In my mind, there's little that can make a good movie even better than a fantastic ensemble. Some movies are lucky to have one or two good-to-great actors in order to bolster sales and increase viewership, but there is not like a plurality of those kinds of actors to make it an instant classic! Here are some of my favorite ensemble casts:
5. L.A. Confidential (1997)Starring Academy Award winners like Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, and Kim Basinger (in the role that won her that Oscar), nominees like James Cromwell, David Strathairn, and Danny DeVito, and Satellite Award nominee Guy Pearce, L.A. Confidential is a story about love, loss, and betrayal in a town where such words are more commonplace than shamed actors. Each actor in the film is simply spectacular, particularly Crowe and Pearce, who play two sides of the same coin as the only honest cops in a crooked department. Easily one of the better casts assembled in recent years, it's amazing they lost the SAG 'Best Ensemble' to *shudder* The Full Monty.
4. A Few Good Men (1992)In a cast led by three-time Oscar nominee Tom Cruise (in that cocky role he was born to play), three-time Oscar winner Jack Nicholson, and two-time Golden Globe nominee Demi Moore, A Few Good Men (directed by Oscar nominee Rob Reiner) also stars the ubiquitous Kevin Bacon, the amazing Kiefer Sutherland, the hilarious Kevin Pollack, and the incomparable J.T. Walsh along with cameos by Christopher Guest, Noah Wyle, and Cuba Gooding, Jr. Based on the Aaron Sorkin play, the story has it all - intruigue, murder, suspense, humor, and sharp banter and dialogue... all delivered by a truly capable and worthy cast. Though often one-dimensional, Cruise holds his own against Nicholson (no easy feat) and Sutherland lights up the screen, giving off a raw dislikability that few others can master.
3. The Usual Suspects (1995)A film that, for me, became an immediate classic (particularly because of its amazing ending), The Usual Suspects has one of the greatest casts I've even seen. Think about it. Gabriel Byrne. Kevin Spacey. Chazz Palminteri. Benicio del Toro. Pete Postlethwaite. Kevin Pollack. Heck, even Stephen Baldwin turns in a decent performance (one of his only, that I've seen). The ensemble here performed so seemlessly and so brilliantly that there could be no doubt in anyone's mind that these men were all hardened criminals who would stab you in the face at a moment's notice. A brilliant ensemble cast!
2. Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)Based on a David Mamet play (which, in retrospect, should have made my list of favorite plays a couple weeks ago), this film stars Oscar winners Al Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Jack Lemmon, and Alan Arkin and nominees Ed Harris and Alec Baldwin, and Cannes Best Actor Jonathan Pryce... and they work together beautifully! Jack Lemmon called this cast the best ensemble he'd ever worked with. From a Hollywood legend of Lemmon's caliber, that's high praise indeed! If you don't like language, you won't like GGR, but if you can handle it, this movie is gripping, human, and brilliantly-acted!
1. Heat (1995)One of the greatest ensembles I've ever seen. It's incredibly historic as well, being the first movie in which the legendary actors Al Pacino and Robert De Niro actually appeared onscreen together. Not only does this movie feature these two cinematic giants, but it also features Val Kilmer (The Saint), Jon Voight (Midnight Cowboy, Deliverance), Tom Sizemore (Black Hawk Down), Diane Venora (Romeo + Juliet), Amy Brenneman (TV's "Judging Amy"), Ashley Judd (Kiss the Girls), Myketli Williamson (Forrest Gump), Wes Studi (Last of the Mohicans), Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs, TV's "Monk"), Dennis Haysbert (TV's "24" and the All State commercials), Natalie Portman (V for Vendetta, Closer), Danny Trejo (Desperado, Con Air), William Fitchner (The Longest Yard, TV's "Prison Break"), Hank Azaria (Run Fatboy Run, TV's "The Simpsons"), Tone Loc (singer of "Wild Thing" and "Funky Cold Medina"), and even a young Jeremy Piven (TV's "Entourage")! With a cast like this, it's no wonder that Heat - directed by Michael Mann (Academy Award nominated director of Last of the Mohicans, The Insider, Ali, and Collateral) - ranks as one of my all-time favorite action movies and my all-time favorite ensemble film cast!
Honorable mentions: Hamlet (1996), Best in Show (2000), Pulp Fiction (1994), Reservoir Dogs (1992), A Time to Kill (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998)
So, what are some of your favorite movie ensembles?
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