The Best of Brad
Is there ever a bad time to be Brad Pitt? We don’t think so, and with his new movie Killing Them Softly taking this week’s Film Club crown, here are our picks for his finest-ever cinematic moments:
SE7EN Brad Pitt was already a bona fide star by 1995, but this the year that really made his name. He started with the gratuitously-spelled Se7en, which was also the film that (deservedly) made David Fincher the directing megastar he is today.
A dark serial killer drama, Se7en starred Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as homicide detectives on the trail of an unusually creative murderer who selects his victims, and their punishments, based on the Seven Deadly Sins. Unsurprisingly it’s pretty icky – Gluttony and Sloth being probably the most gross. And that iconic ending? That was Pitt’s career-making moment, right there. In our opinion, anywhos.
FIGHT CLUB If 1995 was Brad’s breakout, 1999 was when he kicked it into the big-time. Reteaming with David Fincher for this adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel about repressed male urges, not only does he spend most of the movie topless, he’s also funny as hell – working his comedy muscles as well as his pectorals as Tyler Durden, the Hyde to Ed Norton’s Jekyll.
Describing the plot of Fight Club is perhaps too complex to get into, and let’s be honest – there’s no way we can spoil the ending. We don’t know many people who haven’t seen it, but if you’re one of them it’s time to feast your eyes. Didn’t you hear us say Brad Pitt goes sans shirt for the duration?
THE TREE OF LIFE A role originally meant for Heath Ledger, Brad Pitt took over as the Tree of Life’s angry dad after Heath died in 2008. A straightforward story of a family in Texas, the movie also includes deeper reflections on the nature of life as a whole, connecting the story of Pitt’s family to such grand events as the very formation of the universe. And Sean Penn plays his son! Not something you’re gonna see in the average movie.
So it doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun – so what? It’s a gorgeous movie with a great performance from W.B Pitt – even if costar Jessica Chastain got most of the backslapping.
LEGENDS OF THE FALL This flick is an epic tale of three brothers and their dad, and how their lives are affected by such things as war, nature, and Julia Ormond. Set in remote 1900s America, we get a youthful Pitt with a side of cowboy – never a bad thing. (Johnny Depp turned down the role.) The fact the title refers to a biblical fall from innocence should give you some idea of the plot, but a traditional, weepie adaptation of life and loss this is not. In fact, it’s really rather good.
Fun fact: the movie was originally supposed to be shot in Winnipeg, Canada, but the city refused to move several trees. We didn’t know you could ask to do that, even if you do plan to replace them.
Killing Them Softly is out now. Here’s the trailer:
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