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Monsters, Inc.


What did I tell you? Steve Buscemi doesn't just play creepy, villainous characters. See his supporting role in the 2001 Disney-Pixar animated film, where he plays Randall Boggs, a...creepy villain. Okay, so this may not the best example of Buscemi's versatility, but consider who he's playing. Imagine a shifty-eyed lizard-like monster that slithers around everyone he talks to and has the power of invisibility. What other actor would you want to provide the voice for this character, the slimy Randall Boggs? Though Monsters, Inc. isn't Pixar's best work (fast-paced sliding-door climax and Abominable Snowman humor aside, of course), Buscemi makes for a perfect villain. The actor may not make a scary enough monster in live action, but as a computer-animated one, he fits the bill perfectly.

Fargo

In what is easily one of his most well-known roles, Buscemi plays Carl Showalter, a shifty-eyed creep (yes, I know, we'll get to his versatility soon!) hired, along with his quiet Swedish partner (a scary and funny Peter Stormare), to kidnap a Minnesota housewife by the housewife's husband. The intricacies of why someone wants his wife kidnapped don't concern Carl, who's more interested in the ransom money he's meant to get, and talking. As compared with his role in the Coen Brothers' follow-up effort, 1998's The Big Lebowski, which will not appear here (sorry!), Buscemi's Carl never stops talking, even when trying to engage his fellow kidnapper in conversation ("That's a fountain of conversation there, buddy. That's a geyser."). Sure, he ends up with far more of his own blood spilling by the end of the movie; hell, he even inspires the best line in the entire movie ("And I guess that was your accomplice in the wood chipper"), but Buscemi also makes a truly memorable villain here, in what's arguably one of the great crime films of the past 20 or so years.

Ghost World

You may finally stop asking for me to prove how versatile Steve Buscemi can be. What other proof do you need aside from his turn as Seymour, a lonely middle-aged man who connects with a bored and cynical teenager named Enid (Thora Birch) in very nearly disturbing ways. Seymour, of course, has absolutely no interest in Enid sexually, but she finds herself more attracted to him as their friendship progresses. Seymour, for his part, is a sheltered and nerdy man, an avid collector of vinyl records, and hopelessly lost when conversing with women, except for Enid. Buscemi here sells the loneliness in his character's life; unlike previous roles where he plays menacing baddies, Buscemi's Seymour is about as frightening as a wisp of dust. Moreover, when he does get angry, we laugh and sometimes cringe, but not because we're scared. We're embarrassed for Seymour and want him to if not find happiness, get a little further out of his funk.

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