Massive Reviews List of Benedict Cumberbatch Works I’ve Seen

[shadowfireflame]

Just so I can keep track of them all and maybe help out people looking for something to watch.

Obviously Benedict Cumberbatch is one of my most favorite actors ever. I’ve noticed that no matter what role he’s playing, he always has amazing chemistry with the other actors. He plays lots of iconic characters, too, as well as men who are suffering in some way, often from psychological or physical trauma-which, I’ll be honest, as a hurt/comfort lover, this is exactly the stuff I love to watch. (And as Benedict himself has noted, he often finds himself with the roles of “slightly wan, ethereal, troubled intellectuals or physically ambivalent bad lovers. But I’m here to tell you I’m quite the opposite in real life. In fact I’m a fucking fantastic lover.”) I almost always forget that he’s acting, and I always end up learning something from his work.

This comment from littlecumberbatchthings.tumblr basically sums up what I’m trying to say: “He has the talent, grace, humility and maturity to portray roles that vary in importance with equal quality and always to his best ability.” Absolutely agree; even when his role in a production is nothing more than a cameo, he completely goes all out for that role and makes it real and believable, just as he does when he’s a lead. (Another quote from Benedict himself on this from this article: “Laurence Olivier-still the great role model for all actors, I hope-once said, ‘There’s no such thing as a small part.’ I wholeheartedly agree with that statement. Only with such an attitude can you make it as an actor. Believe me: during my first years on stage and in front of the camera I often felt like nothing more than a moving piece of furniture. I still always gave the best of me.”) I also recommend reading this post by drinkingcocoa, which articulately analyzes what makes him so special and unique.

I have tried to go through and see everything on his filmography, but he’s done a lot of theater and voice recording and appearing in just a few episodes of TV shows and such, so I don’t know if that will be possible. Still, I think I’ve seen/listened to everything major so far. Lots of these are up on their creator’s sites for free, or Netflix or Youtube at the moment (this channel is a good starting place), so go and enjoy! Also, evila-elf has created a picspam timeline of his roles! And i-am-benedicted shared a lovely picture with sixteen of his best roles.


::: Documentaries :::

• Dunkirk: Smoking porn. Um. So this is a serious documentary dramatization of a World War II battle/retreat in France. Benedict plays a constantly smoking mustachioed officer who is holed up in the bunker and under a lot of pressure while making tough decisions with his commanding officer (Nicholas Jones, who played the indecisive Lieutenant Buckland in Horatio Hornblower). The dramatization scenes are often filmed with shaky handheld shots in extreme close-ups in dim lighting, which makes it somewhat disorienting, but the acting is very convincing, especially towards the end. (Obligatory Sherlockian quote: “Boredom is endless, numbing. Boredom takes energy, takes time, takes courage. I don’t have as much courage when I’m bored.”)
• Into the Universe with Steven Hawking: For those of you who didn’t completely understand British physicist and cosmologist Steven Hawking’s ideas when Benedict played him in Hawking, here is a Discovery Channel documentary that more fully explains them, with Benedict again voicing Hawking’s thoughts on aliens, time travel, and our little place in a huge universe. Even if you’re not a fan of Benedict voice porn, you should watch this for your own enlightenment! The special effects are pretty cool, too. (Warning: it may make you feel rather small.)
• Jerusalem: Benedict narrates this National Geographic documentary about one of the most fascinating historical cities on earth and home to three major religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Benedict’s voice contrasts nicely with those of a female archeologist and three young women, one of each religion, who act as the focusing point for the film, which manages to be brief while still covering a lot of ground. I saw this in OmniMax theater (on a kind of rounded, globe-like screen that fills the peripheral vision), which gave it an even grander scale and made Benedict’s voice sound even more lovely.
• The Rattigan Enigma: A documentary about the playwright and screenplay writer Terence Rattigan and some of his similarities with Benedict, who starred in his play After the Dance (in which Benedict portrays an alcoholic historian in 1938 whose seemingly shallow marriage is shaken by an outsider determined to save him from his lifestyle. I would love to see this!). We get to take a trip to Harrow, the boarding school both Benedict and Rattigan attended-a “public school” in the U.K. Rattigan was a very interesting figure, longing to be taken seriously as a dramatist, constantly socializing and, in Benedict’s words, “dosing with both hands” (gin and tonic in one, cigarette in the other), a gay man in a time when homosexuality was illegal. I liked this because it’s very much about both Rattigan and Benedict, a kind of biography and autobiography, showing us lots of Benedict’s history and acting process.
• Vincent Van Gogh: Painted with Words: Benedict plays another genius-the increasingly erratic artist Van Gogh-in this documentary, which is filmed in a kind of peculiar style where the conceit is that Van Gogh (and his friends and enemies) are aware that they’re being interviewed and talk directly to the camera. The script of the documentary is entirely based on letters that Van Gogh wrote himself (hence the title) to his little brother Theo. It takes a bit to get into this, but man, once you’re there, it’s visceral and one of the most engaging documentaries I’ve seen. Van Gogh is quite a character, seeming to choose his love interests just as a way to displease his parents-first a cousin, then a pregnant prostitute-and dealing with mental illness. Benedict gets to smoke an actual pipe and have a beard! My only complaint was that I would get really into the first-person acting scenes, and then every so often the documentary would dissipate the mood by cutting away to the comparatively less interesting narrator talking about Van Gogh’s life in the third person. Still, I guess that can’t be avoided, and as a whole it was hugely entertaining and informative. Anybody who is a fan of artist!Sherlock AUs or him as a mad drug-addicted underappreciated genius should definitely check it out. (I felt, like, a desperate need to go read madlori’s amazing Performance in a Leading Role after watching this, for some reason.)
• Wild Pacific: Okay, so this is basically Benedict narrating very long documentaries about the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and the cool (and occasionally very creepy) creatures there. My local library had this! Voice porn while being super-educational.
• WWI Tunnels of Death: The Big Dig: Benedict narrates another documentary on WWI in which archeologists in Messines (Flanders), Belgium, uncover and explore the war trenches in preparation for laying a new water pipeline there. The documentary discusses what happened there and in the war in general. War horses are spotlighted, as well as a young Adolf Hitler, who was in the trenches in 1916 and painted a watercolor of part of the town. A very respectful documentary for Remembrance Day.

::: Film :::

• 12 Years a Slave: Benedict’s performance is subtle as a haunted plantation owner who is in many ways just as trapped in his role as the slaves he owns. It’s so understated, in fact, that I fear he may be forgotten, buried under other supporting performances given more screentime or punch. But it’s very good, I was impressed by his accent, and he gives his character a multitude of layers. (Also, there is a violin!) I really wanted to see more, and he is one of only a handful of characters I can say that about in this movie: basically him and Solomon (played brilliantly by Chiwetel Ejiofor). With some notable exceptions (i.e. Brad Pitt), the acting in this movie is fantastic-special mention goes to Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o. Likely this film will garner tons of awards, and for the most part they would be well-deserved. However, I had a few misgivings about the directing and cinematography. (Full review here.)
• Amazing Grace: Benedict plays William Pitt, who becomes a young prime minister and is great friends with William Wilberforce, who is working to end the slave trade in Britain in the late 1700s. I’m a big fangirl of Ioan Gruffudd (from Horatio Hornblower), who plays the protagonist, and I thought their chemistry was awesome. The scene where they’re running around barefoot in a field together was so adorable. As politicians did back then, Benedict wears funny wigs in the House of Lords or while dressed up but takes it off when he’s among friends, and the contrast is startling. (See this video on Youtube for a very moving portrayal of William Pitt's friendship with William Wilberforce.)
• Atonement: Okay, this was tough. I saw this before I had heard of Sherlock or anything, but I still remembered the role because I found it incredibly disturbing. Benedict plays a chocolate factory owner who turns out to be a pedophile rapist (and ends up marrying the girl he rapes), so basically he sets the entire plot in motion after James McAvoy’s character is blamed for it. There’s this one scene that culminates in the famous “Bite it. You have to bite it,” line (about a chocolate bar) that is just shiver-worthy. (The brilliant lotherington is writing a Sherlock crossover with this movie at the moment, and it’s already wonderful: the Once Below a Time series.)
• August: Osage County: The atmosphere is poisonous in this star-studded dark comedy about a severely dysfunctional family (and particularly its vicious, mentally ill matriarch, played by Meryl Streep, and her bitter eldest daughter, played by Julia Roberts), and the majority of the characters are hurtful because they’re hurting. Benedict features in three small but meaty scenes as the character of “Little Charles,” who brings a breath of fresh air with his relative innocence and joy in life, though he too has tragic secrets. But Benedict gets to practice his Oklahoma accent and-the highlight of the film for me-to actually sing and play a simple but lovely, squee-inducing song on the organ to his love interest. Great stuff.
• Black Mass: This relentlessly dark psychological portrait of “Whitey” Bulger, a notorious South Boston criminal, showcases Johnny Depp in all his chameleon-like glory with scenes of intense tension. Benedict puts on a Bostonian accent to subtly play Bulger’s younger brother, who had a career as a state senator. (Full review here.)
• Creation: Paul Bettany stars as Charles Darwin, and Benedict is his encouraging friend (with sideburns and cute little glasses) Joseph Hooker. Not much screentime, but he does get to act with Toby Jones, who is also one of the leads in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
• The Fifth Estate: Ohhhh, Cumberbatch fans, you are in for a treat with this one. Benedict gives an incredible lead performance (alongside a solid and appealing Daniel Brühl) as seedy, stringy-haired hactivist Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, in this thoughtful and informative movie. However, I fear you may not grasp the extent of exactly how good he is unless you are somewhat familiar with Assange from interviews and the like. Australian, flat-pitched, and noticeably slower in speech than other characters Benedict has played, Assange sounds measured and almost lazily drunk at times, which is at odds with his sharp eyes and constant suspicion of anyone taking credit for his achievements. Self-important and mistrustful to the point of social anxiety and paranoia-but then, I think it’s forgivable to be self-important when you are genuinely important and to be paranoid when scary government lackeys are actually out to get you. But he’s portrayed as a vulnerable and ultimately tragic figure. The movie itself has some flawed directorial, cinematographic, and script choices, but I felt its heart was in the right place. (Full review here.)
• Four Lions: This is a movie about five very inept would-be jihadists from Sheffield. Benedict just has a tiny role (just one scene) as a bearded (!!) Special Branch negotiator who doesn’t understand that he’s talking to a complete idiot, so the negotiation doesn’t go well. This movie uses very dry humor to satirize how the threat of terrorism has been handled in Britain.
• The Hobbit trilogy: Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins here (and is fantastic!), but Benedict does the motion-capture for two baddies, the mysterious Necromancer and Smaug, the dragon. I loved these movies and wrote up full reviews here: ( part 1), ( part 2), ( part 3).
• The Imitation Game: In what is sure to be a decorated performance, Benedict joins a stellar cast, including an impressive turn by Kiera Knightley. Benedict plays Alan Turing, a mathematical genius whose team of puzzle solvers helped to shorten World War II by breaking the Nazi Enigma Code. I really enjoyed this movie and hope for the best come Oscar season. My full review is here.
• Inseparable: A short film (just nine minutes long!) but one that is really interesting, even on repeat viewings. Benedict plays a man who receives the news that he has an inoperable brain tumor, so in order to make it easier on his family, he decides…to switch places with his twin brother (whom Benedict also plays). This film is just another reminder that Benedict does distraught crying really, really well.
• Little Favour: This is a short, twenty-minute film that fans helped to crowdfund and showcases Benedict’s ability to lead in an action-packed noir thriller with lots of twists. Fans of seeing poor Benedict beaten to a pulp but also dishing it out in a sweaty tank top should be particularly pleased. One moment in this (the wink!) made me gasp aloud. Really leaves you panting for more.
• The Other Boleyn Girl: Another one I saw before I watched Sherlock, though I found his role not particularly memorable. Benedict plays Scarlett Johansson (Mary Boleyn)’s husband, who basically has to overlook the fact that his wife has caught the eye of King Henry VIII and has to sleep with him even though she is married to Benedict’s character. There is a sex scene between Benedict and Johansson, though it’s a bit awkward.
• The Penguins of Madagascar: In this very amusing animated adventure, Benedict plays an arctic wolf who leads an animal espionage team with the same goal as the penguins: to take down a dastardly octopus (voiced by John Malcovich). While Benedict’s Agent “Classified” would like to be a suave British superspy, things don’t always go to plan, with hysterical results. Read my full review here.
• Starter for 10: Another role he worked with James McAvoy on. Benedict is the supremely nerdy University Challenge team captain who is a stickler for rules and kind of a guy you want to either punch in the face (and he does get head-butted and breaks his nose!) or go “awww” to. Mark Gatiss (Mycroft!) is in this, too!
• Star Trek Into Darkness: This huge J.J. Abrams blockbuster production is fun but so action-packed I wanted to take a breather. Benedict is literally unrecognizable as the villain John Harrison. He seems to tower over Kirk and Spock both physically and mentally, and he must have been paying attention to Andrew Scott’s performance as Moriarty because Benedict is like a cobra here, constantly coiled and ready to strike. His eyes seem paler and reptilian, and the theater actually felt colder and hushed when he was speaking, like nobody in the audience dared to breathe because he was so freaking scary. Incredibly charismatic performance, but he isn’t given enough screentime, and his backstory isn’t properly explained. I would like a movie entirely about his character, please! (Full review here.)
• Stuart: A Life Backwards: This is the one where he first worked with Tom Hardy, who plays a homeless alcoholic. Benedict is more the straight man to Hardy here (who does something with his voice that’s just incredible-this is a must-see for him at the very least) while Benedict plays a writer who composes Stuart’s life story in reverse, as implied by the title. Benedict wears glasses! :)
• Third Star: Benedict plays a character dying of cancer who goes on a road trip with three of his friends, and all the skeletons come out of the closet. This is a must-see for hurt/comfort junkies like myself, because Benedict’s character is constantly on morphine and in a ton of pain, and his friends push him in a cart and carry him and take care of him. There’s a scene where they lose his medicine and he’s screaming in pain that is just heart-wrenching. I also really liked JJ Feild’s acting and chemistry with Benedict, especially in the sad ending. If you are interested in this film, I highly recommend reading the production blog of Vaughn Sivell, the producer and writer, at mug7. He has great, candid write-ups of each of the four lead actors (if nothing else, absolutely read Benedict’s, which is here.) Also: a bit of Holmesian trivia! Actor Tom Burke (playing Davy)’s father is David Burke-who was the superb original Watson to Jeremy Brett’s Holmes in the Granada series.
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Spies in the British Intelligence, and one of them is a double agent. The cast of this film is just jaw-dropping, and yet amongst such film giants I felt that Benedict’s character, Peter Guillam, had the emotional heart of the entire piece. His scene where he has to steal a file was the most tense moment in the entire film for me. I like his relationship with Gary Oldman, and he gets to work with Tom Hardy again! I think this film really has to be seen at least twice to be completely understood and enjoyed if you’re unfamiliar with the source material. During the first viewing, I missed many of the subtle little touches that made this film so incredible on the second viewing. (I highly recommend nightshade1120’s The Fraternity, a Sherlock crossover with this film.)
• War Horse: Directed by Steven Spielberg, this tearjerker about a horse that goes to the trenches of World War I has a cast of hotties that includes David Thewlis (Remus Lupin from Harry Potter) and the fabulous Tom Hiddleston (who is Loki in Thor). Benedict plays the mustachioed leader of the British cavalry who has to face the horrifying fact that warfare has left horses behind and become impersonal and mechanized. He and Hiddleston’s character have a delightful horse race beforehand, though. (If you want more in this universe, I highly recommend splix’s fantastic story Roses of Picardy.)
• The Whistleblower: Based on a true story, this is an intensely disturbing and frustrating film with Rachel Weisz about U.S. contractors involved in sex trafficking in Bosnia, but unfortunately Benedict isn’t in it very much and is thus rather wasted. He plays an American, though! His accent isn’t horrific but definitely could use some work. Perhaps he can get his dad Hugh Laurie to help. :) But it’s strongly implied that his character is at least aware of nefarious activities going on and disapproves of Weisz’s character investigating them, so that’s distressing. And parts of this movie were almost too much for me to handle.
• Wreckers: Benedict and Claire Foy play married teachers who are trying for a baby but having issues. One day, Shaun Evans (who plays Benedict’s brother) comes to live with them. He has PTSD from the army and is plagued by nightmares and sleepwalking. It gradually becomes clear that there is something off about the brothers’ relationship, but it’s not clear what. So, yeah, this can kind of be viewed through a sinister, unhappy Sherlock!AU lense, but it’s not a perfect comparison. The movie does a good job of telling a complex story through tiny snippets instead of big, emotional scenes, with Benedict’s character being the most complex of all, though he is far from being a hero here-but then, no one in this movie is.
• Zoolander 2: In this silly comedy sequel to Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson’s Zoolander, Benedict has a cameo as androgynous model All. His part is small but he looks amazing!

::: Radio :::

• Cabin Pressure: An uproariously hilarious radio series (no visual, sadface) about a four-person jet airplane crew who get into all sorts of crazy situations. With Roger Allam, Stephanie Cole, and John Finnemore (who’s also the writer!). Of these, Roger Allam absolutely steals the show as a deadpan First Officer to Benedict’s finicky Captain, but again they have great chemistry, and the whole crew is an adorable little family. This one was a bit weird because they keep describing Benedict’s character as a short little man, but his voice is so far from that it’s a bit strange, so I just ignored that stuff and pictured Benedict as Benedict. But this is another one for whump lovers, as Benedict’s Captain Martin Crieff basically has the worst luck in the world, doesn’t get paid to fly the plane, and lives in a little hovel and eats a baked potato as a “treat” and gets beaten up and hurt occasionally.
• Copenhagen: This dramatic two-hour radio play by Michael Frayn describes what may have happened at a fictional September 1941 meeting in German-occupied Copenhagen, Denmark, between two famous theoretical physicists, Niels Bohr (creator of the Bohr model for an atom’s structure, played by Simon Russell Beale) and Werner Heisenberg (creator of the uncertainty principle, played by Benedict Cumberbatch), with Bohr’s wife, Margrethe (played by Greta Scacchi), also in attendance. The meeting could not be more charged: Bohr and Heisenberg had a father-son mentoring relationship prior to the breakout of war, but Bohr was Danish with Jewish ancestry and Heisenberg was German (though with respect for the Jews in his field, at least, which landed him in trouble with the Nazis). By persecuting Jewish people, the Nazis undermined the field of theoretical physics in their country because so many physicists in that field were Jews-which, this play argues, had major repercussions and was a contributing factor for why Germany lost World War II, specifically with regard to nuclear fission and the creation of the atom bomb. While the structure of this play is difficult to follow at first, as it skips around in time and has narrating voiceovers from characters actually in a scene describing that scene, it’s really electrifying once it gets going and they get to the meat of why Heisenberg came to Copenhagen. Benedict plays Heisenberg, about whom the Bohrs say there was “something alien about him, even then, so quick and eager-too quick, too eager-those bright, watchful eyes-too bright, too watchful.” Benedict absolutely shines in this, with his picture of a man exhausted, desperate, on edge, intense, almost drowning in the pressure put upon him, repeatedly referred to as a “lost child.” Heisenberg’s emotional anguish is so painful and moving, painting a heartbreaking image of the plight of German civilians in the anarchy after their defeat in both World Wars. (See my full review at this post.)
• Neverwhere: In this dramatic radio adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel, Benedict teams up with a bunch of his regular costars (including Anthony Head-who was in Cabin Pressure-and George Harris-who was in Frankenstein) to play the Angel Islington (lol), an actual angel with wings! And he sings! Benedict manages-without the use of a special effects-to make his voice rather otherworldly, aiming towards the subsonic almost, and it works in a rather creepy way, portraying the tiredness and immortality of the character. I had previously seen the TV adaptation of this show, in which I determined that I liked the world and the characters, especially my favorites the Marquis de Carabas and Hunter, but I found the actual story not nearly as compelling as those elements. I would like to read fanfic about the Marquis. But in both adaptations, the evil (and vocabulary-obsessed) brotherly duo Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar steal the show.

::: TV / Drama :::

• Broken News: An amusing comedy program that Benedict did some spots in, usually as a field reporter updating viewers on the progress (or non-progress) of whatever is happening. I found this show a great indictment of modern media.
• Fortysomething: In this comedy series, Benedict plays Hugh Laurie’s eldest son. Let’s just stop right here and admire that sentence. Can we make that canon? House is Sherlock’s father? Anyway, it’s very cute. (See this amazing fanvid by daasgrrl where House is Sherlock’s father.)
• Hawking: This is another of those ones where I basically immediately forgot that Benedict was in it at all. He wears glasses and alters his voice and body language to show such an excited love for science despite his weakening body that it was just incredibly moving. I had no idea about any of this stuff about Steven Hawking-I thought he was an American! Superb role, Benedict was nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor, and again very educational.
• The Hollow Crown: This wonderful six-part BBC series covers five Shakespearian plays. Benedict appears in the final two episodes but manages to steal the show by playing the deliciously evil Richard III, who conspires ruthlessly to become the king of England, killing everyone who gets in his way. Highly recommended! I talked more about this series at this link.
• The Last Enemy: From Masterpiece Contemporary, political intrigue, terrorism, evil centralized databases, and deadly viruses make up the background of this show. Benedict plays a mathematical genius (surprise, surprise) whose dead brother (and the brother’s wife) is mixed up in intrigue and conspiracy theories. I liked the threesome-esque relationship between the characters played by Benedict, Anamaria Marinca, and Robert Carlyle, all of whom have more to them than meets the eye. However, while I loved the acting and liked the story, which kept me guessing, the ending did fall a bit flat and seemed rather dire and almost preachy.
• Marple: Murder is Easy: Just one episode of this show, I think. Benedict plays a little helper to Miss Marple, which I thought was so amusing, but there’s not too much for him to do. EDIT: Though the scenes with Benedict on a motorcycle do allow for some excellent post-Reichenbach fic on tumblr from bendingsignpost!
• Parade’s End-This is a feels-inducing and surprisingly funny mini-series set before and during World War I with a huge and decorated cast. Benedict plays Christopher Tietjens, an old-fashioned man whose principles have trapped him in a passionate but cruel marriage to his wife; in Benedict’s words, Christopher is “damagingly virtuous.” His wife, Sylvia Satterthwaite, is fascinatingly played by Rebecca Hall, who was one of the leads in Starter for 10. I utterly empathize with her character here and find her delightful, even though she’s desperately unhappy. He discovers his capacity for love when he meets a young suffragette named Valentine Wannop (played by Adelaide Clemens). Benedict’s character seems rather physically awkward to me (partially due to a fat suit and cheek paddings), as well as very repressed and restrained, but rather than make him boring it makes him rather sweet and endearing. Benedict has some adorable scenes with a young boy (you can really see how much he loves kids), and some great scenes with Roger Allam (from Cabin Pressure-there’s also a character named Gerti!). Roger Allam’s character also gets what I consider the best line in the series: “I cannot have men commanded by an officer with a private life as incomprehensible and embarrassing as yours.” I ship Syliva/Christopher pretty hardcore, and while obviously I can’t help but like Christopher, I adore Sylvia. So complicated and prickly on the outside, vulnerable on the inside. If she fine-tuned her deduction skills and acquired a drug habit, she could be my fem!Sherlock.
• Sherlock: Obviously my favorite of all his roles, the one that made me go on a binge of his other works. I forget that he’s an actor in this role. Even when I watch scenes repeating, “This is an actor playing a role,” I still almost immediately forget and just go, “But that’s Sherlock.” His chemistry with Martin Freeman is just off the charts, and I love Benedict’s overall look and demeanor here. So incredibly sexy.
• Small Island: This is a mini-series that garnered Benedict a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor despite the fact that it feels like he isn’t in it much. It’s about Jamaican immigrants coming to England during World War II. Benedict plays the husband of one of the two main characters, but he is not really enough for his wife even though he tries. He impulsively goes off to fight in the war and then has PTSD after the fact. Although they don’t have much screen time together, this series also stars a superb Naomie Harris, who was very good in Frankenstein as Dr. Frankenstein’s wife.
• To The Ends of the Earth: This is one of the most…Sherlockian of Benedict’s non-Sherlock roles and probably the part that made him an obvious choice when casting Sherlock. It’s an absolute delight. He gets first billing in this BBC mini-series about aristocrat Edmund Talbot’s less than glamorous, at turns hysterically funny and then extremely disturbing (or both at once) sea-faring journey to Australia, set in around the same time period as the Hornblower mini-series I love. Talbot is a complicated figure, morally ambiguous at times (especially when it comes to women), who suffers various physical misfortunes and discovers that there are no secrets and few ethics on a crazily-unsteady and leaking ship. He does mature and grow as the series progresses, though. I like his relationship with Lieutenant Summers, played by Jamie Sives, best. We get to see some nakedness and sexy times and hurt/comfort elements and Benedict singing! Ironically, the ship captain is played by Jared Harris, who is Moriarty in the Guy Richie Sherlock Holmes (ah, the meshing of the fandoms; he and Benedict also acted together in the play Period of Adjustment, which I have not seen and probably won’t be able to see *cries*). Benedict also gets to work with the gorgeous JJ Feild, whom he later co-starred with in Third Star. (I’d love to read some fanfic in this universe.) Also see this horrifying story of when Benedict was kidnapped and held hostage while filming this mini-series.

::: Theater :::

• Frankenstein: This was kind of a nightmare for me to go to see-a stream of it was playing in one theater in my city for one night, so I didn’t get to see Benedict as Dr. Victor Frankenstein, but I did get to see him as the Creature. I think if I had to just see one, that role is obviously the more challenging, and I’m glad I got to go at all! Benedict’s physicality was superb, even though, yes, the character is an awkward one and obviously he looks…well, stapled together. This one also had George Harris (Kingsley Shaklebolt in Harry Potter), though unfortunately as a horrifically wooden father-in-law, but the rest of the acting, particularly Jonny Lee Miller as a kind of stocky and brutal Dr. Frankenstein and Naomie Harris as his sympathetic fiancée, was great. And the special effects were amazing, especially for a stage production! EDIT 6/10/2012: I have now seen the reverse casting, and man, I actually think I prefer Benedict as Victor, but both in both roles, he and Jonny are superb. (See my full review at this post.)
• Hamlet: Benedict shines as the lead role in this fantastically accessible (and abridged, even at 3 hours!) adaptation of Hamlet, screened by National Theatre Live to movie theatres around the world. The gloomy, atmospheric setting within a dark Victorian mansion is a gorgeous stage for this tale of grief, murder, and insanity. Like with all his roles, Benedict throws his soul and body completely into the character and actually does so in a way that make Shakespeare’s timeless words seem fresh and relevant, lending poignant or funny new insights with a pause or a turn of phrase-silence often speaks louder than words here. His Hamlet goes on a character journey from depression to pretend madness to actual insanity and all the way back to having his reason returning when it’s too late and his and his uncle’s destructive actions have unraveled everyone’s lives. (See my full review here.)
• The Turning Point: Another play, this one of two men smoking and drinking in a room while discussing the coming of World War II-and those two men are the brooding Winston Churchill (played by Matthew Marsh, who was also in Hawking) and the BBC-producer-turned-spy Guy Burgess (Benedict’s character), who tries to goad Churchill into action. The acting is sublime, though I did think that Churchill’s change or heart/transformation was a bit too quick (to be fair, though, the script writer did only have half an hour). Still, Benedict gets to imitate Neville Chamberlain and wear a suit that is endearingly big on him.

I look forward to the release of Benedict’s upcoming projects! By the way, this site was extremely helpful in tracking down his filmography.

Edit: my Martin Freeman filmography reviews are here.