Worst To Best: Brad Pitt
From the pits to perfect
Sinbad: Legend Of The Seven Seas (2003)
The Film: Pitt lends his voice to this animated production as the titular Sinbad, who’s framed as a thief by Eric (Michelle Pfeiffer).
Rad Brad: Pitt stepped into the role after Russell Crowe bailed, and helps turn Sinbad into the hero he should be.
Oceans Thirteen (2007)
The Film: The Ocean’s series gets back on track for its glossy finale. Danny Ocean (George Clooney) reunites with his band of con-men in order to take down double-crosser Willy Bank (Al Pacino).
Rad Brad: As always, the highlight in this final Ocean’s film is the bromantic banter between Pitt and Clooney. Talk about charisma overload.
Megamind (2010)
The Film: DreamWorks animation about the eponymous supervillain (voiced by Will Ferrell), who searches for a new purpose in life after managing to kill his nemesis, Metro Man.
Rad Brad: Pitt voices Metro Man, a stereotypically strutting superhero, and is effortlessly hilarious. He looks nothing like the character, but that’s probably a good thing.
Troy (2004)
The Film: Wolfgang Petersen brings Homer’s epic to the big screen as the Greeks attempt to invade Troy. Yes, there’s a big wooden horse involved.
Rad Brad: All tanned and toned, Pitt simply is Achilles – a gorgeous charmer of myth and legend. The camera loves him, and so do we.
Meet Joe Black (1998)
The Film: Death (Pitt) comes to Earth and is guided by media maestro William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins). It all goes a bit wrong, though, when Death falls for William’s daughter.
Rad Brad: Pitt set a million hearts a-fluttering with this one as the perfect, surfer-dude version of Death, but his subtle performance also digs at deeper issues, making it one of his most interesting shows.
Mr & Mrs Smith (2005)
The Film: Spy drama that has Pitt playing a super-spy who’s unaware that his wife (Angelina Jolie) is also a spy.
Rad Brad: Pitt does the ‘action hero’ thing and shows he’s got the moves. He’s believable as an alpha male and the air between him and Angelina Jolie positively crackles.
Spy Game (2001)
The Film: CIA operative Nathan Muir (Redford) attempts to free his young protégé, Tom Bishop (Pitt), who’s been arrested as a spy in China. In flashbacks, we see how Muir trained him.
Rad Brad: Pitt’s swaggering as a young hotshot, and the film works best when we see his character butt heads with Redford’s.
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Seven Years In Tibet (1997)
The Film: Pitt plays Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountain climber who befriends the Dalai Lama during the Chinese takeover of Tibet.
Rad Brad: A fine multi-faceted turn for Pitt, who nails Harrer’s loner characteristics and makes him a fascinating hero to follow over 138 minutes.
Friends (2001)
The TV Series: One of the best sitcoms to ever come out of the States. Pitt guests alongside his then-wife Jennifer Aniston in eighth season episode ‘The One With The Rumour’.
Rad Brad : Proving once and for all that he can do comedy, Pitt is hilarious as a once-fat, ex-Rachel-hater who started a vicious rumour about her in high school with Ross. Not quite as funny in retrospect.
Kalifornia (1993)
The Film: Pitt reunites with Juliette Lewis and grows a beard to play Early Grayce, a fresh-from-jail con who becomes more and more volatile during a cross-country murder scene tour.
Rad Brad: Grubbing up as a menacing criminal, Pitt is a revelation here, going to surprisingly dark places.
Josh Winning has worn a lot of hats over the years. Contributing Editor at Total Film, writer for SFX, and senior film writer at the Radio Times. Josh has also penned a novel about mysteries and monsters, is the co-host of a movie podcast, and has a library of pretty phenomenal stories from visiting some of the biggest TV and film sets in the world. He would also like you to know that he "lives for cat videos..." Don't we all, Josh. Don't we all.
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