The Best and Worst of Kristen Stewart

The "Best and Worst" series profiles the best and worst work of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week I take a look at the filmography of "Personal Shopper" star Kristen Stewart.

Film starring Kristen Stewart that I've seen:
Panic Room
Jumper
Adventureland
Snow White and the Huntsman
Camp X-Ray
Still Alice
American Ultra
Cafe Society 
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Best Performance: Cafe Society (2016)
The growth Stewart has displayed as an actress post-Twilight has been a joy to watch and that steady improvement as a performer culminated with her excellent turn in Woody Allen's Cafe Society. Stewart displays tremendous range and an unprecedented level of charm as the center of a love triangle between a young, low-level studio employee (Jeese Eisenberg) and his wealthy talent agent uncle (Steve Carell) in 1930's Hollywood. 

Worst Performance: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)
Stewart has transformed into a pretty respectable actress in recent years, but the level of talent she's displayed of late was nowhere to be found in her earlier work. Snow White and the Huntsman was her first leading role following her ascent to stardom in the Twilight franchise and to say it wasn't pretty would be a vast understatement. Her performance as Snow White deserves to be a first-ballot entry in the stone-faced, charmless lead hall of shame. I've seen taxidermied animals with more personality than Stewart exhibits here.   

Best Film: American Ultra (2015)
Balancing frantic, gory B-movie action, stoner comedy and a love story in a 95-minute film should've ended in disaster, but against all odds American Ultra makes this unholy cocktail of mismatched genres work without ever feeling convoluted or inorganic. The ensemble cast buys 110% into every ounce of insanity Max Landis' script offers up and it makes for a fun, unique ride that more than likely will never be duplicated.  

Worst Film: Panic Room (2002)
I'm almost 100% sure that I would dislike any of the Twilight films more than this, but of the Stewart-projects I've actually seen, Panic Room is easily the weakest (the widely-hated Jumper is a guilty pleasure of mine). I still have a hard time believing that David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven) was responsible for making such an uninspired film. Anybody that's seen a home invasion movie before will know every plot beat well before it happens, the acting from everyone besides Forest Whitaker is dull and most importantly, there isn't nearly as much tension as there should be for a film with such a claustrophobic setting.   

Thank you for reading this week's installment of "The Best and Worst of". Next week, I'll take a look at the best and worst work of "Beauty and the Beast" star Luke Evans.