Michael Caine’s 10 best movies

If there is to be any criticism of Sir Michael Caine as an actor, then it is only that he often plays himself in a roundabout way, the firm rebuttal to this should always be: so what! His ability as an actor seems indelibly entwined with his universal likeability as a person. For all the method and technique involved, he is proof that having the audience on board from the get-go is half the battle. He is an expert at mingling his own inherent charms with the character that he is playing to add humanity and humility to the wide-ranging roles in which he is cast.

This blurred line between self and character creates an effortless coolness on screen. However, much like fellow cool dude Jean-Paul Belmondo, Caine was never overly concerned about his coolness or likeability, making him a far more dynamic actor than many of the similar leading men who were over-sentimentalised in Hollywood. Yes, Caine was prepared to be the likeable stud driving a project along, but he was also able to twist that on its head in a shocking minute if he needed to.  

This is a craft he has been honing since he started acting after a brief spell in the military at the age of 20. But for every man, there is an era, and Caine’s was the 1960s—he simply seemed to fit this zeitgeist better. So, while he might have secured some solid TV roles in the ‘50s, it was when the swinging ‘60s came along that the cheeky cockney chap really broke into the mainstream. 

Now, he is a bonafide Hollywood legend who is both beloved among the masses and revered by his peers. During this extensive time, he has made hard work seem effortless, in part, because of his undying passion for film. As he says himself, “Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.”

To celebrate his long-running career of unspooling charm, we have curated his ten best roles below. From the comedic caper to the teary-eyed drama, Caine can do it all with pocketfuls of charisma and a knapsack of heart. 

Austin Powers in Goldmember

In a weird way, when you think of Michael Caine, his role in Goldmember is the one that instantly springs to mind. He lent into the idea of himself with brilliant self-awareness that you don’t often get in Hollywood. In fact, he put this down to his inherent Britishness, stating: “I think what is British about me is my feelings and awareness of others and their situations.”

He knew exactly what this role demanded of him, and he provided it with show-stealing ease that made everyone else seem like they were overacting, too desperate to grab that prised laugh. With glowing charisma, he comes out of the film as not only the most beloved presence but also one of the funniest. This makes for a hoot that still stands up. 

Sleuth

Sleuth holds a special place in Caine’s heart as it gave him the opportunity to star alongside perhaps the most revered actor of all time: Lord Laurence Olivier. “He gave me the greatest compliment I have ever had in my life,” Caine proudly remembered at a retrospective live event with The New York Times, “We did a scene, a very emotional scene. And at the end of it, he said, ‘You know Michael, I thought I had an assistant, now I know I have a partner.”

It is a mark of his magnificence as an actor that he was able to stand his own in an Olivier picture directed by the great Joseph L. Mankiewicz and hold his own. This gripping whodunnit might not reinvent the wheel, but it is dripping with pedigree throughout, and that craft alone is a joy to sink into. 

The Prestige

Caine has frequently worked alongside Christopher Nolan creating modern classics that have triumphed at the box office. His role within these frequently adventurous films is seemingly to ground them with a sense of heart and humanity if the plot gets a little highfalutin. This is an emotional epic that he anchors with a simultaneous sense of wonder and humility. 

That, in essence, is the crux of the film’s triumph; it toes the line perfectly between the allure of magic and the undertow of a thriller. So, in the end, it’s like Harry Potter meets HEAT, offering up the best of both worlds. Without Caine’s beguiling ways, it may well have gone too far one way or the other.

The Cider House Rules

Caine rightfully won the ‘Best Supporting Actor’ Oscar for his role in this classic adaptation of John Irving’s novel. Amid a stunning ensemble, Caine is the star who brings the picture its fitting literary depth. He fills his performance with nuances that give his character, Dr Wilbur Larch, life beyond his screen time. 

Following the story of a young man who is trained to be a doctor while growing up in an orphanage before he leaves home behind to venture out into the world, the movie is essentially a classic pivot on the age-old coming-of-age dynamic. Thanks to heartfelt performances, the true weight of that seismic moment is delivered with superb grace and poignancy. 

Alfie

Alfie is undoubtedly Caine’s most iconic role. The transcended typical measures of success upon release in 1966 and entered the cultural mainstay at large all over the world… with the notable exception of France. Puzzled, Caine asked a French friend of his why that was the case and he received the response, “No Frenchman could believe that an Englishman could seduce ten women.”

And therein lies the magic of Caine’s charm—he allows you to underestimate him. In Alfie – the tale of ladies’ man grappling with the consequences of his wanton lifestyle – he even underestimates himself, delivering an era-defining feature with an undercurrent of depth amid all the cheeky quips and easy puns. 

Get Carter

Sometimes it is hard to fathom what makes a film great. On the surface, very little separates Get Carter from a thousand other revenge flicks, but somehow, this effort becomes a genre piece ingrained in the iconography of cinema while the rest reside on the ash heap of history. And it may well be coolness alone that gets it there. 

Filled with cheap thrills, Get Carter is a checklist for B-movie action thrillers to aspire to. As the gruelling, gun-yielding central force, the besuited Caine puts his grins to one side to deliver a fearsome portrayal of one of the hardest men in film history. 

The Man Who Would be King

The wide-ranging diversity of Caine’s filmography is a feat in itself. The Man Who Would Be King helps to define that vast scope. As soldiers who adventure into Kafiristsan, Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer brought director John Huston’s vision scintillatingly to life. Caine declared that the three actors were already friends long before the film, but “I had never met John Huston,” Caine adds, “But he was my favourite director.”

That is a recipe that could never fail. The camaraderie comes across perfectly in the picture. These are star performers relishing the stewardship of a great director with a classic story to get between their teeth. The socio-political undercurrent helps to elevate the affair to even loftier heights than all the high jinks promise. 

The Dark Knight

The highlight of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy is that he brought the grandiosity of the superhero genre into the world of thrillers. This helped to up the ante of the action without the whole thing seeming silly to all of us stuffy cynics who don’t really go in for the cape crack. 

However, given that the central characters are bedecked in cartoon attire, Nolan needed his ensemble to be strong enough to bolster the thriller side of the feature. Caine masterfully helps to bring a sense of humanised depth to the film. Alongside some of the movie’s most iconic lines, he’s simply a welcome presence of homely respite that offers a contrasting calm, and an injection of heart.  

Harry Brown

The funereal attire that Caine dons on the poster tells you everything you need to know about this truly grim affair. Harry Brown is an old man revenge tale that looks at the bleak reality of austerity in Britain. In fact, the synopsis of an ex-serviceman doling out justice to a vicious young street gang barely does the dark heart of the film justice. 

When Woody Harrelson mused, “What is it that makes a great performance? The degree of vulnerability, I suppose,” it was surely performances like this that he had in mind. Caine is both fierce and frail, vengeful and remorseful, and the whole thing comes together as a mournful tour de force that proves uncompromising without ever being cynical. 

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is one of the greatest comedies ever made and it barely identifies itself as one. It is a conman caper with more charm and joie de vivre than just about any other comedy in history. It is a movie that relishes the ability to coax hilarity without punching down at anyone in a mingling joy of genres. 

“I had such a good time filming it that when they first came to me I thought they were joking,” Caine recalls regarding his casting in the role. It is this playful, self-evident onset fun that bleeds gloriously onto the screen. Caine says that the trick to the comedy was not only because of the “fabulous” Steve Martin but that “he was nuts and I was completely serious at all times. If I was trying to be funny it wouldn’t work, especially in movies.” This counterpoint proves that the film was perfectly considered, but it feels so natural that at times you forget you’re even watching a film at all, pulled away from reality by the blunderbuss of beguiling entertainment. And the cherry on top is a leg-whipping scene that might just be one of the funniest in history.

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