7 Best Roles of National Treasure Michael Keaton*

By Lori Zakalik, JBFC Marketing Manager

*In my humble opinion. This was a hard one, guys. Let me be completely transparent here. I love Michael Keaton. I (poorly) Photoshopped my head onto Winona Ryder’s body and made this photo from Beetlejuice my Facebook profile picture for over a year.

Michael Keaton’s IMDb bio begins with “Quirky, inventive and handsome US actor Michael Keaton…” which means that there is some IMDb-editing movie nerd out there who feels as strongly as I do that Michael Keaton is the best. If there’s one other person like me, I can only assume there are more.

So when I heard that the Burns was opening Michael Keaton’s newest film, Spotlight, for a run as a Westchester Exclusive (tickets on sale now, by the way) I said, “sign me up!” Then I said, “Wouldn’t this be a great excuse to celebrate Michael Keaton’s best roles with the other Keaton fans out there?” Then someone else said “Hey, can you stop talking to yourself out loud?” Awkward.

So below are Michael Keaton’s seven best roles, and while I think they all deserve to be number one, that’s not the way the world works, is it? So tell me, do you agree with my choices? How about the ranking? And who knows? Maybe soon we’ll add Spotlight to this list. Tweet at @jbfc_ny and let me know what you think!

7. Jack, Mr. Mom (1983) Trailer
Michael Keaton was a stay-at-home dad before it was cool to be a stay-at-home dad.

6. Dogberry, Much Ado About Nothing (1993) Trailer
He didn’t have the biggest part, but he brought the biggest laughs. Those teeth tho.

5. Captain Gene Mauch, The Other Guys (2010) Trailer
Michael Keaton quoting TLC. Enough said.

4. Bill Blazejowski, Night Shift (1982) Trailer
Keaton turns a morgue into a brothel in his breakout role, directed by none other than JBFC Board member Ron Howard!

3. Riggan Thomson, Birdman (2014) Trailer
An egotistical Michael Keaton suffers an existential crisis.

2. Bruce Wayne, Batman (1989) Trailer
Christian? Nah. George? Meh. Val? Hell no. Michael Keaton has just the right balance of seriousness and camp to bring this comic book character to life. He IS Batman, he even said it himself.

1. Betelgeuse, Beetlejuice (1988) Trailer
The voice. That hair. Those teeth (again). And of course, the suit. Michael Keaton is crazy, funny, weird, and all-around perfect in a roll no one else could have pulled off.

Michael Keaton’s new film, Spotlight, opens at the Burns on Friday, November 13 as a Westchester Exclusive! Tickets are on sale now!