The Best and Worst of Jennifer Aniston

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 "Mother's Day" star Jennifer Aniston.

Film starring Jennifer Aniston that I've seen:
The Iron Giant
Office Space 
Rock Star
Bruce Almighty
Along Came Polly
The Bounty Hunter
Just Go with It
Horrible Bosses
Wanderlust
We're the Millers
Life of Crime
Horrible Bosses 2
Cake 

Best Performance: Horrible Bosses (2011)
Aniston is at her best when she's playing loopy comedic characters and there is no better display of her talent than her role as sex-addicted dentist Dr. Julia Harris in Horrible Bosses. In a movie loaded with premier comic talent including Jason Bateman, Jason Sudekis and Charlie Day, Aniston's flawless timing and unwavering commitment to every over-the-top vulgar gag makes her the standout performer.

Worst Performance: Rock Star (2001)
Aniston is mostly known as a comedic actress, but she's proved multiple times over the years (Cake, Life of Crime) that her dramatic acting chops shouldn't be slept on. However, that dramatic acting ability was nowhere to be found in Rock Star. As the sweet, caring girlfriend of a small-time cover band frontman (Mark Wahlberg) who suddenly becomes the lead singer of his favorite band, Aniston's only real purpose here is to serve as perpetually neglected eye candy that stares blankly into the camera while her asshole boyfriend indulges in the various excesses of his newly-minted rock star lifestyle.  

Best Film: Office Space (1999)
On paper, Office Space shouldn't work that well. It's simply a dark comedy about a group of IT guys who hate their jobs and plot to screw their company over. While the concept is really basic and doesn't seem like it's full of strong comic material, writer/director Mike Judge made it an unlikely comedy classic by filling the film with colorful, eccentric characters, excellent dialogue and a message (working for people that don't respect you and/or treat you fairly is awful) that resonates with a vast majority of people on the planet right now.

Worst Film: The Bounty Hunter (2010)
Every single year Hollywood pumps out at least half a dozen safe, schmaltzy PG-13 romantic comedies to make a quick buck before permanently disappearing from the minds of 99% of the filmgoing public. These films were a basically rite of passage for now-highly regarded actors such as Amy Adams (The Wedding Date), Bradley Cooper (Failure to Launch) and Matthew McConaguhey (most of his career before The Lincoln Lawyer) when they were coming up in the industry and barring some kind of unforeseen miracle, they won't ever stop being made. There are far worse entries in this unofficial genre than The Bounty Hunter, but its predictable story, weak jokes and the lack of chemistry between Gerard Butler and Aniston still make it pretty painful to sit through.  

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 "Captain America: Civil War" star Anthony Mackie .