I like Rickman. But the way the film industry works, there is a depressing tendency for him to get type cast as comic Grand Guignol villains. As such, he is always equal to himself, (unforgettable as the Sheriff of Nottingham or the sleazy political spinmaster in Bob Roberts) but underused IMHO. He is capable of so many more dimensions, and is never so good as when he is cast against type.

My favorite performance by him though is as the revenant cellist in Anthony Minghella's Truly Madly Deeply, we have a delightfully nuanced comic portrayal, seductive enough
to get called back from the dead by the grief of his distraught widow, but also sufficiently annoying, flimsy and full of ticks, as to teach her to dispense with his memory and get on with her life.


So what do you guys think, do you think there's more to him than just a villain?

johnnyboy said:

I thought he was great in "Sense & Sensibility"

In fact he's always great.

I love Alan Rickman. I agree that he is underused.

I also agree that he was wonderful in "Sense and Sensibility" and that he's always great.

Nothinbutjoy said:

Rent "Love Actually" It's great

His roles in "Dogma" and "Galaxy Quest" were great, too.

He will be forever memorable in "Die Hard" as Hans Gruber.....i can see him falling of the Nakatomi Towers leaving his Rolex watch with John McClane .....And i think Alan was great as Grigori Rasputin in "Rasputin"
[This message was edited Thu Apr 29 0:03:07 2004 by PusherMan]

Don't forget he also does agreat job as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films.