My Favorite Meryl Streep Performances

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Probably the greatest living actress working right now...three Oscars, nineteen nominations, her career is unprecedented and she is an actress of extreme versatility and a limitless acting range who has aided in making great films masterpieces and not so good movies seem a lot better than they are. Be forewarned that the order of my favorite performances might not be what most would expect and films that you think should be on this list might not appear at all but, as always, this is my opinion and my opinion only. The following are my favorite Meryl Streep performances:



25.

Dr. Lisa Metzger, Prime



Streep provides a master class in underplay and comic timing in one of her least seen performances. Streep plays a psychiatrist who comes to the realization that one of her patients (Uma Thruman) is dating her much younger son (Bryan Greenberg). Streep doesn't get a lot of opportunity to do comedy, but when she does, she always comes through taking the character as seriously as her dramatic roles but always finding the humor in the character and she does that in spades here.



Great first pick! Prime is a fun movie. LOVE Meryl and will be checking in on your list.



Great first pick! Prime is a fun movie. LOVE Meryl and will be checking in on your list.
I always felt like I was the only person on the planet who had ever seen Prime...they never talk about it on these boards or anywhere else.



24.

Aunt Josephine, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events



Streep's deliciously over-the-top performance here is easily the best thing about this movie.



I always felt like I was the only person on the planet who had ever seen Prime...they never talk about it on these boards or anywhere else.
Despite having some big names it's one of those movies that gets missed.

Completely forgot about her in Lemony Snicket...but when I try to think of that movie the only thing I remember is Jude Law's voice.



Despite having some big names it's one of those movies that gets missed.

Completely forgot about her in Lemony Snicket...but when I try to think of that movie the only thing I remember is Jude Law's voice.
The only thing I remember about Lemony Snicket is Meryl Streep.



23.

Mary Fisher, She-Devil



Streep's flamboyant comic turn is the best thing about this problematic 1989 comedy about a romance novelist (Streep) who drifts into an affair with an accountant (Ed Begley Jr.), much to the chagrin of the accountant's frumpy wife (Roseanne Barr). This movie features an uneven screenplay and some questionable casting, but Streep's work, as always, is on the money.



22.

Sister Aloysius Beavier, Doubt



Streep was nominated for an Oscar as the head of a convent school trying to get to the truth regarding a student accusing a priest (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) of molestation. What I love about the character and this performance is that usually nuns in cinema are portrayed as somewhat non-human and above human frailty, but Streep makes this character beautifully human and always believable.



21.

Rachel Samstat, Heartburn



Streep brings this deliciously flawed character to fruition in one of 1987's most underrated films...Rachel is a writer who has put her career on the back burner in favor of a relationship with a man (Jack Nicholson) who may not have been worth the sacrifice. Streep and Nicholson's characters are based on writers Nora Ephron and Carl Bernstein.



20.

Jane Adler, It's Complicated



Streep really appears to be enjoying herself in this light romantic comedy about a divorcee with grown children who begins dating the architect redecorating her house (Steve Martin) and then reconnects with her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) at her son's graduation and starts seeing him as well. Some critics and viewers thought these actors were a little old for this kind of comedy but I think that's exactly what makes it special and Streep's commitment to the humor in the situations presented is also a huge plus.



I too forgot about her in Unfortunate Events but i barely remember it having only seen it in the cinema when it was just released. I know i watched She-Devil when i was very young but again don't remember much, a few scenes with Roseanne stick out in my head though. Not a fan of Heartburn.



19.

Eleanor Shaw, The Manchurian Candidate (2004)



She wasn't quite as bone-chilling as Angela Lansbury was in the 1962 original, but she does an admirable job of recreating this character for the 2004 remake and, once again, is the best thing about the movie.



Interesting, i haven't seen the remake because i thought there was no reason i should but i might do so now actually. I love the original and Lansburys performance.



Mary Fisher. Garcia! Ha! Fun pick. I still haven't seen Doubt but at some point want to watch it. It's Complicated is one of my favorite romantic comedies. Interested to see if the witch from Into the Woods makes the list- didn't care for the movie overall, but thought it was worth watching just to see Meryl's performance.



I think Meryl is sexy in Adaptation.

__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra



Mary Fisher. Garcia! Ha! Fun pick. I still haven't seen Doubt but at some point want to watch it. It's Complicated is one of my favorite romantic comedies. Interested to see if the witch from Into the Woods makes the list- didn't care for the movie overall, but thought it was worth watching just to see Meryl's performance.
Trust and believe that Into the Woods will be on this list..a little too early for it.



18.

Roberta Guaspari, Music of the Heart



Streep's professionalism helps keep the schmaltz level tolerable in this fact-based story of a music teacher who makes it her mission to teach inner city (black) children to play the violin.