10 Best John Goodman Movies, Ranked
There aren’t many actors who have worked as consistently and in such a wide range of projects as John Goodman. In fact, Goodman is equally well known as a television star thanks to his iconic role on Roseanne and his current incredible work on the new season of The Righteous Gemstones.
While he’s best known for his collaborations with the Coen Brothers, Goodman has worked with nearly every great filmmaker in the industry over the course of his lengthy career. Here are the top ten best John Goodman movies, ranked.
10 'Barton Fink' (1991)
It remains an absolute crime that Goodman has never received an Academy Award nomination in either acting category; while his hilarious turn as Charlie Meadows in the Coen Brothers’ 1991 classic Barton Fink was recognized by the controversial Golden Globe awards, the Oscars opted to nominate his co-star Michael Lerner in the same category.
Goodman appears as a particularly noisy (yet constantly good-natured) of the main character Barton (John Turturro), a Jewish writer who finds himself slipping into madness as he’s forced to deal with the pressures of the studio system.
9 'Bringing Out The Dead' (1999)
Bringing Out The Dead might just be the weirdest movie that Martin Scorsese has ever made; while he had dabbled in the horror genre with his 1991 remake of the classic thriller Cape Fear, Bringing Out The Dead combined psychological scares with the the existentialism religious themes that Scorsese has tackled throughput his career.
Nicolas Cage gives one of the most underrated performances of his career as the insomniac New York City paramedic Frank Pierce, who fights his own demons as he tries to save lives alongside his new partner (Goodman).
8 'Flight' (2012)
Goodman is generally such a likable presence both onscreen and in interviews that it’s odd whenever he portrays a nasty character; it speaks to his incredible talent that he’s able to subvert expectations of his personality so easily.
Robert Zemeckis’s gripping 2012 historical drama Flight follows the aftermath of a shocking plane crash, in which the alcoholic pilot Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington) successfully brought a plane to safety despite being intoxicated. Goodman has a scene-stealing supporting role as Whitaker’s drug dealer, who delivers him illegal substances even when he’s in the midst of medical treatment.
7 'Monsters, Inc.' (2001)
Getting celebrities to voice animated characters became a cliche as computer-generated animated films from studios like Pixar got more mainstream, but the incredible work that Goodman and Billy Crystal had as the central duo in Monsters, Inc. doesn’t fall into that category at all. It feels like the two had actual chemistry from behind the recording booth; Goodman’s joyous personality comes across in the mannerisms of a big blue monster.
Sulley has been a character that Goodman has been open to reprising; he provided his voice again for the 2013 sequel Monsters University and the 2021 Disney+ series Monsters at Work.
6 'Inside Llewyn Davis' (2013)
The great working relationship between the Coen Brothers and Goodman means that he appears in many of their films in brief roles that essentially feel like extended cameos. Thankfully, it generally doesn’t take too long for Goodman to steal a film.
Inside Llewyn Davis is one of the Coen Brothers’ darkest films ever; Oscar Isaac gives a heartbreaking performance as the titular musician, who struggles to make end’s meet in lieu of his bandmate’s suicide. Goodman adds some much needed comic relief as a noisy cab rider that annoys Llewyn.
5 'Patriots Day' (2016)
Peter Berg’s 2016 film Patriots Day invoked some controversy at the time of its release with the way that it handled the horrific Boston Marathon Bombing of 2013. Outside of concerns that the film was sensationalizing events that had only recently made headlines, the main character Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg) is a fictitious figure. He serves as an amalgamation of different police officers that served on the tragic day.
Nonetheless, Goodman turns in a very respectful and empowering performance as the real Boston Police Commissioner who served during the manhunt, Ed Davis.
4 'Raising Arizona' (1987)
In his first collaboration with the Coen Brothers, Goodman proved why he would become one of the duo’s favorite actors to cast. He gives an outrageous supporting turn as the prisoner Gale Snoats, who joins his brother Evelle (William Forsythe) in an attempt to kidnap the infant that their old cellmate Hi McDunnough (Nicolas Cage) has already stolen.
While Raising Arizona is one of the zaniest of the Coens’ films, it also has some satirical (but nonetheless hilarious) moments that examine criminal psychology. Among the standout scenes is the moment Gale and Evelle decide to willingly return to prison.
3 'Argo' (2012)
Ben Affleck’s third film as a director, Argo, tells the incredible true story of CIA Agent Tony Mendez (Affleck), who succeeded in rescuing American citizens trapped in Tehran after the ransacking of the United States Embassy. In order to smuggle the hostages out, Mendez pretends to be putting together the crew of a fake science fiction called Argo.
In order to make the production seem realistic, Mendez hires some real Hollywood figures to assist in the production of his fake film. Among them is the legendary makeup designer John Chambers (Goodman), best known for his work on the original Planet of the Apes films.
2 '10 Cloverfield Lane' (2016)
10 Cloverfield Lane is one of the most ingeniously marketed films of all-time; it’s film was shot and initially marketed as a standalone isolation thriller before the cast learned that it was actually set in the same universe as the 2008 found footage movie Cloverfield.
Goodman gives an absolutely terrifying performance as the insane conspiracy theorist Howard Stambler, who traps his victims in an underground bunker in order to “protect” them from an apocalyptic event that he’s predicted. What’s even more unnerving is that Stambler’s point-of-view is actually given some legitimacy by the film’s ending that reveals the connection to Cloverfield.
1 'The Big Lebowski' (1998)
The Big Lebowski is easily the Coen Brothers’ funniest movie. While initial reactions at the time of its release were mixed, the film has grown a massive cult following, and even an independent religion that is based off of the philosophy of “The Dude” (Jeff Bridges).
Even though it's Bridges’ central performance that makes the film so iconic, it’s The Dude’s interactions with his best friends Walter (Goodman) and Donnie (Steve Buscemi) that create the funniest moments. Goodman gets to have fun because Walter is perpetually angry, but the heartbreak he shows at the end upon Donnie’s death shows what incredible range he has.
ncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51kr6a%2F02ahqKCeYrSwu8OmmKdlnaTDqrHSZqmappuasXA%3D