Joaquin Phoenix: 10 Best Movies Ranked

The best Joaquin Phoenix Movies show his true range and talent as an actor, and he showed his natural talent from a very young age. Phoenix got an early start in acting as a teenager, breaking into the industry with his brother, River Phoenix. Since his introduction to movies and television, Phoenix has risen to a Hollywood A-lister, headlining everything from horror movies and historical epics to quirky independent movies and action movies. He showed his worth as a leading man and an accomplished supporting star.

Phoenix has also caught the attention of some of Hollywood's biggest directors. The actor has worked with everyone from PT Anderson and Spike Jonze to Ridley Scott and M. Night Shyamalan, and he's stood out in some of their biggest movies. He won a Golden Globe Award, an Oscar, and a Grammy Award and earned three more Oscar nominations. It also seems like he is always on the minds of critics and fans everywhere with the interesting and offbeat roles he takes on.

10

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

A neo-noir about a troubled mercenary

Joaquin Phoenix has been in some great movies in his career, but one of his best roles was in a much quieter indie project. Released in 2017, Phoenix plays Joe, a mercenary who has dedicated his life to saving victims of human traffickers. Joe took the job thanks to his anger issues from the pain his mother suffered and he suffered thanks to his abusive father.

However, when his latest goal brings him to a senator who will do anything to cover up his crimes, Joe finds that he will have to put his life on the line to save the women who had their lives stolen. A24 produced You were never really hereWhich debuted at the Cannes Film Festival, where Phoenix won the best actor award. It has fantastic reviews, with 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, and has earned eight BAFTA nominations, with two wins.

9

Napoleon (2023)

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Napoleon

Ridley Scott worked with Joaquin Phoenix many years ago GladiatorAn Oscar-winning epic movie about the battles in the Roman Empire. Just over 23 years later, Scott teamed up with Phoenix again, and this time, made him the main character in another historical epic. This time, it was Napoleon. Phoenix took on the role of Napoleon BonaparteFollowed him as he watched Marie Antoinette's beheading and then showed his rise in power and relationship with his wife, Joséphine (Vanessa Kirby).

Napoleon was nowhere near as critically acclaimed as GladiatorBut it was still an epic piece of filmmaking, with Phoenix giving his all as Napoleon as he struggled to lead his country and keep his home life intact. The biggest complaints about Napoleon Despite its historical inaccuracies, critics praised the battle sequences and acting. Napoleon Received three Oscar nominations, while Kirby received a Best Supporting Actress Award from the AACTA International Awards.

8

The Yards (2000)

Bribery, corruption and crime in the NYC rail yards

In the 2000s, director James Gray made a few movies about the criminal underworld and he teamed up with Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg on two of them, The yards (2000) and We own the night (2007). Both were thrillers that focused on the little guys on the streets, often overwhelmed by the criminal overlords who often ruled their neighborhoods. THe yards is about people working in and around the train yards in New York City.

The movie sees a man named Leo (Wahlberg) get out of prison and his mother throws him a surprise party. Here, he meets Willy (Phoenix), who thanks him for serving his prison time and offers him a job working for a railroad car repair company. However, once there, Leo ends up in the middle of criminal activities, including bribery and political corruption, all of which lead to murder. Phoenix won Best Supporting Actor from the National Board of Review Awards.

7

Signs (2002)

M. Night Shyamalan's alien invasion horror movie

M. Night Shyamalan's career started at the highest of heights. The sixth sense was considered a modern-day masterpiece when it came out, and magazines touted Shyamalan as the next Steven Spielberg. He followed up with his biggest fan-favorite movie, UnbreakableAnd then released his alien invasion movie, wonders. While his career began to decline after this, wonders was still a big hit when it came out, with critics and fans praising the suspense and the aliens design.

Mel Gibson stars as a minister in conflict of faith who struggles to raise his three kids after his wife's death. Joaquin Phoenix is ​​his oldest son and the story mostly focuses on how the family deals with the alien invasion and ends up fighting to protect their home when some show up at their door. wonders Receiving mostly positive reviews, sitting at 75% on Rotten Tomatoes, it was a box office success, making over $408 million on a $72 million budget (via Box Office Mojo).

6

Inherent Vice (2014)

PT Anderson directed the Thomas Pynchon adaptation

Paul Thomas Anderson did something no one believed possible in 2014: he took on the novel Thomas Pynchon Inherent vice And turned it into a movie. For years, most of the book's fans claimed that Inherent vice was Unfilmable, a 369-page novel about a private detective in Los Angeles who gets sacked on a case thanks to his ex-girlfriend. in this movie, Joaquin Phoenix plays the PI, Larry "Doc" Sportello, a pothead hippie who works as a PI. in Los Angeles County.

What Anderson does is create a film that is mostly about the atmosphere and the characters interacting with each other. As usual, he puts together an amazing cast, with Josh Brolin, Owen Wilson, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio del Toro, Jena Malone, and many more dropping in and out of the story. Inherent vice Only had a 74% Rotten Tomatoes score, but many critics downgraded it since it was considered lighter fare than Anderson's past movies. It still earned two Oscar nominations.

5

The Master (2012)

PT Anderson's independent look at Scientology

Before Inherent vicePaul Thomas Anderson teamed up with Joaquin Phoenix for one of the director's most ambitious movies. This saw Anderson also reunited with a regular from his past Philip Seymour Hoffman, who stars as Lancaster Dodd, the leader of a cult known as Reason. He sees something special in Freddie (Phoenix), a World War II Navy veteran struggling to adapt to the civilian world. Once Freddie is accepted into the cause, he starts learning Dodd's teachings, and things start to spiral out of control.

Anderson based the reason on the Church of Scientology, and Dodd on the founder, L. Ron Hubbard. The movie was also shot on 65mm film, which means there are limited theaters that could show it the way Anderson intended to see it. however, Between the story, Anderson's direction, and the great acting performances, The master Ended up being listed as one of his best movies. It has an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score, and it earned three Oscar nominations, all for acting (Phoenix, Hoffman and Amy Adams).

4

Joker (2019)

Joaquin Phoenix takes on Batman's greatest villain

Joaquin Phoenix joined the ranks of comic book movie stars when he took on the role of one of the most infamous villains in all of comic book history. Phoenix signed up to play the Joker in the 2019 film, where the villain was the main character, and there is no superhero to fight him, because Bruce Wayne is still a child in the story. Directed by Todd Phillips (The hangover), Phoenix stars as Arthur Fleck, a failed clown who wants to be a stand-up comedian. However, he also struggles with his mental health and slowly falls along the way.

Fleck lives with and is forced to care for his sick mother (Frances Conroy), a woman who constantly mentally abuses him. He annoys a late-night talk show host (Robert De Niro), who eventually humiliates him. He also has a wife he loves (Zazi Beets), but nothing in the movie is what it seems. Joker was a massive hit, and Phoenix became the second actor in Oscar history to win an acting award for playing the Joker (Heath Ledger was the first for The Dark Knight). There is even a Joker Sequel coming in 2024.

3

walk the line (2005)

Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash

When Joaquin Phoenix revealed he would be singing in Joker: Folie à DeuxIt surprised some people. However, no one should have been shocked because Phoenix has proven himself as a capable singer in the past. Phoenix won the Golden Globe for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy and a Grammy Award for Best Complication Soundtrack for Visual Media for his performance in walk the line. In the historical biopic, Phoenix stars as country music icon Johnny Cash.

The movie follows Johnny Cash throughout his life and features iconic moments such as his performance at Folsom State Prison. Reese Witherspoon stars as June Cash Carter, and the movie was a critical and commercial success. It made $186.8 million on a $28 million budget and had an 82% Rotten Tomatoes score. It too Earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for PhoenixAlthough only Witherspoon won an award for best actress.

2

you (2013)

Spike Jonze's look at loneliness in a dystopian future

Spike Jonze hasn't made a ton of movies, but his four feature films have all been great. His last movie came in 2013 with youWhich was a meditation on loneliness disguised as a dystopian sci-fi movie. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Theodore Twombly, a lonely man in the midst of a divorce. He lives in a futuristic society where people can use AI virtual assistants that have the ability to adapt and evolve. Theodore's name is Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), and in an interesting twist, he and the AI ​​soon fall in love.

As with most movies about AI, things start to go wrong when Samantha becomes too self-aware and realizes that she can be so much more. However, this is only a small part of the story, as Jonze focuses on Amy from Theodore and Amy Adams, who has an AI of her own, as they struggle to adapt to a world where they are almost unable to grow close to real people. you had a 95% Rotten Tomatoes score and earned five Oscar nods, winning for Best Original Screenplay.

1

gladiator (2000)

Ridley Scott's Oscar-worthy Roman epic

Gladiator was The movie that earned Joaquin Phoenix his first Oscar nomination. Ridley Scott directs, and the film stars Russell Crowe as a Roman general named Maximus, who faithfully served his emperor. However, after the emperor's death, his son, Commodus (Phoenix), shows his envy of Maximus and has him arrested, his family killed, and then sends him to serve as a gladiator in the Colosseum. Phoenix stars as Maximus, the film's villain. It was a monster success.

Gladiator Earned over $465 million on a $103 million budget (via Box Office Mojo) and has an 80% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It also picked up 12 Oscar nominations, winning five of them. The movie won Best Picture, and Crowe picked up his first Best Actor award. Scott also received a nomination for Best Director and Phoenix for Best Supporting Actor. There is also a sequel coming out in 2024 called Gladiator IIFocusing on Joaquin PhoenixThe character's nephew, Lucius.