Top 20 Male Performances of 2018

From child performers to esteemed vets, in great films or good, here are my favorite male acting performances from 2018. My list of my favorite female performances will be posted shortly. Enjoy!

20. Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali in Green Book 

as Tony Lip and Dr. Don Shirley

If Green Book works, it is because of these two. The surface confidence and inner demons of Dr. Shirley, played against the brutish, streetwise hustle of Tony Lip, made for one best screen duos of the year.

19. John Cho in Searching 

as David

If you tell a film entirely through computer and phone screens, you damn well better have great actors to sell it. David is a single dad who desperately attempts to use technology to locate his missing daughter, and John Cho makes his every move utterly convincing. Had I not believed David’s frustration and passion, Searching wouldn’t have worked.

18. Thomas Gioria in Custody 

as Julien

Thomas Gioria was the heart of Custody, and throughout the film, we watched him struggle to survive the wrath of his abusive father. Gioria’s terrified performance made for some of the most heartbreaking, but important, film acting of the year.

17. Charlie Plummer in Lean on Pete 

as Charley

Charley is a teenage boy going at life alone. When we gets stuck, he runs, with little regard to how or even if he’ll get somewhere. Throughout Lean on Pete, I was so invested in Charley’s journey, and I couldn’t wait to see him reach a place of calm.

16. Ryan Gosling in First Man 

as Neil Armstrong

Gosling captured the emotional repression, and quiet, obsessive nature of Neil Armstrong so convincingly, that I couldn’t help but be in awe. And, again, Gosling’s final moment during the moon landing made for one of the most unexpectedly emotional scenes of 2018.

15. Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell in Beautiful Boy 

as Nic and David

I thought the fractured structure of Beautiful Boy did Chalamet and Carell a disservice, but damn if these two didn’t show the hell up throughout. This is stating the obvious, but we’re all going to be talking about Timothée Chalamet for decades to come. He’s a star.

14. Jude Law in Vox Lux 

as The Manager

Who the hell was The Manager in Vox Lux? I’m not entirely sure what he was about, but I knew exactly who he was, and that’s the mark of a great actor. Law’s every movement and word informed this character, but Law still made him such a mystery. I would love to see an entire film dedicated to this guy.

13. Lucas Hedges in Ben is Back 

as Ben

All this poor kid wanted was to prove to his family that he had his shit together, but he could not stop himself from believing that he was utterly worthless. Lucas Hedges had a great 2018, and his twitchy, tortured work as Ben is one of the best modern portrays of addiction that I’ve seen.

12. Ed Oxenbould in Wildlife 

as Joe

Here’s another domestic drama whose heart rests almost entirely on a child. Joe is a kid trying to figure out his own life while his young, complicated mother (Carey Mulligan) crumbles next to him. Simply put, Mulligan and Oxenbould’s scenes together helped make Wildlife an essential film to see.

11. Daniel Kaluuya in Widows 

as Jatemme

My favorite kinds of film psychopaths are the ones that seem bored by their own psychology. Jatemme never hinted at the fact that he was out of his mind, he just simply was. This guy was so bored by violence, that toward the end of the film, he didn’t even bother to watch the carnage he ordered to be carried out. I’m not saying this to be a contrarian, but this is my favorite performance from Daniel Kaluuya yet.

10. Brian Tyree Henry in If Beale Street Could Talk 

as Daniel

Brian Tyree Henry had one hell of a year, delivering notable performances in several films, and career-best work in the second season of Atlanta. But his finest film work was his brief turn in If Beale Street Could Talk. The bulk of Henry’s performance is a monologue in which he describes his time in prison in painful detail. During that scene, Henry manages to be charming, menacing, and completely gutted, all at the same time. I cannot wait to see how Henry’s career evolves.

9. Brady Jandreau in The Rider 

as Brady

When writer/director Chloé Zhao was researching a new film project, she met rodeo star, Brady Jandreau, who had just suffered a debilitating head injury after falling off a horse. Zhao was so taken with Jandreau’s story that she decided to make a narrative film about him, and asked him to essentially play himself. The result is an authentic performance of charm, regret, and understanding. Playing yourself in a movie may not seem that difficult, but to do it this well certainly is no easy feat.

8. Nicolas Cage in Mandy 

as Red

For the vodka scene alone, which is, perhaps, the most Nic Cage thing Nic Cage has ever done. And that is intended as a damn fine compliment.

7. Christian Bale in Vice 

as Dick Cheney

I didn’t see Christian Bale in Vice. For the entirety of the film, I only saw Dick Cheney. And what a horrifying thing it was to see the inner workings of a political monster. Oh, and, “Thank you to Satan, for giving me inspiration on how to play this role,” is one of the all-time great dedications in the history of film awards.

6. Sam Elliott in A Star Is Born 

as Bobby

Since seeing A Star Is Born in October, I’ve learned that most of the dialogue and action between Sam Elliott and Bradley Cooper was improvised. This includes Elliott grabbing Cooper’s face during a heated exchanged, and, most notably, their final interaction together. Elliott had no idea what Cooper was going to say to him, and the result is the most moving scene from 2018.

5. Stephan James in If Beale Street Could Talk 

as Fonny

Fonny is a man happily bound by love, even though, through much of If Beale Street Could Talk, he’s trapped on the other side of prison glass. As I said in my initial thoughts on the film, the chemistry between Stephan James and KiKi Layne in this movie is something that is rarely matched.

4. Joe Cole in A Prayer Before Dawn 

as Billy Moore

As I watched A Prayer Before Dawn, I never once thought I was watching an actor work. It genuinely felt like I was watching a documentary about Billy Moore, as he struggled to survive in a brutal prison in Thailand. A Prayer Before Dawn is not an easy film to stomach, but Cole’s work in it is acting at its most raw.

3. Bradley Cooper in A Star Is Born 

as Jackson

Bradley Cooper’s performance in A Star Is Born is the finest acting Cooper has delivered yet. Which is not something I offer easily, as I’m a great admirer of his work. But the acting choices he made for Jackson – the voice, the walk, the compassion, the pill-crushing boot – felt entirely authentic. Jackson’s tearful apologies to Lady Gaga and Sam Elliott’s characters are reason enough for Cooper to be here. I still haven’t been able to shake those scenes.  

2. Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here 

as Joe

You Were Never Really Here is a film that explains very little. You have to focus on the moments. Pay attention to the quick cuts, read the faces, listen to the words that are chosen. And they only way that works is if you have an actor who can pull it off. I’ve always liked Joaquin Phoenix best when he’s forced to tell us something with his eyes, and never have I seen Phoenix as telling as he was here.

1. Ethan Hawke in First Reformed 

as Reverend Toller

Ethan Hawke’s entire career has been leading up to Reverend Toller. It’s the role he was born to play, his magnum opus. This isn’t to say Hawke won’t continue to deliver great work for decades to come, but, right now, Reverend Toller is the one.

Hawke can say more with his crinkled face than most actors can say with pages of dialogue. Toller’s dangerous curiosity, lies, resentment, and unexpected love made for a deeply conflicted portrayal of a man lost. The fact that Ethan Hawke isn’t the frontrunner for the Best Actor Oscar (will he even be nominated?) is the biggest film crime of 2018. Ultimately, though, awards come and go, but great performances last forever. And Reverend Toller sure as hell isn’t going anywhere.

Best of 2018 Lists

Top 15 Films of 2018
Top 20 Female Performances of 2018
Top 5 “Rotten” Films of 2018