Film: Leonardo DiCaprio's 10 best movie roles

In the new psychological thriller "Inception," Leonardo DiCaprio plays a man whose identity is problematic. Who he is depends on when and where you meet him. It's the kind of subtle, shape-shifting role he has played repeatedly and well as he climbed from the TV-sitcom ghetto to become a great actor who is also a movie star.

Twenty years into his film-acting career, he's already earned three Academy Award nominations. Though he has, we hope, many decades of work ahead of him, the 35-year-old actor is ripe for a midcareer retrospective. Here, in no particular order, are 10 of his finest performances.

1. "Revolutionary Road" -- One key to DiCaprio's rise is his superb taste in collaborators and material. Richard Yates' devastating 1961 novel about domestic malaise defeated a procession of top Hollywood filmmakers. DiCaprio's participation in this version, alongside his "Titanic" co-star Kate Winslet and her then-husband, director Sam Mendes, finally made it happen. DiCaprio's Frank Wheeler is a man trapped by conformity, hypocrisy and frustration, suffering an identity crisis as his youthful ambitions shrivel and die.

What makes his heartfelt performance sing is the unspoken implication that Frank willingly chose his suburban prison, because he lacked the courage to be his best self. The role has operatic high notes of rage and agony, but the undertone of self-disgust that this defeated man struggles to hide is the most electrifying effect of all. DiCaprio tackles the role with brutal honesty, revealing Frank's ugly side but never losing emotional contact with the audience.

2. "Catch Me If You Can" -- DiCaprio relishes playing real-life high-fliers. As legendary impostor Frank Abagnale Jr., the youngest man to ever make the FBI's most-wanted list, DiCaprio gives the crook a breezy, boyish charm. He plays many roles here as the con man impersonates an airline pilot, a doctor, a lawyer, a professor and more, forging millions of dollars in bad checks. DiCaprio's resume is light on comedies, but here you can sense the actor taking pleasure in Abagnale's sublime acts of deception, one professional to another.

3. "Titanic" -- Jack Dawson, free-spirited artist, is a romantic stereotype; nevertheless, DiCaprio plays him flawlessly. The doomed love story with Kate Winslet's Rose gives the film an immense emotional power equal to the scale of the disaster scenes. DiCaprio never panders in a stock role that teeters on the brink of hokiness. His earnest, straightforward approach made him a worldwide superstar. Amazingly, he did not lose his head, following up with a self-mocking cameo in Woody Allen's caustic parody of the fame industry, "Celebrity."