Michael Mann is one of the greatest directors of tension, suspense, and action. While filmmakers like Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese are the godfathers of the crime genre, Mann has an unparalleled ability to get things moving at a kinetic pace; his movies make the audience feel as though they're in the action. Ever since his days as a showrunner on the classic cop series Miami Vice, Mann has used his unique stylistic abilities to bring great characters to life.

As a director, Mann has worked with some of the best actors in the industry, bringing the best out of them via his raw, fast-paced approach. Under Mann's competent guidance, these actors have delivered incredible work, with some even ranking as outright iconic. These are the best performances in Michael Mann's movies, powerful portrayals of pain, anger, passion, and everything in between.

10 Tang Wei as Chen Lien

'Blackhat' (2015)

Blackhat is easily Mann's most misunderstood film. This brilliant modern noir follows the hacker Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth) in his attempts to find an elusive hacker. Initially dismissed as preposterous, the notion of a global economic shutdown is much scarier—and feels much more realistic—now than it did when the film was first released.

Although Hemsworth is a compelling leading man for Mann's sensibilities, the more interesting performance is Tang Wei as his new partner Chen Lien, a Chinese network engineer whose family has been brought into the conflict. Wei treats every conversation with gravity, which is a difficult task in a film with so many technical and legal minutia. She delivers a compelling and assured performance that keeps the film grounded, even when it risks succumbing to its own weight.

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9 Brian Cox as Hannibal Lektor

'Manhunter' (1986)

Long before Sir Anthony Hopkins debuted as Dr. Hannibal Lector in Jonathan Demme's 1991 Best Picture winner Silence of the Lambs, Brian Cox did the role justice for Mann's 1986 adaptation of Manhunter. Based on Thomas Harris' novel, the film follows Will Graham, an FBI profiler who must ask a convicted serial killer and cannibal for help to catch a serial killer on the loose.

Even though Hannibal—renamed Lektor in this version—is just a supporting character within the film, Cox commands the viewers' attention with his obvious intelligence and creeping signs of insanity. Intense and relentless, Manhunter was a pioneer of the modern-day crime boom, and as perfect as Hopkins was as Hannibal, it's a bit disappointing that Cox never got the chance to reprise the role in another film in the series.

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8 Daniel Day-Lewis as Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe

'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992)

There have been many adaptations of the classic novel The Last of the Mohicans, but Mann is the first filmmaker to successfully capture the sweeping romanticism, adventure, and epic spectacle of the original. His 1992 film was also more willing to delve into the controversial issues regarding the story's point-of-view and the treatment of the indigenous characters.

Although not generally thought of as an action hero, Daniel Day-Lewis is absolutely transfixing as the adopted Mohawk child "Hawkeye," a white child raised by the native tribe. He never gets swallowed by Mann's larger-than-life approach, instead firmly commanding it with a robust, enthralling performance. The Last of the Mohicans is far from perfect, but Day-Lewis remains riveting throughout.

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7 Russell Crowe as Jeffrey Wigand

'The Insider' (1999)

The Insider was a different sort of crime story for Mann. Rather than focusing on robberies or serial killers, Mann told an important story about the 60 Minutes investigation into Big Tobacco from the perspective of journalists and those working with the company. Russell Crowe plays Dr. Jeffrey Wigand, a whistleblower who revealed critical information about the research and development of "reduced-harm" cigarettes.

Crowe captures the anxiety of a lone, truthful voice who fears being discovered by his employers. His subtle, stern performance elevates The Insider to new heights, upping the stakes and keeping the narrative going. Crowe received his first Academy Awards nomination for Best Actor, and many still believe he should've been the rightful winner of the 2000 Oscar.

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6 Tom Cruise as Vincent

'Collateral' (2004)

Tom Cruise had never played a villain before working with Mann on Collateral, but it's something that he should do more often. The notion of Cruise as an antagonist is a terrifying one; what if someone with the resources, skills, and commitment of Ethan Hunt from the Mission: Impossible franchise was intent on creating havoc?

Cruise's character, Vincent, uses every misleading tactic he knows to overwhelm the timid taxi cab driver Max (Jamie Foxx in an Academy Award-nominated performance) as they venture on the most terrifying night of their lives. Cruise is terrific in Collateral, delivering a chilling portrayal of relentless and calculated carnage. It's one of his most transformative and effective performances, an Oscar-worthy portrayal that remains one of his finest screen efforts.

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5 Penélope Cruz as Laura Ferrari

'Ferrari' (2023)

Ferrari may be the story of how Enzo Ferrari (Adam Driver) launched one of the most successful brands in automobile history, but Penélope Cruz's performance as Ferrari's wife, Laura, is the real showcase. Although she advised her husband on many of his most critical business decisions, Laura came to detest the illegitimate child her husband had with Lina Lardi (Shailene Woodley). It's impressive when the scenes of marital disputes are just as exciting as the racing sequences.

While Ferrari himself proves to be a somewhat unlikeable protagonist, Cruz shows how Laura's heartbreak drives her to make drastic decisions to protect her family. Despite the rage that permeates from her attitude, Laura is still in a state of mourning that she has never fully recovered from. Cruz's tremendous performance dominates Ferrari, easily blowing Driver out of the water and becoming the film's beating heart.

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4 Will Smith as Muhammad Ali

'Ali' (2001)

The role of Muhammad Ali obviously came with immense pressure. As with other biopics, capturing all of Ali's accomplishments into just one film, especially when so many documentaries with archive footage exist, was a complicated task. Luckily, Mann's 2001 sports biopic Ali cracked the unique psychology that drove Ali to achieve his greatest accomplishments.

Will Smith does more than just capture the peak physicality of the beloved boxer. He turns Ali into a mythological epic and shows how important his voice became during some of the most important social and political causes in history. Smith turns in a muscular, intense, and deeply humane performance in Ali that earned him his first, richly-deserved Oscar nominations.

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3 Colin Farrell as James Crockett

'Miami Vice' (2006)

Miami Vice is easily Mann's most misunderstood film. While audiences may have been expecting a fast-paced, thrilling action film in the vein of the original series, Mann chose to use inventive digital technology to capture the essence of modern police work. In the process, he revealed the plasticity of the way cops are portrayed in cinema by placing them within a real, tactile environment.

Colin Farrell couldn't have been better suited to capture the mix of deep sadness and unwavering charisma that made James Crockett such an icon in the first place. The actor is at his most confident and incisive in the role, easily matching the film's somber tone. And while the actor isn't very fond of the film, the truth is that Farrell's work in Miami Vice is among one of his most underrated.

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2 Al Pacino as Vincent Hanna

'Heat' (1995)

No film in history captures escalation and obsessions better than Mann's stunning 1995 masterpiece Heat, which finally brought together two of the greatest actors ever to share the screen. The film depicts the escalating conflict between an LAPD detective and a career criminal whose complicated dynamic causes significant damage to their personal and professional lives.

Al Pacino gives one of his best performances as LAPD Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, whose hyper-focused approach threatens to ruin his home life and relationship with his daughter. The performance has all the elements of a classic Pacino tour-de-force, effortlessly blending over-the-top antics with genuine pathos. The result is a Herculean acting masterclass from Pacino, a powerful and mesmerizing portrayal that contributes to Heat's iconic status.

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1 James Caan as Frank

'Thief' (1981)

The world of cinema lost a legend with the passing of the great James Caan. Although he'd been an essential part of crime cinema's legacy since his performance in The Godfather, the late Caan defined what "casual cool" looks like in Mann's legendary 1981 directorial debut Thief.

Caan's truly masterful performance captured both the trickling anxiety of a man at odds with the world with a sense of charisma that always seems to suggest that he knows what he's doing. It's an inherently contradictory trait that Caan pulls off with ease and a stereotype that Mann would revisit in his future films. In many ways, Caan's work in Thief is the blueprint for many of Mann's most famous characters, cementing his legacy as the best performance in the acclaimed director's filmography.

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