Thursday Movie Picks: Actors in Multiple Roles

A weekly series hosted by Wandering Through the Shelves

What's better than a great performance from an actor? Two great performances from the same actor. In the same movie. Which is exactly this week's theme. Okay, maybe we are not asked to pick great performances but that would be too easy, right? I mean, one could pick Adam Sandler for Jack and Jill and, I don't know, it just feels wrong. So, without further ado, here's my highlighting multiple performances from an actor in a film.

Adaptation. (2002)
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is hired to write an adaptation of a book called The Orchid Thief. But he suffers from writer's block so he comes up with the idea of writing a script about his inability to write the script. Nicolas Cage plays both Charlie and Donald Kaufman — yes, I know Donald Kaufamn is not a real person — and, honestly, he blew my mind as I was not expecting not one but two great performances from Cage. Also, this is a hell of a movie so if you haven't seen it already, please do. 

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
A US Air Force general (Sterling Hayden) loses his shit and sends his bomber wing to destroy the USSR and it's up to a room full of politicians to stop the upcoming nuclear war. Peter Sellers plays Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley and Dr. Strangelove, and he's freaking amazing in all of them. As for the film, it is a tremendous satire of man's fears and delusions and makes fun of politicians and the whole military structure. My favourite Kubrick.

Suspiria (2018)
A young Amerian ballerina (Dakota Johnson) travels to Belin to attend a famous company which happens to be run by a coven of witches. She soon becomes the lead in the company's most important ballet, and in the meantime, a psychiatrist (Tilda Swinton) starts investigating the disappearance of a former student (Chloë Grace Moretz) at the company. Swinton plays both the psychiatrist, a man psychiatrist, and madame Blanc, one of the teachers and she is terrific. The film itself is really good too as Guadagnino managed to deliver such a nightmarish atmosphere.  
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18 comments :

  1. s.22 August 2019 at 07:45

    Swinton also plays the creepy old witch at the end :)

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    1. Sonia Cerca22 August 2019 at 13:23

      I know but I didn't mention it because I wanted to keep it spoiler free :)

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  2. thevoid9922 August 2019 at 09:00

    Ah, 3 inspired choices. You can't go wrong with those picks as I went on a more comedic route.

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  3. geekteller22 August 2019 at 09:46

    Cool list. When I saw the title, the first thing that came to mind was Tom Hardy in "Legend", he was great in it!

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    1. Sonia Cerca22 August 2019 at 13:25

      How did I not think of him? His performance(s) is pretty much the only thing I liked about the film.

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  4. Brittani Burnham22 August 2019 at 14:15

    We match on Suspiria but I think you liked it more than I did. I just watched Dr. Strangelove for the first time this week and enjoyed it too. Adaptation I think I saw once and I don't remember it.

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    1. Sonia Cerca22 August 2019 at 14:29

      I'm sorry Suspiria didn't work much for you.

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  5. Birgit22 August 2019 at 18:22

    I have no seen any of these and have been meaning to watch Dr. Strangelove for a long time since I taped it (I still call it tape). I forgot about Adaptation and Suspiria was already on another blog so it might be popular. Tilda is quite the artist

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    1. Sonia Cerca7 September 2019 at 14:20

      Yes she is! And please watch Dr. Strangelove because it's one of the finest war films ever made.

      Delete
  6. Ronyell (a.k.a. Rabbitearsblog)22 August 2019 at 20:17

    I've heard about Adaptation and Dr. Strangelove. Those sound like interesting movies! Great list!

    Here’s my Thursday Movie Picks!

    Ronyell @ The Surreal Movies and TV Blog

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    1. Sonia Cerca7 September 2019 at 14:22

      They are! You should really check them out :)

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  7. joel6591322 August 2019 at 20:29

    The praise for Adaptation has always baffled me, I loathed it. It wasn't specifically because of Nick Cage but he didn't alleviate any of the dreariness of the thing either.

    Dr. Strangelove is such a unique film and Sellers is certainly a huge part of its success though my favorite character in the film is Keenan Wynn's Col. Bat Guano.

    I haven't seen this take on Suspiria and don't have a burning desire to do so. I wasn't much of a fan of the original.

    Surprising how many films there are where an actor has pulled double duty. I chose three that share a key word in their titles.

    Dead Ringer (1964)-Bette Davis plays identical twin sisters, poor Edith Phillips and wealthy Margaret DeLorca who have been estranged for decades because Margaret married Edith’s boyfriend after stealing him from her. Reunited at the man’s funeral Edith discovers that Margaret manipulated the marriage years before and enraged kills her and takes her place. All seems well until Edith uncovers secrets that may prove fatal.

    Dead Ringers (1988)-Jeremy Irons plays Elliot (Jeremy Irons), a successful gynecologist, who works at the same practice as his identical twin, Beverly (Irons as well). Elliot is attracted to many of his patients and has affairs with them. When he inevitably loses interest, he will give the woman over to Beverly, the meeker of the two, without the woman knowing the difference. Beverly falls hard for one of the patients, Claire (Geneviève Bujold), but when she inadvertently deceives him, he slips into a state of madness. Strange, chilly film directed by David Cronenberg goes to several very dark places.

    Dead Again (1991)-A mute amnesiac (Emma Thompson) arrives at the gates of an old orphanage and private investigator Mike Church (Kenneth Branagh) is asked to find out who she is. With the help of a hypnotist (Derek Jacobi), the woman regains her voice and recalls vivid past memories of a couple (also played by Emma & Branagh) from the 1940s torn apart by murder. Church begins to develop feelings for the woman, whom he calls Grace then discovers he has a connection to the tragic couple from the 40s. Atmospheric noir shot at the time that the pair were married in real life.

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    1. Sonia Cerca7 September 2019 at 14:24

      Then you should check out this version. I wasn't a fan of Argento's either but gave Guadagnino's take a chance anyway because I had read some positive reviews and I'm glad I did because the film was great, easily an improvement of the original.

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  8. Getter26 August 2019 at 08:38

    I saw Suspiria in a festival a bit ahead of time so I think I missed the actual review buzz and now I
    m like, Swinton played what? :D

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    1. Sonia Cerca7 September 2019 at 14:25

      I myself was amazed when I learned that after watching the movie. She was unrecognisable.

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  9. Wanderer29 August 2019 at 20:44

    I've seen Adaptation, but it was a long time ago and I found it boring then.
    I totally forgot about Dr. Strangelove and I really like the movie.

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    1. Sonia Cerca7 September 2019 at 14:26

      I'm sorry Adaptation didn't work for you but at least you loved Dr. Strangelove :)

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