Alan Arkin

When Alan Arkin plays a grump, he rarely seems to be waiting for us to laugh. The dry delivery makes the complaint sound serious to the man making it, and we value that respect for an awkward character. This was useful well before the familiar older-man parts. His debut in The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming (1966) established him as a comic lead; Wait Until Dark (1967), opposite Audrey Hepburn, supplied menace, though the acting could be theatrical. He then played Yossarian for Mike Nichols in Catch-22 (1970).

In Andrew Niccol's Gattaca (1997), he plays Detective Hugo, a useful reminder to look beyond the comedies when following his work. The precise production design makes genetic discrimination frighteningly plausible, while Jude Law's bruised performance gives it a human cost. The film's solemnity sometimes gets in the way, but we recommend it for making its premise so convincing. It is one to choose for the film rather than for a substantial dose of Arkin's comedy.

Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), with Arkin as Dr Oatman, is a less persuasive reason to spend an evening. John Cusack and Minnie Driver make its unlikely romance worth following, and the early comedy is sharp. We warmed to those two, then grew irritated as the film became increasingly pleased with its own cleverness. There is too little development of the premise to sustain it, and we would not recommend it simply because Arkin is among the cast.

His renewed prominence with Little Miss Sunshine (2006) and Argo (2012) made the gruff supporting parts especially familiar. As the foul-mouthed grandfather Edwin Hoover in the former, Arkin finds humanity without tidying the man up. Lester Siegel, the jaded Hollywood producer in the latter, belongs to the same broad family of world-weary men. That familiarity could become a limitation, however reliable the comic timing. For a warmer Arkin, try his Bill in Tim Burton's Edward Scissorhands (1990).