I don’t know why this question popped into my head as I was falling asleep, but now I have to know.
I’m honestly torn, especially about Philip Seymour Hoffman vs. Paul Giamatti. John C. Reilly is great and all, but I can’t see him devouring the scenery as an over-the-top villain.
I might have to give it to Hoffman in the end. Just thinking of all the different roles he’s played, he is one versatile motherfucker.
PSH, man. Gotta be. Nothin’ against Reilly or Giamatti, but neither of them have the range Hoffman has. That guy can play uptight, high-class paragons and grimey, low-down scuzzballs with equal aplomb.
Philip Seymour Hoffman says my favourite line in Big Lebowski*, so he wins.
It’s after Jeff Bridges’ amazing speech in the limo (“New shit has come to light!”), when he closes with a rambling “Hadn’t that ever occurred to you?” Lebowski says, “No, Dude, that had not occurred to us” and almost immediately after Hoffman says “That had not occurred to us, Dude.” There’s something about the way he hits that not that makes me laugh every single time.