7) Zombieland
When there are less characters in a screenplay, there is even more pressure on actors; they have more screen time; more lines; and therefore more attention. Jaws set the standard from this perspective but a less obvious and more recent example is Zombieland.
For the opening half an hour, Jesse Eisenberg and Woody Harrelson make for a wonderful double act in a post zombie apocalypse world. It would have been a shame to have had their dynamic interrupted if it wasn’t for Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin completing the group so wonderfully. It is even hard to imagine someone else making that cameo; even that just works.
The recent attempt at a Zombieland TV series (going back to the film’s origins as a weekly show) had a number of problems – not having the perfect casting of the film was one.
