The Best and Worst of John Ortiz

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Replicas” star John Ortiz.

Films starring John Ortiz that I've seen:
American Gangster
Aliens vs. Predator-Requiem
Fast & Furious
Public Enemies
Silver Linings Playbook
Fast & Furious 6
The Drop
Steve Jobs
The Finest Hours
Kong: Skull Island
Going in Style
Peppermint

Best Performance: Going in Style (2017)
Ortiz is the type of character actor that is usually relegated to anonymous bit parts in large, ensemble films (Kong: Skull Island, Public Enemies, a pair of Fast & Furious movies). On the rare occasion he's been given a more substantial role, he's done pretty well for himself. Though the movie itself isn't anything overly special, Ortiz' work in senior citizen heist movie Going in Style is terrific. His slick, engaging turn as the "mentor" to the elderly robber protagonists (Morgan Freeman, Alan Arkin, Michael Caine) was easily the best thing about this respectable comedy.

Worst Performance: N/A
The aforementioned frequent anonymous bit parts paired with his ability to rise to the occasion even in weak projects like Peppermint and Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem have prevented Ortiz from giving a notably bad performance thus far. Hopefully Replicas, which received pretty poor word-of-mouth after its overseas release in early November, will keep that impressive streak going.

Best Film: Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Pure, feel-good movies are hard to come by and as far as I'm concerned, they don't get better or more affecting than Silver Linings Playbook. Thanks to an excellent script that deftly handles emotional material without ever becoming sappy and outstanding actors (Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver) that are able to turn each of these flawed characters into fully-realized, immensely likable human beings, this masterpiece from David O. Russell leaves me feeling like I ingested pure fucking sunshine every time I watch it.

Worst Film: The Finest Hours (2016)
Plenty of people loved this old-fashioned, fact-based drama about a small Coast Guard team from Chatham, Massachusetts rescuing nearly the entire crew of an oil tanker after their ship split in half during a terrible storm in April 1952. To put it lightly, I didn't share that sentiment. Its poorly-developed characters, horrendous pacing and bizarre emphasis on the romance between the Coast Guard captain (Chris Fine) and his fiancé (Holliday Grainger) ensured that The Finest Hours had nothing in common with the remarkable rescue its based on.


Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Glass” star Sarah Paulson.