Great subtle moments in movies

[Blarg]

There's a potential for perverse greatness in this thread, but it's gotta ride a fine line.

[Jay Riall]

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The scene in Heat where Robert DeNiro, driving through a tunnel on the way to the airport, has a wordless argument with himself as to whether to kill Renfro(? think I got the name right) or go off with the girl and live happy ever after, the disciplined, sensible way he's been at great pains to think of himself his entire hard, lonely life. Does he have the integrity and control over his demons and his pride that he sees as the foundation of his character, or not? No words, just a few seconds. It's not easy to see how subtle but thorough it is the first time around. It just seems like a few decent but fairly unremarkable expressions in a great action flick. That there's actually much of a structure and story to it makes it a wonderfully powerful, compact performance.

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His naturalistic acting in that film is just amazing. Even simple things like him asking his girl to pass the cream in the coffeehouse are just brilliant. Him getting to know his girl in that film to me is just soo believable also, and a really refreshing change of pace from 99% of other Hollywood screen romances.

[boxedIn]

Someone already mentioned Adaptation but I think it has by far the most awesomeness in regards to this thread. Maybe this was obvious to everyone, but in the movie the normal brother was writing the script and couldn't come up with more plot, so he asks his crazy brother for help. And remember, they're writing the script to the movie they're playing in. And as soon as he asks the crazy brother for help, suddenly the movie goes nuts -- people are dying, kidnaps are happening, alligators are attacking ... whereas before it was a nice talky movie, as soon as he asks the brother who says "let's get more action in here!" it suddenly turns to an action movie ... because they're writing their own script.

It astounded me the amount of levels you had to think of to really watch that movie ...

[DrewDevil]

Ferris Bueller's Day Off---as Cameron starts yelling and kicking his dad's Ferrari, and there's a super-quick cut to Sloan and Ferris. She starts to rush forward toward Cameron, and Ferris grabs her arm to stop her.

[metsandfinsfan]

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Ferris Bueller's Day Off---as Cameron starts yelling and kicking his dad's Ferrari, and there's a super-quick cut to Sloan and Ferris. She starts to rush forward toward Cameron, and Ferris grabs her arm to stop her.

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yeah and ....

[Steem_Machine]

Any of Pachino's acting in scarface.

"Say hello to my little friend!!!"

...subtle

[JuntMonkey]

Sopranos season one finale. Tony tells Melfi about a dream he had in which he was banging his neighbor Jeannie Cusamano from behind, "with her big ass...".

Melfi, who is friends with Jeannie, says "funny that you should mention her 'big ass', because Jeannie Cusamano is actually quite slender."

[kioshk]

Five Easy Pieces: The last. Nicholson ditches his girl and hops into the cab of a truck. The trucker says something about it being cold where they're going, and Nicholson, without a coat, kind of shrugs, like he's ready for it, whatever comes. And that's it.

[matt85]

I think a good one is in The Godfather when Michael Corleone is going to kill the two guys in the restaurant.

When he's sat there with the gun contemplating it and instead of using music like most films they use the noise of a subway train getting louder and louder to reflect whats going on in his head.

[Rushmore]

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Near the end of Glengarry Glen Ross, Jack Lemmon comes in all psyched and happy, saying "Put me on the Cadillac Board!" after making a big sale.

As Kevin Spacey tells him that the customers are flakes, you can actually see Lemmon deflate. He doesn't say anything, but he actually appears to shrink as the realization sets in.

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This is a great example.

Jack Lemmon is so good at that moment, you can just see that his life is essentially over.

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I would have to see it again to be sure but Dids summed up my thoughts on this scene with:
"I'm pretty sure that obvious non-verbal acting isn't really that subtle."

Seriously...Jack Lemmon's character is all happy. He gets informed that his sale is likely no good. Jack Lemmon's charcater is now unhappy.
This does not strike me as particularly subtle.

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No, but that doesn't detract from how good it is.

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Didn't say it wasn't good.
That still doesn't make it subtle though imo.

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I have to agree--it's really just great acting that doesn't involve anything exploding or any car chases or humping.

I stand corrected.