Top 5 Film Performances: Benedict Cumberbatch

5. Desolation of Smaug

Mostly just some excellent mo-cap work, but Cumberbatch is fantastic at just exuding the cool, callous yet voraciously animalistic rage of Smaug. He makes his scene with Martin Freeman's Bilbo one of the highlights of the series. Shame they didn't add in his actual Desolation to the end of the film...(although I do seem to enjoy Battle of the Five Armies more than most)

4. The Fifth Estate

The film is deeply flawed and rather unengaging, but Cumberbatch is pretty impressive as Julian Assange. The film actually does him no favours by shoveling in too many discordant elements and plotlines involving the investigation against Assange when a more pared down approach to exploring the Wikileaks affair itself would've been more effective. Nevertheless Cumberbatch does a fine job of the various tics and mannerisms of Assange, and makes him a fairly compelling enigmatic figure to follow, and could have given a great performance in a better film.

3. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Cumberbatch is a very remarkable Peter Guillam here. He shares a nice chemistry with Oldman's Smiley, is excellent at showing the brilliance of the spy and the more humane side to the man, and absolutely nails his two big moments. An underrated performance in the film's ensemble.

2. Stuart: A Life Backwards

I was very impressed by Cumberbatch here, perhaps even more so than his co-lead Tom Hardy. Hardy is a fantastic pulsating ball of energy as the unstable alcoholic Stuart, whose life is quite literally viewed backwards by the audience, but Cumberbatch, who kind of plays the Morgan Freeman to Hardy's Tim Robbins a la The Shawshank Redemption, is the standout for me as the narrator and best friend of Stuart, Alexander. He gives a just as challenging and deeply moving portrayal of a friend who's just trying to help his best mate, underplaying each emotional moment to perfection. His narration is absolutely perfect and he holds the film's sprawling yet intimate scope into a truly emotionally resonant experience.

1. The Imitation Game

A downright brilliant performance, and the fact he doesn't make it into my lineup for 2014 Lead is testament to the strength of that year overall:

1. Tom Hardy, Locke
2. Michael Keaton, Birdman
3. Matthew McConaughey, Interstellar
4. Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
5. Oscar Isaac, A Most Violent Year
6. Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
7. Tom Hardy, The Drop
8. Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
9. David Oyelewo, Selma
10. Philip Seymour Hoffman, A Most Wanted Man

Anyway, Cumberbatch is first and foremost perfectly cast as the genius mathematician Alan Turing, the way he carries himself as the character has such an air of intelligence and brilliance all just through each word spoken. He's technically very mannered in depicting as well Turing's Aspergers syndrome and general awkwardness with people, as well as a certain warmth as his relationship with his co-workers particularly the two played by Matthew Goode and Keira Knightley strengthens. He manages to make his character's ill-fitting tendencies humorously stuffy, yet also rather endearing in a way. Then as the film's tone darkens and the war takes its toll, he's excellent at showing the increased determination to cracking the codes and also is incredibly in the crucial scene where he must sacrifice the lives of men to keep the operation secret. Then there's the 'present-day' scenes which are incredibly powerful in showing Turing in such a mess of a state, particularly his final scene in which the castration medication has taken a toll on both his body and mind.

And of course, Sherlock. I discuss his great performance (second best Sherlock of all-time) here: https://actorvsactor.blogspot.fr/2015/07/head-to-head-sherlock-holmes-part-2.html?m=0

And I still haven't seen his Hollow Crown performance as Richard III where by all accounts he's fab.

6. Star Trek: Into Darkness
7. Atonement
8. Twelve Years a Slave
9. Amazing Grace
10. August Osage County