The Next Best of Robert Redford

The internet will be filled with people’s favorite Robert Redford films over the next few days. I expect to see lots of Barefoot in the Park (1968), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and The Way We Were (1973). You might not see some like Lions For Lambs (2007) or The Horse Whisperer (1998). Do yourself a favor and collect a few Top Five lists from sources you trust and from friends and watch any that you haven’t seen. He’s a great actor, and when he’s engaged in a role, it’s hard to look away. Here’s those next five that won’t make the top lists because he has some stellar highs. These are the ones that exist on the fringe of greatness and will give you a little cache when you compare them to his best films.

1. Three Days of the Condor (1975) (Directed by Sydney Pollack): This excellent espionage thriller is a product of the post-Watergate times when everyone was paranoid about everyone in government. Redford feels lifted out of a Hitchcock film in this role. I wanted more Faye Dunaway (to be fair, I always want more Faye Dunaway), but the pacing here is something I wouldn’t change. This may leak into some Top Five lists as more people have found it over the past few years.
2. Jeremiah Johnson (1972) (Directed by Sydney Pollack): It’s sad that this wonderful film is now mostly known for the internet meme that everyone thinks is Zach Galifianakis. John Milius constructed a great script that called for long periods of silence. Redford has the perfect face to pull off these scenes without the movie ever seeming to drag.
3. The Candidate (1972) (Directed by Michael Ritchie): He’s part Kennedy and part Carter (before we knew we would elect a Carter) and Redford’s performance would take on more meaning as we found out what we got with Nixon after 1972. The story feels very current as it asks the question, how much would you give up of yourself in order to be elected? More importantly it also asks, then what?
4. Havana (1990) (Directed by Sydney Pollack): Their seventh collaboration together make this combo one of the more notable in Hollywood history. No one is going to put this on their Best Five. It has a terrible trailer and the photos of Redford in a white suit makes this look like a Casablanca remake. The Redford, Raul Julia, and Lena Olin love triangle set against the dusty bars of Cuba is an excellent study of the politics of the ’90s as seen through the prism of the pre-Revolution period in Havana.
5. The Hot Rock (1972) (Directed by Peter Yates): This caper film doesn’t live up to The Sting (1973), most films don’t. It’s got the teaming of Robert Redford and George Segal which should have happened more often. This caper film wants to be a comedy, but the focus on the process dulls some of the comedic situations. It’s not one that is mentioned often in lists, but it’s definitely part of the next best.

In case you wondered, the tie for best is The Sting (1973) and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Feel free to mention your favorites in the comments.