When it comes to versatile male actors in Hollywood these days, there are only a few.
Daniel Day Lewis is the king; Leonardo Di Caprio is great, as is Johnny Depp.
But another fantastic actor that was overlooked until recently is Christian Bale.
Let's take a look at some of his greatest performances.
While Batman Begins was great, The Dark Knight was even better.
With an all star cast and a legendary performance by Heath Ledger, Christian Bale's performance was overshadowed.
Ledger created one of the best villains in Hollywood history, but Bale did a pretty great job with Bruce Wayne as well.
In another film involving deception and playing two sides, Christian Bale was incredible in The Prestige.
You never know until the end of this movie whether or not he is a good guy, which I cannot even imagine how hard that is to do.
He stole the show from Hugh Jackman.
In The Machinist, Bale plays Trevor Reznik, an emaciated insomniac who is not sure what is real and what is not.
His controversial weight loss (reportedly 70 pounds) for this role redefined commitment to a role.
Think Memento meets Thinner.
Based on the book of the same name, Bale plays Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, a psychopathic New York investment banker in the 80s.
This movie has as many memorable lines as any for me.
If you are looking for a great movie that you may have missed in theatres from 2008, check out Rescue Dawn.
Directed by Werner Herzog, this movie tells the story of an American fighter pilot who is shot down in Laos during the war.
Both Bale and Steve Zahn give great performances and went the extra mile by shedding excessive weight for this one.
Another great performance of his was in 3:10 to Yuma along with Russell Crowe.
This was a completely different role for Bale, as he played a cowboy in the desert.
The underrated Ben Foster also was excellent in this one.