dumbledore's plan was to protect Harry up until the precise moment they would need him to die.
Over the course of eight films, Rickman took what could have been a two dimensional secondary character and elevated him into a complex tragic hero.
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