Tom Sizemore

In Heat (1995), Tom Sizemore’s Michael Cheritto is a member of the criminal crew we take seriously. His intensity helps make these men credible as people capable of the frightening violence Michael Mann puts on screen. He holds his place alongside De Niro and Pacino, giving a supporting part enough weight to matter within the larger ensemble. We rate him most highly here, where Mann’s patient attention to character gives the toughness more to do than announce itself.

True Romance (1993), directed by Tony Scott, was part of the early run of supporting roles that brought him to prominence. Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (1994) made more aggressive use of that threatening presence, casting him as Detective Jack Scagnetti. We found Scagnetti frightening because the detective offers menace where we expect reassurance. It is committed work in a film whose restless editing has more interest than its repetitive media satire. Sizemore gives Stone a suitably sinister policeman, but there is only so much an actor can do when a film keeps making the same point.

His most visible work came as Sergeant Horvath in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998). It was a natural use of an actor who could give war stories depth from a supporting position, and a sensible next stop for anyone interested in his work beyond crime films. He continued the military work as McKnight in Black Hawk Down (2001). Supporting roles across film and television continued, while the later projects were largely lower-profile.

The limitation is that his toughness can be the first thing we notice and the last thing we remember. We want a film to give him colleagues, rivals and a particular job, rather than leave him to supply a general sense of danger. A director still has to make a character worth spending time with once the threat has registered. Start with Heat, and pay attention to the crew as well as the stars.