The 25 Best Movie Performances of 2011

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Award season won’t begin in earnest for a few more weeks, but regardless of who takes home statues, these were our favorite performances—lead, supporting, or in one case, motion-captured—of 2011. We limited one entry per actor, but we did include more than one actor per movie on a couple of occasions (including our Top 2). Here are the 25 Best Movie Performances of 2011.

20. Steve Coogan in The Trip
It’s nearly impossible to choose between Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan in The Trip—after all, the entire movie is essentially the two foils playing off each other, delivering spot-on impression after spot-on impression, with each comedian constantly trying to one-up the other. Ultimately, however, it’s Coogan’s performance as an exaggerated version of himself that brings some emotional depth to the movie. In between making us cry with laughter, he grapples with jealousy and loneliness, ultimately forced to choose between his broken family and a new career opportunity.—Bonnie Stiernberg

19. Tony Hale in Happythankyoumoreplease
Tony Hale takes on a decidedly un-Buster Bluth performance. Casting him as Sam #2 took some imagination from director Josh Radnor, and Hale responded with a confident performance that stood out at last year’s Sundance.—Michael Dunaway

18. Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris
Against all odds, Owen Wilson turns out to be an excellent choice for the Allen-esque protagonist (Woody, of course, seldom writes any other type). Wilson seems to project a goofy thoughtfulness naturally, and it softens the edges of Allen’s neurotic writing and draws the viewer in. Unlike many of Allen’s protagonists, we’re really rooting for Gil.—Michael Dunaway

17. Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Meryl Streep has been nominated for 16 Academy Awards. Her turn as Margaret Thatcher will likely garner her a seventeenth—not just for impersonating the longest-serving prime minister in the United Kingdom and the first female elected to lead a Western government, but for capturing the fading dignity of a powerful woman in the twilight of her life, denied her freedom and losing her grip on reality.—Annlee Ellingson

16. Andy Serkis in Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Caesar, the film’s most important character, is almost entirely generated by the computers of WETA (the Lord of the Rings). Once he becomes older, he’s played by Andy Serkis, who gave life and motion to Gollum in Rings and did fine work portraying another famous big ape in Peter Jackson’s King Kong. Serkis’ work is once-again award-worthy. Not only does Caesar look real, but he takes on characteristics and mannerisms that are a unique blend of ape and human in the various stages of development. The transformation is uncanny.—Jonathan Hickman

15. Ben Kingsley in Hugo
Not surprisingly, Academy Award winner Ben Kingsley (Shutter Island, House of Sand and Fog) is once again impressive as the haunted and hardened artist-turned-shopkeeper. At the beginning of the film, his genius and pain is palpable.—Shannon M. Houston

14. Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Just because it’s a role made for an Oscar doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve it. With help from former Jedi Ewan McGregor, his performance turns a film about a dying father into one of the funniest and most soulful films of the year.—Michael Dunaway

13. Charlize Theron in Young Adult
Theron proved in her Oscar-winning role in Monster that she can play as ugly as she is beautiful, and here she demonstrates that transformation, for Mavis is a hot mess when she’s not trying to woo Buddy, and the day-long prep it takes to get from before to after entails grody pedicures, faux hairpieces and tone-deaf outfits. Mavis is sexy and clever but also oblivious and cruel, and Theron embraces all of it, shoving her inevitable awkward humiliation at us. We can’t turn away, and as a result, finally, we see her.—Annlee Ellingson

12. Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn
Though her celebrity doesn’t approach that of the icon she portrays, there’s also no doubt as to the caliber of actress Michelle Williams’ talent, as she gives an ethereal, award-worthy performance as Monroe. In the film’s second half, she not only captures Monroe’s illuminating essence, but her instability and unpredictability, as well.—Caitlin Colford

11. Ryan Gosling in Drive
Ryan Gosling’s unnamed lead character, a part-time Hollywood stunt driver, part-time mechanic, is chock full of sideward glances and sly innuendos as he moonlights as a getaway driver for hire whose heart strings are tugged by a fair-skinned single mother, Irene.—Caitlin Colford