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Ranking Leonardo DiCaprio’s 5 Best Performances (Including One Battle After Another)
Leonardo DiCaprio‘s esteemed acting career has produced some outstanding movie performances over the last few decades. Propelled to stardom in the 1990s by his roles in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet, and Titanic, DiCaprio went on to star in tons of critically acclaimed pictures such as The Departed, Shutter Island, and Inception. Several of DiCaprio’s most admired character portrayals can be found in The Aviator, Django Unchained, and One Upon a Time… in Hollywood, though even better displays of his excellence exist in other films. DiCaprio’s newest movie, One Battle After Another, has received rave reviews, with many praising his performance. A seven-time Academy Award nominee, DiCaprio surprisingly counts just one Oscar to his name. Even so, his exceptional talent in front of the camera speaks for itself.
From the early days of his career to his more recent movies, DiCaprio’s five best acting performances are defined by their humor, emotional depth, and commanding presence.
5) The Wolf of Wall Street
DiCaprio is arguably at his most unhinged in The Wolf of Wall Street, and he delivers an all-time great performance. The Martin Scorsese-directed film stars DiCaprio as Jordan Belfort in an adaptation of the real-life criminal stockbroker’s autobiography. The Wolf of Wall Street chronicles Belfort’s rise to wealth and subsequent downfall due to his white collar crimes.
DiCaprio’s portrayal of Belfort takes full advantage of the movie’s dynamic mix of comedy and drama. He’s hilarious and exudes just the right amount of moral depravity in the role. At the same time, DiCaprio injects an underlying layer of sympathy to Belfort, resulting in one captivating interpretation of a real-world individual. Belfort’s tale of unbridled hubris and greed could not have enlisted a better actor than DiCaprio.
4) One Battle After Another
Director Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another is a phenomenal movie that plays to DiCaprio’s strengths. The star portrays Bob Ferguson, a washed-up revolutionary who finds himself thrown back into the fray when his former nemesis re-emerges to capture him and his daughter Willa (Chase Infiniti). DiCaprio is at the top of his game as he deftly navigates the humor and sincerity of his character.
He’s no stranger to playing unstable individuals, but here, DiCaprio brings an irresistible likability to someone so pathetic and cynical. Bob’s fire from his years as a freedom fighter progressively resurfaces, and DiCaprio convincingly expresses Bob’s resolve as a father while his daughter faces unimaginable danger. One Battle After Another is full of top-notch acting performances, and DiCaprio stands out in one of his best-ever roles.
3) Catch Me If You Can
Not all movie buffs remember DiCaprio for Catch Me If You Can, but the actor effortlessly shines in one of his earlier roles. In Steven Spielberg’s movie based on true events, DiCaprio plays Frank Abagnale Jr., a teenage con artist who poses as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer to acquire his wealthy status. DiCaprio’s Frank engages in a riveting cat-and-mouse game with Tom Hanks’ FBI agent Carl Hanratty, and the pursuit makes Catch Me If You Can a wild ride of a film.
DiCaprio’s charismatic and witty portrayal of Frank is the beating heart of Catch Me If You Can, as the character’s thrill in deceiving others almost compels the audience to root for him. Skillfully communicating Frank’s intelligence and youthful confidence, DiCaprio is a magnetic presence in Catch Me If You Can, which solidified the actor as a top leading talent in Hollywood.
2) Killers of the Flower Moon
DiCaprio’s most recent collaboration with Scorsese produced the second-best acting performance of his career. Killers of the Flower Moon, based on David Grann’s nonfiction book of the same title, fixates on the real-life murders of numerous Osage Nation membrs in 1920s Oklahoma. DiCaprio takes on the role of Ernest Burkhart, a World War II veteran who lives on the reservation with his uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro). Something sinister lies beneath Burkhart’s apparent good intentions toward his romantic partner Mollie (Lily Gladstone) and the Osage people, placing DiCaprio’s character at the center of the film’s mystery.
In Killers of the Flower Moon, DiCaprio does a fantastic job of conveying his character’s superficial benevolence and deep-seated malice. Burkhart’s complicity in the murders is extremely unnerving, and DiCaprio paints a fascinating portrait of immorality and selfishness. DiCaprio’s rendition of Burkhart is spineless, manipulative, and endlessly despicable, cementing him as the actor’s best villain role.
1) The Revenant
DiCaprio’s first and only Oscar win is also his greatest tour de force. The Revenant follows the journey of Hugh Glass, a fur trapper battling to survive in the wilderness after being attacked by a bear and abandoned by his group. A gripping story about revenge and family, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s film is superbly elevated by DiCaprio. Worsening conditions and the murder of his son ignite an unrelenting fire within Glass, triggering the film’s shocking and engrossing series of events.
DiCaprio delivers a performance saturated with rage, determination, and passion. Glass endures an onslaught of hardship throughout The Revenant, and it’s impossible to take one’s eyes away from DiCaprio as he authentically interprets the character’s resilience and strength fueled by his loved ones. The Revenant‘s hyper-realistic and brutal story differs from most of DiCaprio’s previous endeavors, yet his brilliance shines the brightest in this movie.
One Battle After Another is now playing in theaters.
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