Director/Actor Best Film #24: Nolan & Bale

The Dark Knight, despite that being Bale's worst performance of the four.

I do agree that Bale is at his best in Rises when it comes to his Nolan collaborations, but I'd say Caine is MVP of that film (his best work with Nolan), followed by Hathaway and Hardy, and then Bale.

I picked The Dark Knight as that is their best film together. As others have stated, Bale gives his best performance in a Nolan film in The Dark Knight Rises..and arguably his best performance that decade imo.

Best film: The Dark Knight.
Best performance: The Prestige.

Films:

1. The Dark Knight
2. The Dark Knight Rises
3. The Prestige
4. Batman Begins

Performances:

1. The Dark Knight Rises
2. Batman Begins
3. The Prestige
4. The Dark Knight

It does seem kind of strange that their best film together is Bale’s least interesting performance under Nolan... not that he’s bad, he’s just completely overshadowed by everyone around him because of the broader narrative focus and the fact that the film is less interested in Bruce Wayne’s interiority than the trilogy’s bookends.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that TDKR is Bale’s best performance of the decade, but in general I think he is rather underappreciated in it.