5 Favorites: Giovanni Ribisi

I've decided to try a weekly short list, and it will focus on performances by single actors. The idea is not my favorite movies with the actors in them, but rather the on how good I thought the actor was in the role. This week I'm looking at Giovanni Ribisi. Since the days of "My Two Dads", and his episode of "The X-Files", I have been weirdly into him. It's a problem, I should probably seek help for this. Ribisi will be in the film "Contraband" being released this Friday, and so I thought he would be a good first Favorite Five.

5. LOST IN TRANSLATION (2003)

Ribisi didn't have much in this Oscar winner, but his presence was felt. He does a fantastic job playing, what is assumed to be, a fictionalized version of Sofia Coppola's ex-husband, Spike Jonze. His near abandoning of his wife (Scarlet Johansson) in a strange land makes you dislike him, and his attitude towards her makes it easy to root for her May-December romance with Bill Muarry.

4. BOILER ROOM (2000)

This was a great starring vehicle for Ribisi. His character is a college dropout running a poker game out of his house, until he is recruited into the world of investments. This cast was stacked with some amazing talent, and Ribisi did an outstanding job among them. The film itself was just a bit more than mediocre, but the cast makes up for a lot of the flaws.

3. THE OTHER SISTER (1999)

This was a charming movie with, at the very least, some great acting in it. Juliette Lewis, who I must admit I'm not a fan of, plays a mentally retarded young woman trying to prove her independence to her parents, and Ribisi plays her love interest. He plays the part without a hint of irony, and does a great job of it. But, we all know the rules of playing the mentally challenged and winning Oscars...

2. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)

This is, by far, my favorite film on this list, and Ribisi's performance, as an Army field medic, is positively wonderful. He holds his own with one of the best casts in recent memory. His heartbreaking monologue about his mother gave me chills, and his gruesome death is one of the many moments of this film to bring tears to my eyes. He is at his best in this role, and it could easily have been number one, if not for...

1. SUBURBIA (1996)

What's not to love about a film where a bunch of losers hang out behind a convenience store (cleverly named Circle A) and do nothing? Based on the play of the same name by Eric Bogosian, this was another great starring role for Ribisi. He commands the screen with every frame he inhabits playing slacker, pseudo-intellectual Jeff. His life is going nowhere, his friends are nobodies, his girlfriend wants to leave their small town, and he is angry. It's a shame this film isn't talked about more, because it is possibly the best film for everyone involved with it.