Daniel Day-Lewis My Left Foot

Prior to My Left Foot, Daniel Day-Lewis had made his mark in several British films, My Beautiful Launderette and A Room With a View, but it wasn't until My Left Foot that Daniel Day-Lewis captured the attention of American audiences as painter/writer Chirsty Brown whom was inflicted with cerebal palsy.  Day-Lewis' performance of Brown certainly conjures images of other actor's portraying characters with handicaps, particularly Dustin Hoffman and Tom Hanks.  However, Day-Lewis never plays Christy for total sympathy, relying on empathy while fleshing out Christy's personal flaws to make the audience care about his story. 

Daniel Day-Lewis rarely works, but when he does he delivers a commanding performance. His performance here as Christy Brown ranks with Robert Duvall in The Apostle and Russell Crowe in The Insider as the best performances of the last 25 years.  Also impressive aside from the physical work that Day-Lewis does he also works well with the rest of the cast, particularly Brenda Fricker playing his mother.  Fricker won for Best Supporting Actress as Brown's supportive caring mother and the two make us believe in their strong relationship.

Up next in my Best Actor countdown - Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street