Lately the most striking thing about Brad Pitt—he’s not the only one but he’s one of few actors right now who it applies to—is that everything he’s been in for the past several years has been outstanding, and he has been outstanding in them. It’s a testament to his seemingly increasing talent but also his judgment in selecting roles and projects that are excellent. The first of this string of terrific films was probably Babel in 2006, a bit of a departure for someone of Pitt’s star caliber, especially coming off a movie like Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And then there was a real streak of quality that included many aforementioned titles as well as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Assassination of Jesse James, and some promising upcoming features. His performances in all of these have been uniformly fantastic.
It’s not exactly a departure from his previous work, though, not terribly exceptional based on his career up to recent years. This is a guy who established himself alongside the great David Fincher in movies like Se7en and Fight Club, in addition to stuff like 12 Monkeys and Snatch. So he’s always basically been a really great actor. And it’s enough to make us all insanely jealous. Brad Pitt has got it going on, and always has, and probably always will. I’m man enough to admit it. But unfortunately, not man enough to be it.
