What about him?

1. - Bill Murray's Bob Wiley, in What About Bob? (1991)

Murray recounts his sailing exploits to Charlie Korsmo's Siggy, "...I sailed on my first try..." At this point watch for Murray's full-body wiggle of self-satisfaction before he continues, "...I just let the boat do the work..." It's sublime. It feels like we're watching the thrill of recounting the event and experiencing the memories of it, rather than merely witnessing an actor cook up some gesture to go along with a line of dialogue.


2. - Tom Aldredge's Mr. Guttman:

Aldredge radiates bottled up rage as he squirms at the mention of his nemesis, Richard Dreyfuss' Dr. Leo Marvin. His shoulders and neck pulse with adrenaline-fueled pressure as he hatches a scheme for revenge: "...He won't see you?...Well - we'll show you where he lives!"

Imagine being the towel he's twisting in his hands - it's great understated use of a prop in a totally believable context.

In the same segment, notice how Bill Murray's head moves almost without tilt-rotation when he says, "..d' you know him?". Whereas we normally rotate >1 axis on head moves, this one remains almost entirely on the left/right axis. Seems very likely that a guy like Bob would do a double take like that.

3. Pre-Roll is essential to rounding out a character.

This clip is solid gold. It contains numerous examples of great acting and heads-up film-making. Richard Dreyfus as Leo Marvin is alive in his character's skin at all times. Watch how when his wife calls him to the window to watch their son being taught to dive he first appears (about 00:32 in) with a smile on his face. He's not neutral, not default, the way middling animators might leave character's faces until their cue to speak comes up. Dreyfus is smiling. Why? Who cares? The filmmakers don't, and we shouldn't either - it's beside the point. What matters is he comes to the window fully alive, with the bonus that his face now has a greater range to sink when he realizes Bob Wiley is the one outside helping his son.