TulaneLSU's Top 10 Joe Pantoliano moving picture roles

Dear Friends,

Our good friend, Joey Pants, is likely to make a recovery after being hit by a car yesterday. Times like these remind us of the brevity and fragility of life, and that we often do not appreciate the ones who have given us so much until they have entered a new world. I think, until yesterday, few of us have given Joe Pantoliano his due as an actor.

No one ever talks about him as a great actor. He has, to my knowledge, won no significant acting awards, yet his career speaks for itself. He is one of our generation's greatest and certainly unappreciated actors. Pantoliano's career spans nearly 50 years. His roles have been diverse, from villain to comic. Whenever he is on the screen, he quietly steals that scene, even if at the time you do not realize it.

I would like to share with you my favorite 10 Joey Pantoliano roles. I would enjoy reading your top 10 if you wish to share. I will email this thread to him, as a get well card, so please also leave your well wishes and prayers here. Thank you.

TulaneLSU's Top 10 Joe Pantoliano moving picture roles:

10. Cypher, The Matrix



Joey Pants does something few supporting actors do: he acts, over and over in his career, in such a way that it is his role and his character that stick with you through the years. He may only get five or ten minutes of screen time, but somehow in that short period, he is the one who teaches us the movie's theme. His performances are always exceptional, and that his work in the grossly overappreciated The Matrix, is the only good thing I can say about that entire film series.

9. Snake, Running Scared



The bad guy turned informant is the focus of every scene he enters. It is not his funky appearance. It is entirely Pantoliano's shrill voice and poignant acting. One really sees an acting genius in this film, although entirely underutilized, which is a recurrent theme throughout Pantoliano's career.

8. Eddie Ventro, Congo



Plays the guy who can get things and get things done better than any predecessor. The film was a flop, but Pantoliano shined brighter than the blue diamonds.


7. Captain Conrad Howard, Bad Boys For Life



I haven't seen the other Bad Boys movies, but if they are anything like the most recent installment, Pantoliano should already have three Oscars for Best Supporting Actor just for this series. His energy and passion are electrifying, even as an old embattled captain. So many others have played similar roles before him, like Ice Cube in New Orleans shot 21 Jump Street, John McGinley in Point Break, or Steve Kahan in Lethal Weapon. None of them became the film's pivotal character or even give a memorable performance. Pantoliano does both, as only he can.

6. Bob Keene, La Bamba



Subtle is never as subtle as his role as record producer Bob Keene. If you cannot enjoy his role here, you cannot appreciate supporting roles.

5. Frank Demarest, Empire of the Sun



Few realize that it was Joey P who launched both Christian Bale and John Malkovich's careers. In this late 80s classic, he plays Malkovich's not-so-trustworthy sidekick. While the film focuses on Bale and Malkovich's relationship, Frank is the ideal foil. Only someone as gifted as Pantoliano could bring that tension to the screen in such an understated and imperceptible way. He truly is the glue that binds all the characters here.

4. Guido, Risky Business



It was perhaps this role that foreshadowed and inspired his role in The Sopranos. "If you're smart, like I think you are, you're not going to make me come back here." No one can play the Sicilian Napoleon complexed criminal better than Joey P. His ambition stands above his height. He is conflicted, as he knows he can break this kid, but he also knows that he is Sicilian and, in the 1980s, seen as an outsider, an inferior to WASPY Tom Cruise and his parents' established wealth. It is a subtle yet masterful character.

3. Teddy, Memento



I argue that it was Pantoliano who made Christopher Nolan's career. Nolan was all downhill once Memento stopped filming. Although the Guy guy gets more credit for acting in this role, I believe it was Teddy who makes the entire movie possible. Teddy's dubious character keeps us guessing the entire time, and thanks to Pantoliano's performance, we never know exactly what to think of Teddy.

2. Ralph Cifaretto, The Sopranos



Without question a top five character in the show. Somehow this show produces a host of sympathetic psychopaths. Only Joe Pantoliano can produce on screen the one psychopath for whom we have no understanding. He is the ultimate bad guy. Although his role is relatively short lived, his presence is felt for the entirety of the series once he makes his first appearance. The second biggest character from Season 1, the fat rat, Bonpensiero, comes no where near Ralphie's post-death presence.

1. Francis Fratelli, The Goonies



Francis should have gotten many more scenes. He is the one who pushes the movie to greatness from the get-go as the real spark in the opening scene. Too little of the film delves into his broken relationship with his mother and brothers, but in every fold of his face, we read a life of Fratelli family conflict. Even the good times, like when Mama Fratelli took the three brothers to the Bronx Zoo, are tainted with pain, suffering, and conflict. Francis may be Mama's favorite, but he had anything but an idyllic upbringing.

People want to see a Goonies sequel? A far better idea would be a Fratelli's sequel with Joey P returning as Francis. Chunk becomes cool in college and kicks burdensome Sloth to the curb. Dejected, Sloth wants to establish a relationship with his imprisoned flesh and blood. The film begins with Sloth breaking Francis and Jake out of prison. Revenge on those kids is their next journey together. Back to the actual film, Pantoliano, is a show stopper throughout who brings out the best in every other character. It is a masterful supporting role, perhaps the epitome of what a supporting role is.

Faith, Hope, and Love,
TulaneLSU