Sigourney Weaver’s Top 7 Birthday Bash

The great Sigourney Weaver turns 75 this week. I feel a need to add the word “great” before her name because when the best actors of her generation are spoken of, her name comes up far too infrequently. Born Susan Weaver, she named herself Sigourney after a minor character in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.” The Statuesque (standing six feet tall) Weaver made her film debut with a small role in Woody Allen’s classic 1977 comedy Annie Hall. Two years later, stardom would follow when Weaver first faced off with a face-hugger, but more on that later. 

I had the distinct pleasure of sharing a room with Weaver once at the University of Notre Dame, where she gave a talk on her career, feminism, and the world at large. She strode out confidently to the way too “on the nose” Ghostbusters theme, but once you got past that bit of silliness, Weaver exuded the confidence and intelligence in person that she always has on screen. I’ll always be glad to have once shared the same air as her.

Anyway, on with the show. Here are my personal choices for Sigourney Weaver’s seven best films.

And remember, in the end, the only list that really matters is your own.

7. Death of a Maiden (1994): Based on the play by Ariel Dorfman and directed by Roman Polanski, Death of a Maiden depicts Weaver as a former activist in a South American country who by chance, meets up with a man who she believes tortured and raped her. Polanski has always been a great visual director, and despite the film primarily taking place inside one room in a house, he largely avoids the feeling of “staginess” that mars so many stage-to-screen adaptations. As Weaver turns the tables on the man she believes to be her former abuser (a pitch-perfect Ben Kingsley), the battle between certainty and doubt begins to play out in Weaver’s always-active mind. She believes so strongly, but that small nugget of uncertainty keeps her from doing a version of that which was done to her. Death of a Maiden is a heavy watch, and the moral implications of Weaver’s final decision carry that weight beautifully. 

6. Gorillas in the Mist (1988): If the revered conservationist Jane Goodall’s gentle approach to studying and protecting the lives of chimpanzees is one side of the coin, then Dian Fossey is the militant flipside to that simian coin. The critical response was solid enough when Gorillas in the Mist was released. Still, most write-ups focused on two elements of the film: Weaver’s fearless, pained, and raging performance as Fossey and the fact that real silverback gorillas were used during filming. There is footage of the film between shots of Weaver cavorting with these massive beasts whose trust few humans could ever hope to gain, and it’s stunning to view. I happen to think Gorillas in the Mist is more than a “good movie” with an outstanding performance at the center. It’s a film that showcases the bridging of the remarkable gap between humankind and animals. It also includes one of the most heartbreaking endings I’ve ever seen committed to film. Weaver scored her second Oscar nomination (this time in a leading role) for her efforts and continues to support the maintenance of the habitat of silverback gorillas to this day.

5. Ghostbusters (1984): The massive Ivan Reitman, his about four extinguishers of the paranormal (Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Ernie Hudson), is so silly on its face that there shouldn’t be a chance in hell that a film this goofy should work. But work it does. The ghostbusting foursome have great chemistry, but the film’s secret weapon is Weaver. Her playful flirtatiousness with Murray, lovely mellifluous voice, and cautious nature (until the slime hits the fan) ground a film that would otherwise float off into the ether. It must also be said that when Weaver’s character (Dana Barrett) gets possessed by a demon named Zuul, well, let’s just say it’s very, very sexy. When Zuul enters Weaver’s tall frame, all resistance is futile.

4. The Ice Storm (1997): Based on the award-winning novel by Rick Moody, Ang Lee’s adaptation (with screenwriter James Schamus) is one of the strangest oversights in the history of the film academy. Despite being exquisitely told and immaculately performed by a top-shelf ensemble, the film’s great reviews did not earn it a single Oscar nomination. The screenplay itself seems (about a group of Connecticut adults at a 1973 “key party” experimenting with casual sex) like a no-brainer, but from film to performance to tech credits, The Ice Storm had deserved Oscar-bait written all over, but not a single nomination was given. First among equals (of which included Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, and Elijah Wood, among others), Weaver’s devastating portrayal of Janey, a bored and dissatisfied but wicked-witted housewife, seemed as much of a shoo-in for a supporting nod as any performance given that year. Somehow, the entire film got lost in the Oscar sauce. I guess The Ice Storm will just have to settle for being one of the greatest films to miss the Academy completely. There are worse fates.

3. Working Girl (1988): Hands down, my favorite romantic comedy of the ‘80s, Mike Nichols’ perfectly paced workplace comedy starring a never-better Melanie Griffith as a secretary trying to move up the corporate ladder, only to find the keeper of the glass ceiling to be her female boss, played by Weaver. The relatively unknown Kevin Wade wrote Nichols a crackerjack of a script, one so good that it even got Harrison Ford to loosen up one last time before his era of stolidity began (thankfully ended by Apple TV’s terrific comedy Shrinking last year). In casting Weaver as the boss who steals her secretary’s idea and uses it as her own, Weaver is diabolically appealing. I think there’s something greater being said about how women sometimes hold back other women because (especially at the time) it was hard enough making your way through a man’s world without competition from your own gender. Junior psychology aside, Working Girl is one of its era’s most eminently rewatchable films, and Weaver’s sneakily subtle villain is a huge reason why. 1988 would prove to be the best year of Weaver’s career as she became one of (now) twelve actors to receive two Oscar nominations (the other for Gorillas in the Mist) in one year.

2. Alien/Aliens (1979 & 1986): Yes, I know, I’m cheating, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me. Sure, Alien and Aliens may only have Weaver and Xenomorphs in common regarding the style of the two films, but boy, do they ever make one hell of a companion piece. Ridley Scott’s original ‘79 space chiller is like a haunted house movie in outer space with what I will always contend is the scariest damn monster in the history of cinema, and James Cameron’s ‘86 sequel is more of a pulse-pounding action film, but since no one can make me choose between the two, I won’t. As well-directed and terrifying as both films are, neither would work so well without Weaver. As Ripley, Weaver found her signature role and would have been immortalized had these two movies been the only ones she’d made. What’s so terrific about her performance in both films is the progression of the character that Weaver pulls off. In the first film, she’s the youngest of the crew members, less sure of herself, but ultimately right about everything. In the second film, she already knows she’s right about what Ripley and an under-armed military crew will face when she heads to a colonized planet as a consultant once all signs of contact are lost with those living there. In Alien, Weaver is a survivor. In Aliens, she is a warrior. The warrior version garnered Weaver her first Oscar nomination as an actress in a leading role.

1. The Year of Living Dangerously (1982): Go ahead and admit it: a bunch of you were betting on either Alien or Aliens for number one, weren’t you? Either would have been a fine choice, but I’m going with Aussie Director Peter Weir’s (one of the most underrated directors to step behind a camera) romantic drama backdropped against world events–specifically the turmoil in Jakarta, circa 1965. Mel Gibson stars as Guy Hamilton, an Australian reporter who, while covering the strife in Indonesia, Hamilton meets Jill, a British Embassy staffer who catches his eye. While Weaver’s part is not exactly a lead, her presence is every bit as strong as Gibson’s in all of the scenes they share. If anything, Jill keeps Guy on his toes and often wrongfoots him with her forward nature. Weaver has never looked better on film (no small statement). Her British accent is flawless, and good god is this one steamy film. I have no idea how Weaver and Gibson got along off-screen; I only know they set it ablaze whenever they share space in front of the camera.

Postscript: Whittling the career of Sigourney Weaver down to seven (or, in this case, eight) was no easy gig. Weaver suffered the same fate as many actresses once they reached their fifties–the best parts came less frequently. That being said, the honorable mentions are worthy. Weaver was still in peak form when she played the first lady in the joyful presidential switcheroo comedy Dave with Kevin Kline in 1993. She was an absolute force of nature in the otherwise uneven drama A Map of the World (1999), with Julianne Moore co-starring. Cedar Rapids (2011), the woefully underseen comedy starring Ed Helms, with Weaver as a “cougar,” was terrific, even if she could have used more scenes. Finally, Paul Schrader’s dark drama Master Gardener, starring Joel Edgerton from just two years ago, gave Weaver a chance to show a malevolent side that she has seldom been asked to portray, proving that there are still plenty of surprises in her handbag. I also want to add that Weaver has only three Oscar nominations to her name, and that is a god damn crime. There. I said it.