Movies with Great Acting
So here is a list of movies that I found had great acting from one or more actors. In some cases the performance can be must better than the movie itself.
List activity
72 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
82 titles
- DirectorGustav MöllerStarsJakob CedergrenJessica DinnageOmar ShargawiA police officer assigned alarm dispatch duty enters a race against time when he answers an emergency call from a kidnapped woman.Standout(s) :
Jakob Cedergren - DirectorRob ReinerStarsWil WheatonRiver PhoenixCorey FeldmanA writer recounts a childhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy.Standout(s) :
Wil Wheaton
River Phoenix - DirectorAbe SylviaStarsJuno TempleJeremy DozierMilla JovovichIt's 1987 and Danielle, the high-school 'Dirty Girl', is running away. With her is chubby, gay Clarke, a bag of flour called Joa and a Walkman full of glorious '80s tunes.Standout(s):
Juno Temple - DirectorPeter WernerStarsDanielle PanabakerJane KrakowskiClare StonePregnant sixteen year old Jacey's well-meaning mother forces her to keep the birth a secret and decides to raise the baby as her own.Standout(s):
Danielle Panabaker
Mercedes Ruehl - DirectorJames MotternStarsMichelle MonaghanNathan FillionBenjamin BrattA trucker, leading a life free of depth and on the way to nowhere, is forced to make a decision about her aggressive loner 11-year-old son whom she openly deserted ten years previously.Standout(s):
Michelle Monaghan - DirectorRichard EyreStarsCate BlanchettJudi DenchAndrew SimpsonA veteran high school teacher befriends a younger art teacher, who is having an affair with one of her fifteen-year-old students. However, her intentions with this new "friend" also go well beyond a platonic friendship.Standout(s):
Cate Blanchett - DirectorIsold UggadottirStarsKristín Þóra HaraldsdóttirBabetida SadjoPatrik Nökkvi PéturssonTwo women's lives will intersect while trapped in circumstances unforeseen. Between a struggling Icelandic mother and an asylum seeker from Guinea-Bissau, a delicate bond will form as both strategize to get their lives back on track.Standout(s):
Kristín Þóra Haraldsdóttir - DirectorMark RomanekStarsRobin WilliamsConnie NielsenMichael VartanA mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.Standout(s):
Robin Williams - DirectorCherNancy SavocaStarsDemi MooreShirley KnightCatherine KeenerThe movie examines the abortion issue through three stories set in different eras: 1952, 1974 and 1996.Standout(s):
Demi Moore
Cher
Anne Heche - DirectorTommy O'HaverStarsElliot PageHayley McFarlandNick SearcyThe true story of suburban housewife Gertrude Baniszewski, who kept a teenage girl locked in the basement of her Indiana home during the 1960s.Standout(s):
Ellen Page
Catherine Keener - DirectorWoody AllenStarsCate BlanchettAlec BaldwinPeter SarsgaardA New York socialite, deeply troubled and in denial, arrives in San Francisco to impose upon her sister. She looks like a million dollars but isn't bringing money, peace or love.Standout(s):
Cate Blanchett - DirectorRobert SchwentkeStarsJodie FosterPeter SarsgaardSean BeanA bereaved woman and her daughter are flying home from Berlin to America. At 30,000 feet, the child vanishes, and nobody will admit she was ever on the plane.Standout(s):
Jodie Foster - DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchSteve CooganSophie Kennedy ClarkA world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.Standout(s):
Judi Dench - DirectorNorman JewisonStarsJane FondaAnne BancroftMeg TillyWhen a naive novice nun is discovered with a dead newborn in her convent quarters, a court-appointed psychiatrist investigates her case.Standout(s):
Anne Bancroft
Jane Fonda
Meg Tilly - DirectorGuðný HalldórsdóttirStarsTinna GunnlaugsdóttirRagnhildur GísladóttirAgneta EkmannerA hypocritical and selfish older sister holds power over her younger sister by hiding the shame of her pregnancy.Standout(s):
Tinna Gunnlaugsdóttir - DirectorMike NicholsStarsEmma ThompsonChristopher LloydEileen AtkinsA renowned professor is forced to reassess her life when she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer.Standout(s):
Emma Thompson - DirectorClive DonnerStarsGeorge C. ScottFrank FinlayAngela PleasenceA bitter old miser who rationalizes his uncaring nature learns real compassion when three spirits visit him on Christmas Eve.Standout(s):
George C. Scott - DirectorMatthew BrightStarsReese WitherspoonKiefer SutherlandBokeem WoodbineA twisted take on "Little Red Riding Hood", with a teenage juvenile delinquent on the run from a social worker travelling to her grandmother's house and being hounded by a charming, but sadistic, serial killer and pedophile.Standout(s):
Reese Witherspoon - DirectorWilliam FriedkinStarsAshley JuddMichael ShannonHarry Connick Jr.An unhinged war veteran holes up with a lonely woman in a spooky Oklahoma motel room. The line between reality and delusion is blurred as they discover a bug infestation.Standout(s):
Ashley Judd - DirectorLuis MandokiStarsJennifer LopezJim CaviezelJeremy SistoA mysterious man is drawn to a feisty female police officer and an unusual relationship ensues, as not everything is as it seems.Standout(s):
Jennifer Lopez
Jim Caviezel - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsSigourney WeaverBen KingsleyStuart WilsonA political activist is convinced that her guest is a man who once tortured her for the government.Standout(s):
Sigourney Weaver - DirectorDuncan TuckerStarsFelicity HuffmanKevin ZegersFionnula FlanaganA transgender woman takes an unexpected journey when she learns that she had a son, now a teenage runaway hustling on the streets of New York.Standout(s):
Felicity Huffman - DirectorEmily YoungStarsSarah Michelle GellarJonathan TuckerErika ChristensenAfter a frantic suicide attempt, Veronika awakens inside a mysterious mental asylum. Under the supervision of an unorthodox psychiatrist who specializes in controversial treatment, Veronika learns that she has only weeks to live.Standout(s):
Sarah Michelle Gellar - DirectorJames FrancoStarsJames FrancoDave FrancoAri GraynorWhen aspiring actor Greg Sestero meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.Standout(s):
James Franco - DirectorDavid SladeStarsPatrick WilsonElliot PageSandra OhHayley's a smart, charming teenage girl. Jeff's a handsome, smooth fashion photographer. An Internet chat, a coffee shop meet-up, an impromptu fashion shoot back at Jeff's place. Jeff thinks it's his lucky night. He's in for a surprise.Standout(s):
Ellen Page - DirectorJohn Patrick ShanleyStarsMeryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.Standout(s):
Meryl Streep
Viola Davis
Philip Seymour Hoffman - DirectorGregg ArakiStarsBrady CorbetJoseph Gordon-LevittElisabeth ShueTwo pre-adolescent boys both experienced a strange event and later it affects their lives in different ways. One becomes a reckless, sexually adventurous prostitute, while the other retreats into a reclusive fantasy of alien abduction.Standout(s):
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - DirectorPascal LaugierStarsJessica BielJodelle FerlandWilliam B. DavisWhen her child goes missing, a mother looks to unravel the legend of the Tall Man, an entity who allegedly abducts children.Standout(s):
Jessica Biel - DirectorTimothy Linh BuiStarsJessica BielEddie RedmayneForest WhitakerFour Los Angelenos, a mortician, an ex-con, a suicidal ex-priest, and a stripper, are brought together on Christmas Eve by a mixture of circumstances.Standout(s):
Jessica Biel
Eddie Redmayne
Forest Whitaker - DirectorRob ReinerStarsJames CaanKathy BatesRichard FarnsworthAfter a famous author is rescued from a car crash by a fan of his novels, he comes to realize that the care he is receiving is only the beginning of a nightmare of captivity and abuse.Standout(s):
Kathy Bates - DirectorLee DanielsStarsGabourey SidibeMo'NiquePaula PattonIn New York City's Harlem circa 1987, an overweight, abused, illiterate teen who is pregnant with her second child is invited to enroll in an alternative school in hopes that she can re-route her life in a better direction.Standout(s):
Mo'Nique - DirectorMike FiggisStarsNicolas CageElisabeth ShueJulian SandsBen Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera.Standout(s):
Nicolas Cage
Elisabeth Shue - DirectorPaul HaggisStarsDon CheadleSandra BullockThandiwe NewtonLos Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.Standout(s):
Matt Dillon
Sandra Bullock
Thandie Newton - DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsAnne HathawayRosemarie DeWittDebra WingerA young woman who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.Standout(s):
Anne Hathaway - DirectorJ.A. BayonaStarsNaomi WattsEwan McGregorTom HollandThe story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.Standout(s):
Naomi Watts
Tom Holland - DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsJane FondaDonald SutherlandCharles CioffiA small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.Standout(s):
Jane Fonda - DirectorJean-Marc ValléeStarsReese WitherspoonLaura DernGaby HoffmannA chronicle of one woman's 1,100-mile solo hike undertaken as a way to recover from a recent personal tragedy.Standout(s):
Reese Witherspoon - DirectorGabriele MuccinoStarsWill SmithThandiwe NewtonJaden SmithA struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.Standout(s):
Will Smith - DirectorBrian GibsonStarsAngela BassettLaurence FishburneRaéVen KellyThe story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.Standout(s):
Angela Bassett - DirectorSusanne BierStarsHalle BerryBenicio Del ToroAlison LohmanA recent widow invites her husband's troubled best friend to live with her and her two children. As he gradually turns his life around, he helps the family cope and confront their loss.Standout(s):
Halle Berry - DirectorYorgos LanthimosStarsOlivia ColmanEmma StoneRachel WeiszIn early 18th-century England, the status quo at the court is upset when a new servant arrives and endears herself to a frail Queen Anne.Standout(s):
Olivia Colman - DirectorTony KayeStarsEdward NortonEdward FurlongBeverly D'AngeloLiving a life marked by violence, neo-Nazi Derek finally goes to prison after killing two black youths. Upon his release, Derek vows to change; he hopes to prevent his brother, Danny, who idolizes Derek, from following in his footsteps.Standout(s):
Edward Norton - DirectorSam MendesStarsLeonardo DiCaprioKate WinsletChristopher FitzgeraldA young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children.Standout(s):
Leonardo DiCaprio - DirectorSam MendesStarsKevin SpaceyAnnette BeningThora BirchA sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter's best friend.Standout(s):
Kevin Spacey
Mena Suvari
Annette Bening - DirectorTim RobbinsStarsSusan SarandonSean PennRobert ProskyA nun, while comforting a convicted killer on death row, empathizes with both the killer and his victim's families.Standout(s):
Sean Penn
Susan Sarandon - DirectorWayne KramerStarsPaul WalkerCameron BrightChazz PalminteriA low-ranking thug is entrusted by his crime boss to dispose of a gun that killed corrupt cops, but things get out of control when the gun ends up in wrong hands.Standout(s):
Vera Farmiga - DirectorAdrian LyneStarsRichard GereDiane LaneOlivier MartinezA New York suburban couple's marriage goes dangerously awry when the wife indulges in an adulterous fling.Standout(s):
Richard Gere
Diane Lane - DirectorStephen DaldryStarsKate WinsletRalph FiennesBruno GanzPost-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial.Standout(s):
Kate Winslet - DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsEmma ThompsonTom HanksAnnie Rose BuckleyAuthor P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.Standout(s):
Emma Thompson - DirectorVadim PerelmanStarsJennifer ConnellyBen KingsleyRon EldardAn abandoned wife is evicted from her house and starts a tragic conflict with her house's new owners.Standout(s):
Jennifer Connelly
Ben Kingsley - DirectorGregory HoblitStarsRichard GereLaura LinneyEdward NortonAn altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep.Standout(s):
Richard Gere - DirectorGeorge MillerStarsNick NolteSusan SarandonPeter UstinovLorenzo Odone, a Virginia 5-year-old, develops a degenerative nerve disease so rare that nobody is working on a cure, so his parents decide to immerse themselves in research and tackle the problem themselves.Standout(s):
Susan Sarandon - DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.Standout(s):
Julia Roberts - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsHilary SwankClint EastwoodMorgan FreemanFrankie, an ill-tempered old coach, reluctantly agrees to train aspiring boxer Maggie. Impressed with her determination and talent, he helps her become the best and the two soon form a close bond.Standout(s):
Hilary Swank - DirectorTaylor HackfordStarsKathy BatesJennifer Jason LeighChristopher PlummerA big city reporter travels to a small town where her mother has been arrested for the murder of an elderly woman for whom she worked as a housekeeper.Standout(s):
Kathy Bates
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Judy Parfitt
Christopher Plummer - DirectorTyler PerryStarsJanet JacksonAnika Noni RoseWhoopi GoldbergEach of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in particular.Standout(s):
Janet Jackson
Whoopi Goldberg - DirectorRobert AldrichStarsBette DavisJoan CrawfordVictor BuonoA former child star torments her paraplegic sister in their decaying Hollywood mansion.Standout(s):
Bette Davis - DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.Standout(s):
Russell Crowe - DirectorLars von TrierStarsKirsten DunstCharlotte GainsbourgKiefer SutherlandTwo sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.Standout(s):
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Kirsten Dunst - DirectorLars von TrierStarsBjörkCatherine DeneuveDavid MorseAn Eastern European US immigrant with a love for musicals has to cope with the gradual loss of her vision.Standout(s):
Björk - DirectorClint EastwoodStarsAngelina JolieColm FeoreAmy RyanAfter Christine's son goes missing, she reaches out to the LAPD to find him. But when they try to pass off an impostor as her son to quieten public protests, she refuses to accept him or give up hope.Standout(s):
Angelina Jolie - DirectorTate TaylorStarsViola DavisEmma StoneOctavia SpencerAn aspiring author during the civil rights movement of the 1960s decides to write a book detailing the African American maids' point of view on the white families for which they work, and the hardships they go through on a daily basis.Standout(s):
Viola Davis
Bryce Dallas Howard
Octavia Spencer
Jessica Chastain - DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMichael DouglasBenicio Del ToroCatherine Zeta-JonesA conservative judge is appointed by the President to spearhead America's escalating war against drugs, only to discover that his teenage daughter is a crack addict. Two DEA agents protect an informant. A jailed drug baron's wife attempts to carry on the family business.Standout(s):
Michael Douglas - DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsMeryl StreepKevin KlinePeter MacNicolSophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live with Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust.Standout(s):
Meryl Streep - DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank FinlayDuring WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.Standout(s):
Adrien Brody - DirectorAnthony MinghellaStarsJude LawNicole KidmanRenée ZellwegerIn the waning days of the American Civil War, a wounded soldier embarks on a perilous journey back home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina to reunite with his sweetheart.Standout(s):
Renée Zellweger - DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsDanny GloverWhoopi GoldbergOprah WinfreyA tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry.Standout(s):
Whoopi Goldberg - DirectorTom HooperStarsHugh JackmanRussell CroweAnne HathawayIn 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.Standout(s):
Anne Hathaway - DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTom HanksMichael Clarke DuncanDavid MorseA tale set on death row, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the lead guard, Paul Edgecombe, recognizes John's gift, he tries to help stave off the condemned man's execution.Standout(s):
Tom Hanks
Michael Clarke Duncan
Doug Hutchison - DirectorAlejandro AmenábarStarsNicole KidmanChristopher EcclestonFionnula FlanaganIn 1945, immediately following the end of Second World War, a woman who lives with her two photosensitive children on her darkened old family estate in the Channel Islands becomes convinced that the home is haunted.Standout(s):
Nicole Kidman - DirectorMartin McDonaghStarsFrances McDormandWoody HarrelsonSam RockwellA mother personally challenges the local authorities to solve her daughter's murder when they fail to catch the culprit.Standout(s):
Frances McDormand - DirectorGus Van SantStarsSean PennJosh BrolinEmile HirschThe story of American gay activist Harvey Milk, who fought for gay rights and was elected as California's first openly gay official.Standout(s):
Sean Penn - DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsWilliam H. MacyFrances McDormandSteve BuscemiMinnesota car salesman Jerry Lundegaard's inept crime falls apart due to his and his henchmen's bungling and the persistent police work of the quite pregnant Marge Gunderson.Standout(s):
Frances McDormand - DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.Standout(s):
J.K. Simmons - DirectorTony GilroyStarsGeorge ClooneyTilda SwintonTom WilkinsonA law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multibillion-dollar class action suit.Standout(s):
George Clooney - DirectorPeter LandesmanStarsWill SmithAlec BaldwinAlbert BrooksIn Pittsburgh, accomplished pathologist Dr. Bennet Omalu uncovers the truth about brain damage in football players who suffer repeated concussions in the course of normal play.Standout(s):
Will Smith - DirectorJean-Marc ValléeStarsMatthew McConaugheyJennifer GarnerJared LetoIn 1985 Dallas, electrician and hustler Ron Woodroof works around the system to help AIDS patients get the medication they need after he is diagnosed with the disease.Standout(s):
Matthew McConaughey - DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Standout(s):
Anthony Perkins - DirectorTodd PhillipsStarsJoaquin PhoenixRobert De NiroZazie BeetzDuring the 1980s, a failed stand-up comedian is driven insane and turns to a life of crime and chaos in Gotham City while becoming an infamous psychopathic crime figure.Standout(s):
Joaquin Phoenix - DirectorFisher StevensStarsJustin TimberlakeJuno TempleAlisha WainwrightAn ex-convict strikes up a friendship with a boy from a troubled home.Standout(s):
Justin Timberlake - DirectorJ BlakesonStarsRosamund PikePeter DinklageEiza GonzálezA crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.Standout(s):
Rosamund Pike - DirectorRonnie SandahlStarsErik EngeAlfred EnochMaurizio LombardiThe true story of teenage football talent Martin Bengtsson's life-and-death journey through a modern-day football industry where everything, and everyone, has a price tag.Standout(s):
Erik Enge