Michael Rapaport plays the whipping post in a few movies and a confident supporting character in others. If you doubt this then you might need to take a good look at some of his movies as opposed to others since honestly he does provide a lot of proof for this. He does come off as a nice guy and doesn’t really seem to be a convincing bad guy, but he’s had his chance at doing this as well. There have been a couple of moments in movie history when he’s been one of the worst characters in the movie, from a moral and ethical standpoint, but more often than not it seems that he’s more comfortable playing the part of the buddy, the sidekick, or at least someone that tends to stay away from conflict but somehow becomes embroiled in conflict all the same since it seems to follow his characters around.
Here are his five best movies.
5. Men of Honor
Snowhill isn’t a major character in this movie but he’s kind of pitiful since he really doesn’t look as though he belongs in this story since he’s definitely one of the weakest of the bunch. As a result he tends to run afoul of the Master Chief and fails the diving program right away. The time period in which this movie was set was definitely less conducive to those that were perceived as weak and it’s showed quite well when it comes to Snowhill since the simple idea that he is tolerant and becomes friends with Carl is enough to make him a target. He does eventually get placed back in the diving program but only when the Master Chief gets himself removed from the base.
4. Beautiful Girls
Michael Hann of The Guardian makes it pretty clear that this movie is about the same things that a lot of us deal with when it comes to relationships and what it takes to simply establish and then maintain them. Paul is the kind of guy that just doesn’t understand women and yet knows that he wants something, though he doesn’t seem to know how to get it. His methods for dealing with his ex though are kind of akin to that of a high school or even grade school kid that doesn’t know how to talk to his ex and thereby reacts in the only way that he knows how, which is to annoy the hell out of her and be what some would call a stereotypical ‘guy’.
3. True Romance
Crazy is how you might describe this movie since quite honestly it’s something that you can’t unsee once you’ve seen it since there are enough disturbing themes within the movie that are fun to watch but kind of hard to really think about in real life since, well, it’d be nothing less than highly illegal and even considered a deadly situation. Still, it’s one of the many movies that a lot of us grew up on and would no doubt defend as one of the better movies of its time since it covers subjects that we enjoy watching and can’t help but enjoy when they’re glamorized on the big or small screen.
2. Cop Land
Jack Godwin of Little White Lies isn’t too far off the mark by saying that this was not one of Stallone’s best movies, but it still carried enough of a punch that it was seen as something better than what the critics would have us believe. The idea of a small-town cop taking on a group of high-powered police officers when he starts to notice the corruption they’re involved in. Normally he just turns a blind eye, but when two young African American men are killed by a NYPD officer he has to find the individual before the corrupt cops can kill him to cover up the incident and make it just go away.
1. Higher Learning
Remy is a seriously disturbed individual and it’s kind of hard to miss that he really doesn’t seem to belong in this scenario, but without him there’s not much of a story. Going to college is supposedly a rite that a lot of young kids see as expected by some and is also a way to a better life if one applies themselves. But it’s also a huge melting pot where those that want to follow the system and do what it demands tend to close their eyes and hope for the best, while those that like to think for themselves and not conform tend to stand out. In this movie Remy is one of those stands out in a big way and pushes the story forward in a way that shows the problems between individuals that is so over-generalized into issues between those of different races.
He’s a great actor really, but he’s definitely a supporting character and not a lead.
