10. What Dreams May Come (1998)
While I personally find Vincent Ward's film to be a highly flawed attempt at philosophical profundity, I have to say that I liked Williams' performance. He creates a wholly empathetic figure in Chris Neilson, and he capably runs the full gamut of human emotion from sorrow to elation in varying degrees of strength. He manages (though just barely) to draw our focus more than the film's overblown effects.
9. The Fisher King (1991)
Here is yet another example where I feel the movie's interesting thematic content is somewhat overshadowed by the director's stylistics (in this case, Terry Gilliam's), but Williams comes out of it with a memorable performance (and the third of four Oscar nominations) under his belt. His delusional hobo Parry brims with energy, but the slow reveal of his traumatic past is well handled as well.
8. Insomnia (2002)
Christopher Nolan brilliantly cast against type by getting Williams to play manipulative “wild card” Walter Finch in Insomnia. It's not that Williams hadn't done serious roles before, but seldom has be played such a perplexing and villainous character; his motives always in question, the sinister machinations of his plan always in flux. It's definitely among his most underrated work.
7. The Birdcage (1996)
Williams shifts over a tad from his usual centre-of-attention comedy to play the straight man (well, gay straight man, I guess) to Nathan Lane's screaming drag queen in Mike Nichols' remake of La Cage aux Folles. It's refreshing to see him tone back the mania of his comic sensibilities, although he does still treat us to one sidesplitting flourish of his inner choreographer before ironically instructing his pupil to “keep it all inside”.
6. Awakenings (1990)
Penny Marshall's subdued drama about catatonic patients suddenly thrust back into life by a miracle drug owes a lot of its success to what is one of Willaims' quietest performances to date. He plays the timid doctor who revitalizes a ward of encephalitis victims, bringing him to realize that he, in perfect health, has been living in his own coma for years. His subtly affective acting communicates a new-found zeal for life.
5. Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
While Greg Cannom's Oscar-winning makeup went a long way in supporting the illusion of a sexagenarian British nanny in Chris Columbus' droll charmer, it's Williams who has to really sell it. Not only is his Mrs. Doubtfire a convincing and endearing creation, he never let's us forget the real character behind the costume; a desperately devoted father with nothing but the most sincere love for his children.
4. Dead Poets Society (1989)
It occurs to me that the high placement of this performance on the list may have more to do with my personal affection for the film (Peter Weir's finest in my opinion) than the performance, but what can I say? It moved me. The first time I saw Williams' free-thinking, idealistic Prof. Keating – I was at that impressionable adolescent stage – he made me feel like one of his students. It may not have won over all critics in 1989 or today, but it certainly inspired me.
3. Aladdin (1992)
Next to stand-up, animation is probably the most appropriate medium for keeping up Williams' comedic stream of consciousness. His perpetually transforming Genie is an hilarious creation – a perfect marriage of his on-the-fly improvisation and the animators' meticulous technique. He left directors Ron Clements and John Musker with nearly 16 hours of mostly ad-libbed material, much of which would not have been suitable for the film!
2. Good Will Hunting (1997)
Williams was never warmer nor more human in any of his roles than he was as the worldly psychiatrist to Matt Damon's Will Hunting. His comedian wit and sense of timing is still on display, but in more measured doses than usual. His face is emotive and his line delivery refreshingly soft spoken. Credit should also go to Gus Van Sant for reigning in the actor so effectively (in his Oscar speech, Williams acknowledged Van Sant as being “so subtle he's subliminal”).
1. Good Morning Vietnam (1987)
Ten years before being granted that Academy Award for Good Will Hunting, Williams received his first nomination for playing fast-talking radio DJ Adrian Cronauer in Barry Levinson's Vietnam War dramedy. This is the character that struck the best balance between Williams' free-flowing sense of humour and his dramatic talents, and he carefully evokes Cronauer's transition from irreverent clown to disillusioned man of principle while maintaining believability and empathy throughout.
