The Best Movies of Brad Pitt’s Acting Career

Quentin Tarantino has a way with actors, to be sure. Look at what he did to defibrillate John Travolta’s career with Pulp Fiction. That guy had flatlined before Tarantino gave him that wonderful role. While Brad Pitt was far from dead when this film came about, he certainly put his hooks into it. As Lt. Aldo Raine, Pitt portrays the leader of a Nazi-killing squad comprised entirely of eight Jewish-Americans during World War II. Talk about hitting the Nazis square in the junk, right? Aldo’s nickname is “The Apache” because he has a penchant for scalping Nazis native-American style. To top that off, Pitt uses some kind of hybrid southern Tennessee accent that really makes his character pop off the screen. In one of the best bits in the film, he and a few of him soldiers infiltrate a Nazi movie premiere and he disguises himself as a famous Italian actor. “Bon-jur-no.” This one is not to be missed.

We’re breaking the first rule of Fight Club by even talking about it, but we felt it necessary to add this gem to the list. Another film by David Fincher, Brad Pitt stars a Tyler Durden, a soap maker and degenerate who runs an underground fight club. Along with Edward Norton, Pitt starts small with the fight club but eventually builds up a small army for something entitled “Project Mayhem”. Watching Pitt and Norton play off of each other is bliss, and Pitt has never been more despicably charming in a role. Stay tuned for the ending as well, as it’ll blow your face off.

Pitt has a supporting role in this Terry Gilliam film about the future and time travel, but he plays it so well he was nominated for an Academy Award. In fact, without his character the film’s title wouldn’t make any sense (not that it does at a glance, anyway). As Jeffrey Goines, an inmate in an insane asylum, he becomes integral to the plot by befriending a very frightened yet determined Bruce Willis, who he helps escape. Pitt’s crazy speech, his jumping around, and his crooked eye all help lend to the overall triumph that is his performance.

David Fincher’s Se7en is pretty much a masterpiece, and Brad Pitt’s performance is a big part of why that is. As detective David Mills, newly transferred to homicide in a new city (which is never named, mind you), he finds himself embroiled in a thrilling serial killer case. The killer is conducting his own masterpiece, using the seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, pride, and envy) as motifs for his gruesome murders. Morgan Freeman plays the aging partner on his last case and the chemistry between Pitt and Freeman is remarkable. Be honest, how many times have you seen someone with a package and exclaimed, “What’s in the box?”

It’s true. True Romance isn’t exactly a Brad Pitt movie. It’s a movie with Brad Pitt in it (along with Christian Slater, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Balki from “Perfect Strangers”, and a huge ensemble cast). Brad plays Floyd, otherwise known as “Dick’s roommate”, who gets mildly involved in the mob’s attempts to get their stolen cocaine back from Clarence Worley. Pitt perfectly plays the stoner Floyd, who smokes weed out of his honey bear bong, watches TV all day, and asks for “beer and cleaning products” to be picked up from the store. He’s not in the film much, but when he is it’s hilarious.