Ennis and Jack ("Brokeback Mountain") in the top film characters of the 2000's

(2003) Capt. Jack Sparrow

Johnny Depp almost single-handedly saved the lavish Jerry Bruckheimer-produced theme-park-ride movie "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" with his flamboyant portrayal of Capt. Jack Sparrow. Despite giant pirate ships and intricate sword fights, Depp's stumbling and mumbling Sparrow was by far the most eye-popping effect in the film and instantly became a classic.

(2005) Ennis and Jack

The tent. The look. Ennis and Jack (the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, respectively) struggled to maintain a forbidden relationship in "Brokeback Mountain," which won Oscars and racked up box office dollars. The lead actors' performances bled into mainstream consciousness as Jack's line "I wish I knew how to quit you" entered the general vernacular.
(2006) Borat

Sacha Baron Cohen originally created this bombastic Kazakh TV reporter for a British comedy show in the mid-'90s, but most people discovered him when he came to the big screen in this " documentary" about life in the United States. Deftly blurring the line between fiction and reality, Cohen used the character to goad unsuspecting people into behaving in ridiculous ways — usually to point out the underlying racism and/or hypocrisy.

(2007) Juno

There were movies in 2007 that grossed more money and won more Oscars, but the pregnant, wisecracking teenager played by Ellen Page in director Jason Reitman's "Juno" captured filmgoers' imaginations. As the films around her got bigger, with the effects often dwarfing the humans, the simplicity of Juno's predicament reminded everyone that the movies are about people more than things.
(2008) The Joker

Ledger's death cast a long shadow over his final completed screen role in Christopher Nolan's " The Dark Knight." But this did nothing to diminish the power of his performance as Batman's archnemesis and probably added to the haunting quality of a character with no past, no morals and one of the creepiest smiles in cinema history.
Source: www.latimes.com