Collider ranks the 12 Best Robert Pattinson Performances and No. 1 Might Surprise You

With the release of The Devil All the Time, Collider decided it was a good time rank the best performances from Rob and “chart the course of one of our most uniquely singular talents working today”. Which performance did Collider think was no. 1 – it might surprise you:

1. How to Be

You haven’t heard of this movie, and that’s okay.

Released in the US the year after Twilight hit theaters (hmm, I wonder why that timing worked out?), How to Be is a strikingly confident indie dramedy about being the least confident human alive. It is the Lighthouse of Garden States, the Rover of 500 Days of Summers; both the platonic ideal of the “2000s indie-rock melancholy white boy dramedy,” and a savagely ruthless deconstruction of its problematic tropes.

Pattinson is, simply, stunning, striking bone in every decision. From his floppy hair to his predilection to wear the same dirty-ass winter coat to his inane friends dicking around in the basement to his iffy musical aspirations (Pattinson dumbing down his own real-life musical talent), I felt skewered by Pattinson’s take on Art, the film’s lead. Pattinson gets this particular brand of creative male teenage ennui perfectly, and is almost pathologically unwilling to romanticize it in any way. The elements of Pattinson’s work I find the most watchable — his willingness to be pathetic, to be funny, to adapt wild accents and dialects naturally, to take advantage of his gangly stature, to be a passionate outsider who cannot fit in with society — are all here, and all disseminated like clockwork.

But it’s not just a technical, headfirst performance. How to Be is such a triumph because, despite Pattinson’s need to show us every single flaw on every single surface of Art’s exterior and interior lives, we still feel for him. Even root for him. And when Art gets to travel on his arc, trying to better himself, the journey is played with nuance and dynamics. The final moments of How to Be astonished me. Avoiding spoilers, they do involve a “win” of sorts for Art, but not the unbridled one you might see in another film like this. It feels, for lack of a better word, despite all of the “noticeable” aspects of Pattinson’s performing style, “real”. It’s powerful in its relatably small status shift, and it’s powerful because Pattinson refused to hold our hand at any step of the way.

He gave us this character with no varnish, with sneakily, expertly applied varnish, and trusted that we would figure out how it’s supposed to be. God bless this strange, gangly weirdo. May directors keep throwing him into any role they want.

To check out Collider’s other 11 performances, click on the Collider link above.

If you’re not familiar with How To Be, click on our Film Page HERE. This film holds a special place in our hearts as RPAU held the only Australian screening for the film.