From 'The Ice Storm' to 'The Contender,' THR critic Sheri Linden ranks the best film work from the actress, whose ABC drama series debuts Thursday.

1. 5

   5

   Manhunter

   1986

   

   As the killer’s blind co-worker in Michael Mann’s thriller, Allen is the quintessence of vulnerability and sexual readiness — but the actress, who never oversells her characters’ plights, makes her much more than that.

2. 4

   5

   The Crucible

   1996

   

   As Elizabeth Proctor, Allen creates a figure of silent accusation and anguished self-reproach in this adaptation of the Arthur Miller play about the Salem witch trials, co-starring Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder.

3. 3

   5

   The Contender

   2000

   

   Allen scored an Oscar nomination for her performance as a senator being vetted for vice president, finding a flinty complexity in what might have been a sentimental heroine.
4. 2

   5

   Off the Map

   2003

   

   Allen expertly anchors this movie about an odd New Mexico family, playing a woman who must navigate the uncharted emotional terrain around her restless daughter, depressed husband and a smitten IRS agent.

5. 1

   5

   The Ice Storm

   1997

   

   As a Nixon-era Connecticut housewife with a cheating husband (Kevin Kline), Allen is exquisitely contained, embodying the awkward grace and indefinable ache that suffuse this masterpiece by Ang Lee.