Tim Allen was born in 1953 and started his acting career as a comedian and eventually switched to sitcoms. Throughout his career, he has starred in many TV franchises and movies. He has acted in enough serials to become a beloved actor in many people’s youth.
But which roles were Tim Allen’s best performances? What makes them the best? Well, that should depend on a few different aspects. Which of his roles will be remembered and timeless? How was his acting in that role? And how important was that performance to the film?
Tim Allen is a great actor but it can be said that he often portrays the same character type in many movies and has the same mannerisms for all his characters. However, some of them exemplify his personality or show his acting skills more than others. Here are Allen’s best performances in film and television.
5/5 Toy Story franchise
Toy Story is a franchise that Tim Allen will always be remembered for, even if Chris Evans were to reprise the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the recently released movie Light year. Allen’s role as Buzz Lightyear is a real standout in these legendary Pixar films, especially his dialogue with Tom Hanks’ character Woody.
Tim Allen does a great job portraying the toy who doesn’t know he’s a toy, with tones of confusion and comedy mixed in the role. Voice acting isn’t for everyone; it’s hard to act with just a voice and match situations that don’t happen. However, Tim Allen takes that to heart and delivers a stunning performance as Buzz Lightyear.
4/5 galaxy quest
galaxy quest is a delightful cult classic from the ’90s, a solid movie with great acting that makes films like tropical thunder. Tim Allen plays a washed-up actor from an old sci-fi TV show. The movie takes a turn as the cast is taken into space by real aliens who thought their TV show was real and needed their help. They must live the heroic adventures their characters once had in order to survive. Eventually, they all changed their view of the show they had been on and saw how much good they could do.
Tim Allen doing a “Tim Allen” performance. As mentioned earlier, most of his movie roles start with him being a cocky jerk and end with him opening up and discovering something he didn’t know he had. This movie is no different, but just because it’s like his others doesn’t mean it isn’t one of his top performances. He does a great job selling his character to the viewers and changing his mind at the end of the movie, and his character and galaxy quest themselves are self-aware enough to make it feel otherwise.
3/5 Red belt
This isn’t a Tim Allen movie, but he plays an important role, and one that’s much more menacing than usual. Red belt is about a skilled martial arts instructor who always refused to participate in tournaments. But with financial problems becoming more and more worrying, he decides he needs to get involved in case he said he never would.
Tim Allen plays Chet Frank, a famous action star who saves the protagonist (perfectly played by Chiwetel Ejiofor) from a brutal attack. Allen is the one who gets the main character in the movie industry and is the reason he ends up fighting in the competition he said he never would. Although very different from what Tim Allen is known for, David Mamet’s Red belt is seriously worth checking out.
2/5 Santa
Santa is another timeless franchise. Starting with a hit Christmas movie that many love to watch every holiday season, there are three movies in the franchise and a new Disney plus series airing now. The premise of the movie is about a man who accidentally becomes Santa because of an unread clause on a business card he read. Tim Allen plays Scott Calvin, the man who turns into Santa Claus.
Allen is an exceptionally good Santa Claus and is a perfect fit for the role that kids know that character for. He also does a great job as a father who tries to do everything he can to give his son a good life. There are many heartfelt moments in this film that Allen will make you cry.
1/5 Renovation
Although not a movie, this is Allen’s most prominent role. Renovation was a show based on a man who raised three boys, owned a hardware store, and did a show about home improvement. It’s a true-to-life comedic show with touching moments in every episode. It is a well-rounded eight-season TV series that aired from 1991 to 1999. Allen is iconic as the father and lead handyman in this show, using his comedic and drama skills to grab the audience’s attention.