The Six Greatest Performances In Mike Nichols’ Films
RIP Mike Nichols. From Dustin Hoffman to Robin Williams, this is where to start your retrospectives.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
Here’s another clip that was sadly rediscovered and passed around for all the wrong reasons. Nichols, Tom Hanks and Aaron Sorkin couldn’t turn this twisty bit of longform gold into a tight and emotionally sound film, but Hoffman’s righteously profane performance speaks to whatever workplace dissatisfaction you’ve had in your past.
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In addition to these top lining barn-stormers there are a hundred smaller parts that spring to mind when glancing back at Nichol’s resume, speaking perhaps to his parallel success in theatre – every one of his films (even the odd and uneven, such as the flop-sweat caper The Fortune (1975) and the tart and stagey Closer (2004)) is packed with wild and warm deliveries of carefully sketched character portraits.
The indie actor trifecta of Mary-Louise Parker, Justin Kirk and Jeffrey Wright in Angels in America (2003) deliver unique awkward rhythms in service of a transcendent ensemble. Cher’s guffawing nuclear plant worker from Silkwood (1983) is a singular character study, as is Kathy Bates down-on-the-farm Washington spin-doctor in Primary Colors, and Christopher Lloyd’s clinically avuncular doctor in Wit (2001).
Nichols, with his trim physique, neat glasses and surgical wit always cut the figure of the consummate gentleman, from his early comedic sketches to any number of entertaining interviews that can be found online. In giving his performers the spotlight in all his films, his politeness allowed a generation of actors to shine.
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Matt Roden helps kids tell stories by day at the Sydney Story Factory, and by night helps adults admit to stupidity by co-running Confession Booth and TOD Talks. He is a co-host on Short Cuts — airing on FBi every Saturday at 10am — and his illustration and design work can be seen here.