Scary Gazza's Finest

Denzel who? That most likely won’t be the phrase on the lips of moviegoers when finally seeing upcoming The Book of Eli. After all who isn’t excited to see Den return to his bad-ass best, as the titular trekker in post apocalypse USA seeking to protect a book that may save mankind?

However there’s a much vaunted return of another kind in Allen and Albert Hughes’ new blockbuster…That of one Gary Leonard Oldman to the role of frothing, furious movie villain, in this case the merciless despot Carnegie who wants to claim the book for his own ends…

It’s been too long a wait to see ‘Scary Gary’ again storm across our screens (the name was coined during production of Air Force One by a crew awed by his intensity). A British De Niro in every sense of the word, no two roles, aside from Potter and Batman, are the same. OK so Oscar’s never rewarded him but frankly he’s too good for that.

So here’s a timely reminder of Oldman’s finest moments on the big (and small) screen:


Sid and Nancy (1986)

The one that put Oldman on the map is an uncomfortably intense two-hander (with Chloe Webb) about the destructive affair between Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen. The actor is uncanny as Vicious (showing a penchant for mimicry as well as straight performing) while his blistering version of My Way may have viewers believing punk rock’s poster boy never really passed on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arMXYEDuWPg

The Firm (1988)

It may be somewhat crass to pigeonhole Oldman’s creepily plausible footie hooligan Bex Bissell as a mere ‘villain’. Such clear cut morality is what director Alan Clarke avoids in his seminal TV drama, presenting both an affable, middle-class family man, and his id-dominant psychotic other half, beating the hell out of a pillow with a truncheon. But it did secure the actor’s electrifying presence, prior to his move to Hollywood.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXLuaKgHV2U

True Romance (1993)

The most insanely quotable of all Oldman’s characters sees him fill the screen for barely 10 mins. Yet he stands out in Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino’s violent A-list tapestry (including Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper and Brad Pitt) as racially confused, dreadlocked pimp Drexl, rumbling naïve Christian Slater’s attempts at blackmail in a matter of seconds. Altogether now: ‘I know I’m pretty…but I ain’t as pretty as a coupla titties’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uQFm-Lfcqo

Leon (1994)

Perhaps the actor’s most iconic role, this is the apotheosis of everything Oldman can achieve when he goes evil. Stealing the film effortlessly from its nominal double act Jean Reno and Natalie Portman, his Beethoven-Baroque, pill-popping, corrupt cop is the catalyst for the film’s violent events, Oldman’s twitchy demeanour conducting an imaginary symphony of destruction. It’s a frighteningly fascinating portrait of the sort only he can achieve.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKjJKbgqf2A




Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)

Not just one for the kids this. Oldman’s trademark darkness elevates the third Potter entry to previously unforeseen, adult heights and establishes him a raft of fresh young fans in the process. What’s remarkable is how easily we the audience are misled by our own expectations: far be if from the raving lunatic he appears to be, Sirius Black eventually becomes a father figure of the best kind to young Harry, Oldman digging out a layer of unforeseen warmth to be carried over in a further Potter and two Batman entries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qmNzu2F_zo