“King Of New York” (1990)
Abel Ferrera would become one of Walken’s most frequent collaborators across the 1990s, and while the film isn’t their strongest (both “The Addiction” and “The Funeral” are superior), the actor would pull out his most indelible turn for the director in their first movie together, 1990’s “King Of New York.” Billed as “a Ferrera/St. John original,” the film doesn’t so much break new ground as revel in the old, with a fairly generic plot involving Walken as Frank White, a recently released drug kingpin, who’s out to rise to even greater heights than he occupied before he went to Sing Sing. But it’s the performance that makes the film memorable. The actor brings his usual charisma, but also a confidence and elegance that would define many of his roles over the next decade or so, along with a surprising aptitude for politics, and even hints of regret at his actions. The film might be a fairly empty gangster tale, but Walken ensures that it’s not without a soul.
“Catch Me If You Can” (2002)
Walken’s malevolence has taken a backseat in the last decade or so with films like Todd Solondz‘s “Dark Horse” and the upcoming “A Late Quartet” giving him more grounded, down-to-earth parts. And much of this casting turnaround is down to his performance in Steven Spielberg‘s enjoyable caper picture, which won him his second Academy Award nomination (although he lost out to Chris Cooper in “Adaptation.”) Walken plays the father of Leonardo DiCaprio‘s baby-faced conman Frank Abagnale Jr, and provides much of the film’s emotional backbone. Frank Sr is one of life’s disappointments: a respected member of the community eventually cuckolded and jailed for tax evasion. And Walken lays the seeds of his son’s playful charm while also layering in a somewhat pathetic, simmering resentment at a world that’s fucked him over. It’s a lovely, melancholy turn, the most complex and moving thing in the film, and it understandably opened more doors for Walken even at this late stage of his career.
Honorable Mentions: Walken reteamed with Cimino after “The Deer Hunter” on “Heaven’s Gate,” and while the film was an infamous disaster, the actor’s again terrific — one senses that they could have been a famous partnership had Cimino not self-destructed. As we said above, he’s also great in the two other Abel Ferrera pictures, “The Addiction” and “The Funeral.” His cameos in Tarantino pictures “True Romance” and “Pulp Fiction” are among his most memorable performances, they’re fantastic, if perhaps too brief for inclusion in this list. But yes, they’re iconic and amazing on their own. Finally, of his villains, we’ve a soft spot for his performances in “The Prophecy” and “The Rundown” (two very different sides of the bad guy coin), while he’s given some lovely latter-day turns in films like “Around The Bend,” “Romance & Cigarettes” and “Dark Horse.”
Bonus: More Cowbell…
