Jessica Chastain Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked"-where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand assorted superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Jessica Chastain-whose latest project "The 355" is in theaters now.

Jessica Chastain's Filmography Ranked:

17.The Tree of Life (F)

16.Interstellar (D+)

15.Miss Sloane (D+)

14.The Debt (C-)

13.It Chapter Two (C-)

12.The Zookeeper's Wife (C)

11.Ava (B-) 

10.The Eyes of Tammy Faye (B-)

9.A Most Violent Year (B)

8.Zero Dark Thirty (B)

7.The Help (B)

6.Crimson Peak (B)

5.Dark Phoenix (B+)

4.Take Shelter (B+)

3.The Martian (B+)

2.Lawless (A-)

1.Molly's Game (A)

Top Dog: Molly's Game (2017)

Aaron Sorkin picked the perfect project to make the transition into directing with Molly's Game. The biopic about Olympic skier turned underground poker kingpin Molly Bloom and her subsequent legal battles gave Sorkin an organically electric crime drama that was filled with magnetic characters and confrontational courtroom scenes that amplified his snappy quips and fiery monologues. Add a career-best performance from Chastain as Bloom and some terrific supporting work from Idris Elba, Kevin Costner and Jeremy Strong to the mix and you have a hell of a debut that Sorkin hasn't quite matched with his follow up efforts thus far.  

Lowlight: The Tree of Life (2011)

Ugh, this fucking movie. Terreance Malick's extraordinarily pretentious, meandering musing on the meaning of life tested the limits of my patience and love for the cinematic artform in a way that only a handful of films ever have. Even the mere mention of The Tree of Life is enough to conjure up the deep-seeded disgust I felt watching scene after scene of abstract nature shots, Sean Penn staring out the window of his office building and Brad Pitt yelling at his kids while Chastain stood in the background looking very concerned. May this be the last time for a long time that this atrocity enters my mind or appears on this page.   

Most Overrated: Interstellar (2014)

The post-Dark Knight trilogy output of Christopher Nolan has left me pretty cold and disappointed overall. However, the only film from the stretch that I really dislike is Interstellar. Courtesy of clunky writing that relies far too heavily on cheesy melodramatic theatrics to tell its story and horrific pacing that makes every scene feel at least twice as long as it actually is, it manages to fail as both a space movie and a family drama.

Most Underrated: Take Shelter (2011)

I saw Take Shelter for the first time a little over a month ago and am pretty disappointed in myself for waiting 10+ years after its release to check it out. It's an exceptional film about the treatment of people with mental illness set behind the backdrop of a potential dystopian event that features exceptional performances from some beloved character actors (Michael Shannon, Chastain, Shea Whigham) and a terrific ambiguous ending that can be interpreted as either vindication for the protagonist's steadfast beliefs or further evidence that they're severely ill.      

Most Slept-On Guillermo del Toro Movie: Crimson Peak (2015)

After being completely underwhelmed by Nightmare Alley, I've spent a fair amount of time thinking about the unsung greatness of Crimson Peak. Basically, everything Nightmare Alley inexplicably didn't posess (menacing atmosphere, visual flare, clever symbolism, characters with sketchy moral compasses, an ensemble cast that is firing on all cylinders from top to bottom), Crimson Peak has an abundance of. Perhaps time will lead to a mass revaluation or I'm just the leader of the fan club for this widely forgotten gothic horror/romance, but nevertheless I love Crimson Peak and will continue to sing its praises whenever del Toro's work or related films are brought up.  

Most Unfortunate Horror Sequel: It Chapter Two (2019)

It: Chapter Two really had everything going in its favor. Everybody responsible for the great original installment (director Andy Muschetti, writer Gary Dauberman, Bill Skarsgard's horrifying Pennywise) and a group of great, charismatic actors (James McAvoy, Chastain, Bill Hader, James Ransone, Isaiah Mustafa) had been tapped to play the adult versions of the protagonists. Somehow, the execution still got super bungled (save for Skarsgard-who was once again excellent). Muschetti and Dauberman often undercut the intended scary moments with bizarre jokes (the "Call Me Angel" needle drop in a key scene is an all-time "what the hell were they thinking?" moment) and an overreliance on cheap CGI creatures, all of the adult actors seem completely disconnected from the themes of the material (the lasting impacts of trauma and what happens when you're forced to revisit it, endurance of childhood bonds) and the ending's mix of sheer ridiculousness leading into half-assed earnestness is extremely hard to swallow.