CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

                                                                Part 2

With a career that spanned seven decades, Christopher Plummer must have been in some pretty doggie movies, right? Of course. But we’re going for the good stuff, and there is still plenty of it.

The Man Who Would Be King (1975) features future megastars Michael Caine and Sean Connery as British ex-soldiers out for adventure. When they land in the middle of a civil war in an obscure country Connery’s character (Danny Dravot) is shot with an arrow but is unharmed because his bandolier stops it. The natives then think he is a god and he and his buddy have a grand time taking advantage of it. The story was written by Rudyard Kipling, and Mr. Plummer appears as Kipling- both on screen and as narrator. 

12 Monkeys (1995) is a sci-fi thriller starring Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis. It involves a virus which is killing everyone in the world. Willis’ character is sent back in time (!) to trace the virus to its source and stop it. Christopher Plummer plays the semi-mad scientist who developed the killer bug.

In the award-winning A Beautiful Mind (2001) Russell Crowe (nominated for Best Actor) is the brilliant but somewhat demented John Nash, a crackerjack mathematician. Christopher Plummer plays Dr. Rosen, a psychiatrist who tries to helpl Nash with mixed results. Ron Howard won an Oscar for directing, Jennifer Connelly won as Nash’s long-suffering wife, and the picture itself copped the Oscar.

The 2002 film of Nicholas Nickleby is pretty good, but nothing will ever equal the 1982 British TV series with Roger Rees as Nicholas. In the 2002 version, Chrisopher Plummer plays the cold-hearted and hateful Ralph Nickleby, who declines to give any meaningful help to orphaned Nicholas and his sister Catherine. He really makes you hate him!

Christopher Plummer appears as Arthur Case, one of the principal manipulators in Inside Man (2006) a banker with a dark secret in his lock box. He helps a big heist of the bank and hopes to protect his box. The elaborate heist investigated by Denzel Washingon (Det. Keith Frazier) does not end well for the robbers or Case.

Mr. Plummer may also be seen with pleasure in supporting roles in Night of the Generals (1967), The Spiral Staircase (1975), and Malcolm X (1992). His last notable appearance was in the American version of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011) as Henry Vanger. 

All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for adults.