Richard Gere’s 10 Best Movies and TV Shows

Richard Gere
He grew up as an athlete, going to university on a gymnastics scholarship where he began studying philosophy. It might not seem like he was on the path to becoming one of the most beloved actors of his generation. He left college after two years, however, and began to pursue subjects he was a little more passionate about, like appearing on stage.

Richard Gere began as an actor in local theater productions in the 1960s before moving to Broadway in the 1970s. He also began acting professionally on screen in the 1970s and has managed to remain an in-demand actor ever since. He has consistently delivered fantastic performances across a wide variety of genres, and his best range from crime dramas to musicals and romances.

10

Hachi: A Dog’s Story (2009)

As Parker Wilson

Some viewers avoid pet-centric movies for good reason. They tend to be tearful in that the animal ends up in danger, sick or worse. This is the basis of the site Doesthedogdie.comwhich has evolved to provide trigger warnings for all types of subjects in films. Pet-centered films can be heartwarming dramas because they allow actors a new style of story to tell, which is why Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is one of Richard Gere’s best films.

Gere stars as a man who finds a dog abandoned on a train platform and takes it home to his family. The film itself chronicles his experiences with Hachi. The film talks about the unbreakable bond between people and the animals they love. It is a remake of the 1987 Japanese film Hachikowhich is arguably the better of the two, but Gere makes a worthwhile adaptation.

9

Primal Fear (1996)

As Martin Hail

Courtroom dramas are often relegated to television, with each case getting an episode of a TV series, because it allows for a case-of-the-week format while slowly fleshing out the characters. A film has a longer period of time to solve a case, but not always as much time to develop the characters for the audience. This makes legal dramas more about dramatic courtroom scenes than character acting, typically.

Richard Gere does a great job creating those courtroom scenes as lawyer Martin Hall, who defends an altar boy suspected of murdering a Catholic bishop in a particularly gruesome case. The film may be overly dramatic by today’s standards, but Gere is great in the role. Even better is Edward Norton, who makes his film debut in Primal Fear and won a Golden Globe for the role.

8

American Gigolo (1980)

As Julian Kaye

American Gigolo is something like the flip side of one of Gere’s best-known films, beautiful woman. While in the latter he plays a man who falls in love with a sex worker, here he plays one himself. Pretty Woman portrays a fairy tale, while this film goes into the darker side of the industry as Gere plays a man who ends up in the middle of a murder investigation.

American Gigolo is a neo-noir, being darker and edgier than the films that defined the noir genre decades earlier. It was also recognized as one of Gere’s best films early in his career, setting him on the path to becoming a bona fide movie star and one of Hollywood’s most beloved leading men of the 1990s.

The film was revived, so to speak, when studios became interested in developing a television series based on the same concept. Jon Bernthal starred in the role that Gere originally played. The series had eight episodes in 2022.

7

I’m not there (2007)

Like Billy

There are many biographies of musicians, so it can be difficult to single them out. All successful people must have a hook. To Walk the linethe focus was on Johnny Cash and June Carter’s relationship, while for Rocket Manthe film utilized fantasy sequences rather than remaining rooted in reality. I’m not there tells the story of Bob Dylan’s life and has different actors play the musician during different periods of his career. Each actor takes on a different personality that coincides with Dylan’s work.

Gere plays the character “Billy the Kid”. Joining him as other versions of Dylan are Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw and Marcus Carl Franklin. Although Blanchett received more praise for her work on the film (and won a Golden Globe), everyone in the group helped flesh out the non-linear story told to the audience.

6

Arbitration (2012)

As Robert Miller

Although Gere is known for his romantic comedies, he has appeared in several crime dramas. Many of these crime dramas, like Openingare some of the best of his career.

Gere stars as a hedge fund manager who works with his daughter, is having an affair with a younger woman and has been covering his tracks to avoid being arrested for fraud. The film shows his world falling apart when he is responsible for the death of his lover, his daughter discovers his fraud, and his wife discovers his infidelity. The tension in the film is exactly how it manages to stay afloat with everything going on around it.

Gere’s performance was almost universally praised by critics, even though the character he plays is very unlikeable. He earned a Golden Globe nomination for his work in the film.

5

And the band played (1993)

As the choreographer

Gere has not appeared in many television projects in his career. And the band played is one of the first. It was made for HBO, but also aired on NBC and ABC. The docudrama was inspired by the non-fiction book published in 1987, And the Band Continued: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts. The filmmakers had the herculean task of distilling more than 600 pages of facts and figures into a dramatic story that audiences could follow.

The film follows Matthew Modine as epidemiologist Don Francis, who becomes one of the first HIV/AIDS researchers. As Francis spends the 1980s investigating the virus, he also becomes part of the LGBTQ+ community, trying to communicate with gay activists about his findings. The film featured a large cast throughout Francis’ journey, and Gere’s role in the grand scheme of the film is not large. He plays a character known only as Choreographer, a man who works in the San Francisco theater scene and discovers he has AIDS.

Gere proves, however, that when a film involves so many cast members, each member of the ensemble is vital.. Modine, Gere, Alan Alda, Ian McKellan, Swoosie Kurtz and Lily Tomlin were all nominated for an Emmy for their work on the film.

4

An Officer and a Gentleman (1982)

As Zack Mayo

Richard Gere is known for romance – especially during the 1980s and 90s in his career. Although he has played many roles that are not romantic, it would be impossible for several romances not to appear among his best films. An office and a gentleman It’s a classic novel.

In fact, when the film premiered in 1982, it truly seemed like a relic from an earlier era of filmmaking. The film, at its core, is about a young man (Gere) finding balance in his life between his career and his personal life. It turns out that his career consists of training to be a Navy pilot under the command of someone he doesn’t seem to agree with. His personal life involves falling in love with a woman who works in a factory. The two halves of your life just don’t seem to fit together.

Gere gave a great performance as the protagonist in the film that earned him a Golden Globe nomination. A remake of An officer and a gentleman is under development.

3

Pretty Woman (1990)

As Edward Lewis

As time passes, there are certainly much more critical views on beautiful woman than there was initially in 1990. Most critics and moviegoers were won over by Richard Gere and Julia Roberts’ charming chemistry in the lead roles.

Gere stars as a lonely businessman who hires a sex worker he meets while in town. He pays her to stay with him for a week, but when he takes her to dinner and the opera and she meets people in his world, he realizes there is more to her than meets the eye. The two fall in love in what has been seen by many as a modern Cinderella history.

Although the film’s original proposed ending was much darker, giving the film a happy ending for the main characters made it endearing to audiences. While most of the big pop culture moments remembered in the film belong to Julia Roberts, there’s no denying that her chemistry with Gere is what makes the film work.

2

Days of Heaven (1978)

As a bill

When Days of Heaven premiered in theaters in 1978, it was not a commercial success. It was more like today’s independent films, finding critical love for the way it was filmed and the beauty of the setting. Since then, however, praise for him has only grown. It was added to the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2007.

The film follows a man (Gere) and a woman (Brooke Adams) who work for a rancher (Sam Shephard) in Texas. The man convinces the woman to fraudulently marry the farmer, whose health is failing, in the hope that the two of them can assume ownership of the property when he inevitably dies. Of course, the farmer’s health remains stable, frustrating his plans.

While much of the film’s story is told through a more biblical lens, as the man’s younger sister tells her story, citing the devil’s influence on her brother, the performances and the look of the film are what should really be praised.

1

Chicago (2002)

As Billy Flynn

Richard Gere hasn’t been in many musicals in his career. Although he started out in theater, he is not known as a singer and dancer like Hugh Jackman (aside from his legacy as Wolverine). Despite that, Chicago is Richard Gere’s best film and some of his best work as a whole.

The film is inspired by the Broadway musical. It follows women accused of murdering (or trying to murder) the men in their lives. Gere plays a lawyer who represents some of the characters in court, a man who believes in using the old “Razzle Dazzle” to distract people from the truth. Flynn is a character who aims to put on a show for anyone watching, making him the perfect role for a seasoned actor who excels in both comedy and drama.

Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Queen Latifah could be accused of stealing scenes from Gere, but he stands firm against the other performers. His musical sequence “We Both Reached For The Gun,” in which he is the puppeteer for Zellweger’s performance, is an astonishing piece of choreography and spectacle.

Chicago was nominated for 13 Oscars, winning six of them. He was also nominated for eight Golden Globes, winning three of them, including one for Richard Gere.