Ranking the Best Performances to Date from John Turturro

John Turturro is a legend. Wildly, he’s a legend who has never been nominated for an Academy Award. Could this year finally break that drought for him with The Only Living Pickpocket in New York? Not only do I hope so, I think it’s quite deserved as well. We’ll see what his Oscar chances turn out to be, but as the movie gets set for release, it’s a perfect time to rank the best performances from Turturro so far. So, that’s exactly what I did.

In my review of The Only Living Pickpocket in New York from back at the Telluride Film Festival (here), I raved about Turturro’s work like so:

John Turturro has never been better than he is here, drawing on a lifetime of acting experience to make Harry an incredibly well realized character. Is he a criminal? Yes. However, his moral code and heart make him instantly lovable. Turturro gives the performance of his career and truly deserves that first Oscar nomination. Not only should he be nominated in Best Actor, he deserves to be in contention to win.

Below, you can see how Turturro stacks up for me. As I said above, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York is instantly his best work to date, though it’s all praise for that role, as opposed to shade on his prior performances. The man is a mainstay in the films of the Coen Brothers and Spike Lee, for example, and not just anyone is afforded that honor. After all, he’s done great work in Barton Fink, Do the Right Thing, O Brother Where Art Thou?, Quiz Show, and more. Where do they line up alongside his newest gem? Find out below…

Here now is my ranking of the best John Turturro performances to date. Behold:

Special Citation: The Night Of

10. God’s Pocket

9. Secret Window

8. Rounders

7. The Big Lebowski

6. Clockers

5. O Brother, Where Art Thou?

4. Quiz Show

3. Do the Right Thing

2. Barton Fink

1. The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

What are your favorite performances from John Turturro? Let us know!