Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.

There are two careers among the cast of this weekend’s release of Belfast who could merit their own articles. Judi Dench is one of the pair and her career seems as strong as ever, so I am certain she will get her own at some point in the future. Instead, I’d like to focus on Ciaran Hinds. Hinds is an actor who has managed to eke out a rather surprisingly broad career in small and major films along the way. He’s been parts of the cast of numerous films from small independent efforts to big blockbuster. I felt it only appropriate to give him his due this week with these five selections. While he might not have been a big part of these films’ success, he still leaves an indelible impression whenever he’s on screen.

Road to Perdition (2002)

One of the disappointing facts about Hinds’ film career is that it’s often been in small or bit parts. Ever the character actor, Hinds has a brief role in Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition, an adaptation of a popular graphic novel that sees Tom Hanks as the adoptive son of a mob boss (Paul Newman) who finds himself on the wrong end of the boss’ natural-born son (Daniel Craig) who kills his wife and daughter before Hanks escapes to Chicago hoping for revenge.

This brutal, violent neo-noir feature has top notch performances from its starry cast and Mendes clearly takes his inspiration from the films noir of the past. It’s brutal at times, but never dull and when it comes to films about mob life, it’s one of the best of recent vintage. Would that Hinds had a more pivotal role in the film instead of being killed off in the first act. Regardless, he’s a welcome sight very early in the film and the film’s well worth the time to seek out.

Munich (2005)

As part of Steven Spielberg’s thriller exploring the retaliation against a group of Palestinian terrorists who assassinated 11 Isreali Olympic athletes in 1972, Ciaran Hinds has a solid supporting role as one of the team to carry out the mission led by former a Mossad agent (Eric Bana). Alongside Daniel Craig, Mathieu Kassovitz, and Hanns Zischler, the quintet embark on a dangerous mission that sees them tracking the perpetrators across the globe with help and interference from a handful of foreign agents.

In Schindler’s List, Spielberg looks at the inhumanity of the Holocaust and the efforts made by certain individuals to protect and save as many Jews as possible. In Munich, he instead turns to a revenge narrative that seeks to question whether the taking of a life, even in retaliation for another heinous act, is morally justified. With an able cast of actors, most of whom weren’t widely well known at the time of the film’s release, possibly excepting Bana, Spielberg is able to grapple with the desire for revenge and its toll on one’s moral character.

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Based on Upton Sinclair’s novel Oil!, Paul Thomas Anderson’s film follows the story of a miserly prospector who becomes an oil tycoon (Daniel Day-Lewis) and the greed that consumes him as he buys rights to an entire oil reserve near Los Angeles. His plans are frustrated by a fiery preacher (Paul Dano) who works to undermine Day-Lewis at every opportunity, recognizing his morally ambiguous business dealings.

Anderson’s film is one of the best films of the decade, exploring capitalism in the American frontier and moral relativism as it relates to avarice. Day-Lewis’ riveting portrayal is unhinged in many ways, making his complex character more compelling as a result. Dano is also strong in the film as is a quiet Hinds who plays one of Day-Lewis’ longtime business associates and surrogate father to his son. This is a film that has a lot of complex moral and philosophical outlooks that could be endlessly debated, especially as it relates to the mindset of those at the wealthy, morally bankrupt end of modern income inequality.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Tomas Alfredson (Let the Right One In) directs this slow-boil Cold War spy thriller adapted from a novel by John le Carré. This twisting drama sees Gary Oldman as a British agent assigned to root out a Soviet mole in the British intelligence apparatus. A web of lies and information eventually unfold for Oldman who puts them to use in characteristic secret agent fashion, creating a trap for the traitor.

Alfredson’s taut thriller moves slowly, but is never boring. It’s a riveting narrative that represents the best of what was popular in Cold War spy literature. Hinds plays an important role in the film as one of the new bureau chief’s lieutenants. Although he doesn’t have one of the major roles, those go to the likes of Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Toby Jones. It’s a brilliant array of actors all work at the top of their game in a film that’s indelibly exciting.

First Man (2018)

With his first film following his Best Directing Oscar for La La Land, Damien Chazelle turned his attention to another genre, the historical drama First Man about the efforts of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration’s push to put a man on the moon. Ryan Gosling stars as Neil Armstrong, a test pilot who would later go on to become the first person to set foot on Earth’s moon. Hinds makes his appearance here as Bob Gilruth, the first director of NASA’s Manned Spacecraft Center. It isn’t a glamorous or significant role, but he makes the most of it.

Chazelle makes it clear that he’s fascinated by the science and technology behind the first manned flights into outer space and the race to beat the Soviets to the moon. The film takes its time getting the audience from Armstrong’s 1961 nearly-failed test flight all the way to his journey to the moon and back. It’s fascinating to watch the film, especially if you’re a fan of aeronautics and space exploration.