A Reel Opinion: The Top Five Best Performances from Joaquin Phoenix

At 44 years old, Joaquin Phoenix is today considered one of our best working actors. His ability to go deep and astonish audiences has become better and better with each film, and his latest, JOKER, cements that reputation. With his performance as The Joker earning critical praise and the film a box office success, film discussions have veered towards how JOKER ranks among all of his great roles…which leads us to Reel Speak’s first Top Five list of Phoenix’s Best Performances. The criteria at work is simple; how well he sells his character and longevity/cultural impact. 

Here’s how the Phoenix lands…

5. Theodore Twombly from HER (2013)

Sometimes the best roles are the ones that are most understated. In this sci-fi romantic drama, Phoenix plays a lonely, depressed, and introverted man who falls in love with the operating system of his virtual assistant. What could be a wacky concept is made serious by Phoenix’s commitment to making it work. The world that HER takes place in is a high-tech one, possibly only 10 years in our future, but the human nature of Theodore takes center-stage, and Phoenix creates for us raw emotions that we all have felt in one relationship or another. 

4. Arthur Fleck from JOKER (2019)

The only reason that this doesn’t rank higher is because JOKER is brand-new and hasn’t had the test of time put to it yet. There is also a legit criticism that he doesn’t really play The Joker until the very end, but that shouldn’t matter because prior to him putting on that famed make-up, we are treated to an un-nerving portrayal of the man destined to become the Clown Prince of Crime and blood-rival to the Bat. Phoenix sheds weight to the point of emaciation (amazing commitment), and his maniacal laugh sends shivers down the toughest of spines. 

3. Johnny Cash from WALK THE LINE (2005)

Phoenix and his late brother River are the only brothers ever nominated for Academy Awards in the acting category, and he earned his first Best Actor nod with his portrayal of music legend Johnny Cash. Playing a known celebrity is tough, as an actor is required to get a lot right in the eyes of fans and family members, and there is always the chance of being accused of imitating instead of acting. In WALK THE LINE, Phoenix brings the Man in Black back to life in stunning ways; mannerisms, dialect, and behind the microphone…and it doesn’t take long for us to believe that he is Cash. 

2. Commodus from GLADIATOR (2000)

Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the new Emperor of Rome who gets his throne by murdering his father and betraying Rome’s greatest soldier. Phoenix plays this despicable man to the point that audiences were ready to reach through the screen and throttle him themselves. We hated him when he stabs Maximus before their fight in front of the crowd, and cheered when his body was left to rot on the Coliseum floor. Easily one of our greatest cinematic villains. 

1. Freddie Quell from THE MASTER (2012)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s brilliant film about a WWII veteran who comes home without a purpose elevated Phoenix into the upper-echelon of actors. The film is set up as a metaphor for the relationship between a master and his dog…and in the pivotal scene where Phoenix is broken-in by his new master (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), by being asked not to blink for long periods of time, we see just how great Phoenix can be. Here’s a challenge: try to refrain from blinking for as long as Joaquin Phoenix does in that scene, and it won’t take long to understand how hard he had to work and suffer to make that scene work. He plays Freddie as a lost soul that we empathize for, and by movie’s end it’s clear to see that he is a master at his craft.  

Reel Speak's Top Five Best Performances from Joaquin Phoenix

1. Freddie Quell from THE MASTER
2. Commodus from GLADIATOR
3. Johnny Cash from WALK THE LINE
4. Arthur Fleck from JOKER
5. Theodore Twombly from HER