Top 5 – Oscar Isaac Movies

It’s incredible to think of Oscar Isaac as still a relative newcomer.  A supporting player for many years, Isaac got his first true breakout in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood (2010) and has been on the rise since, becoming one of the best and most exciting actors working today.  This weekend, Isaac stars in Terry George’s The Promise, alongside Christian Bale.  So with that, here are my picks for the best Oscar Isaac movies.

Remember, these movies are based on movie quality and performance by Oscar Isaac.

5 – POE DAMERON in STAR WARS: EPISODE VII – THE FORCE AWAKENS (J.J. Abrams, 2015)

JJ Abrams sensational continuation of the legendary franchise features plenty of great characters both new and old.  Of the knew ones, Poe Dameron is one that firmly placed himself as one of the best.  The best x-wing pilot in the galaxy, Poe is a fun, alarmingly relaxed pilot who befriends Finn (and actually gives him his name), and helps the Resistance defeat The First Order.  He saves the day a number of times, yet gets in a pickle or two along the way.  He’s a terrific flawed hero and though only in the movie for a view brief moments, Isaac makes us love Poe enough that we want to see more of him.  Isaac’s charisma is in full force in this one and I cannot wait to see how they utilize Poe in the later films.

4 – REEVES in 10 YEARS (Jamie Linden, 2011)

10 Years is one of the most underrated and underseen movies of this decade.  This sweet, funny look at a select number of people at their ten year high school graduation.  For being a small, relatively unseen movie, this cast is spectacular, featuring the likes of Channing Tatum, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Anthony Mackie, Justin Long, Rosario Dawson, Kate Mara, Chris Pratt, Aubrey Plaza, and of course, Oscar Isaac.  Out of this stellar group, it is Isaac’s Reeves that I enjoyed the most.  Playing the one friend who made it big as a musician, Reeves gets mobbed by his former classmates, all of whom want to be friends with a star.  But his sites are set on Elise (Mara), the girl he had a crush on back in the day, yet never did anything about.  What transpires between the two is wonderful, and culminates in Reeves performing an acoustic version of his hit, ‘Never Had’ which is a great song and acts as the films emotional high point.  Isaac sings and plays the guitar, fleshing out his soul on lost love and regret and seemed like it was a tryout for a movie I will be talking about later on down the list.  If you haven’t seen 10 Years, seek it out, as it really is a hidden gem.

3 -NATHAN in EX-MACHINA (Alex Garland, 2015)

Ex-Machina is the cinematic version of a Willy Wonka Gobstopper.  If you don’t remember, that was the small candy Wonka gave Violet that had an entire dinner in it.  It’s a small, claustrophobic sci-fi thriller that just bleeds with layers of deception, horror, comedy, and drama.  Isaac plays Nathan, a scientist in a remote location who brings in Caleb (a great Domhnall Gleeson) into his greatest experiment ever: Ava (breakout Alicia Vikander), an incredibly real robot with the highest form of artificial intelligence.  Caleb thinks it is simple experiment, but realizes Nathan has other ideas.  Isaac does a brilliant job of riding the line of nice guy and insanity.  We never know what Nathan is thinking or is going to do.  One minute, he’ll be breaking down the scientific revolution Ava is, the next he’ll have an impromptu dance party, followed by spying on Nathan and Ava’s conversation.  It takes a truly skilled actor to ride this tight rope and Isaac does it like a pro.

2 – ABEL MORALES in A MOST VIOLENT YEAR (JC Chandor, 2014)

Similar to 10 Years, A Most Violent Year is an incredibly unseen and under appreciated movie.  JC Chandor’s third directorial effort is his most impressive feat to date.  This is an old-school gangster film pulled straight out of the 70’s.  Chandor is a great actor’s director, always pulling out great performances from his cast and he gets two masterful ones from Isaac and co-star Jessica Chastain.  Isaac’s Abel is an immigrant trying to do the American dream right by marrying a WASP in Anna (Chastain) and inheriting his father -in-law’s heating oil distribution, which operates in the New York market.  However, when Abel’s corrupt competitors begin a string of robberies and violence towards Able’s business and a local D.A. officer (David Oyelowo, crushing it as always) starts looking into Abel’s books, Abel becomes worried he may not be living the dream much longer.  Like the movie, Isaac gives a performance that builds and builds, tightening the tension until it snaps.  This is a performance a wildly underrated performance in a tragically underrated movie.

1 – LLEWYN DAVIS in INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS (The Coen Brothers, 2013)

From Marge Gunderson, to the Dude, to Anton Chigurh, The Coen Brothers know how to make iconic characters.  The Coen’s have been on a tear this decade, punching out movie after movie and giving us terrific dialog, unique characters, and brilliant movies.  Inside Llewyn Davis is the best movie the Coen’s have made since their Oscar winning No Country for Old Men (2007) and that movie’s success relies heavily on the performance of Oscar Isaac.  This was the performance that proved Isaac was a star.  A performance that hits every emotion possible and captivates from the very beginning.  Davis is sweet, funny, and talented, yet incredibly flawed, inconsiderate, and tragic.  Once again, Isaac shines in the musician role, playing the guitar and singing with such soul and passion, like his career depended on it.  This is the performance that showed Isaac was the real deal.  The Coen Brothers are two of my favorite directors ever and have given us legendary characters on the regular.  Inside Llewyn Davis is one of the duo’s finest and Llewyn Davis is one of the their greatest characters and all because of Oscar Isaac’s masterful performance.