Bacon's best work

By NEAL JUSTIN, Star Tribune

Last update: February 14, 2009 - 10:29 PM

BACON'S BEST

Kevin Bacon never has gotten an Oscar nomination, but in a career that started with 1978's "Animal House," he has created a body of work as varied and surprising as that of more famous co-stars. Here are five of his best:

"She's Having a Baby" (1988): Director John Hughes and Bacon both grow up in this examination of the difficulties of a young marriage -- especially when your best friend is a horndog Alec Baldwin. Terrific soundtrack, too, including Kate Bush's "This Woman's Work."

"The Big Picture" (1989): Before specializing in mockumentaries, director Christopher Guest whipped up this delicious, bittersweet dish on the perils of Hollywood, with Bacon playing a naive screenwriter who rides the rollercoaster of fame.

"A Few Good Men" (1992): He holds his own against the likes of Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and Tom Cruise, and provides sympathetic touches to a character that could easily have been written off as the evil prosecutor.

"Murder in the First" (1995): He plays a petty criminal unfairly imprisoned on Alcatraz, where he spirals into madness and murder. It's the kind of role one may associate with a darker actor -- say, Sean Penn -- but Bacon proves just as menacing.

"Will & Grace" (2002): It takes a big man to make fun of himself, and Bacon is more than game in this guest appearance as himself, the subject of Jack's stalking. The episode climaxes with a re-creation of his "Footloose" moves, showing he still has the chops.

NEAL JUSTIN

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