Most Underrated Movies of the 2010's (By Year): 2010

A piece on the most underrated movies of the 2010's is something I've been teasing since March. While preparing NFL Draft content was partially responsible for the delay, it was predominantly because I wasn't exactly sure how to go about assembling the list. Approaching it like a traditional favorites countdown would be pretty difficult because underrated is a much broader categorization. Ranking things that are underrated also seems to kind of go against the whole spirit of the term. That's why I've decided instead of dropping a countdown of 20 movies, I'm going to profile a few underrated titles from each year of the 2010's-starting below with the natural jumping off point of 2010. This looser structure will not only allow me to profile more under-the-radar or not overly acclaimed titles, which is the whole point of this exercise in the first place, but avoid fully embracing the definitive, hardline nature that traditionally comes with these type of lists. Be sure to stay tuned in the coming weeks for more celebrations of underrated movies from the past 10 years!

(Note: Titles will be presented in alphabetical order throughout.)

Honorable Mentions: The A-Team, Buried, Going the Distance 

The Book of Eli: This was actually the title that finally got me to disregard the bullshit belief that January exclusively serves as a dumping ground for garbage movies. While its prominent religious subtext isn't something that I necessarily agree with, The Hughes Brothers (Dead Presidents, Menace II Society) last effort as a duo (for now at least) is one of the most effective post-apocalyptic films I've ever seen. From the bursts of brutal action to the seedy characters that lurk around every murky corner, this is the rare dystopian environment where the decay of a barren universe feels abundant and the layered performances from its leads (Denzel Washington, Gary Oldman, Mila Kunis) provide this perilous journey across a lawless wasteland with real, compelling emotional stakes.

MacGruber: Expanding a one-joke recurring Saturday Night Live sketch into a feature-length movie was a very risky proposition. Not only did Will Forte and Jorma Taccone prove they could stretch the comic appeal of MacGruber into a 90 minute package, they made the character 100x funnier than he was on the small screen. Forte's unbelievable commitment to playing this absurd character that reimagines MacGyver as an incompetent doofus, having a sharp supporting cast (Kristen Wiig, Ryan Phillipe, Val Kilmer, Maya Rudolph, Powers Boothe) that fully leans into the cheesy 80's action movie parody vibe and embracing the lack of a filter the setting of an R-rated movie allows for makes this a home run comedy that consistently delivers huge laughs.      

Piranha 3D: Saying that a movie "couldn't/wouldn't get made today" is a common cliché in critical circles, but I'd be flat-out stunned if something like Piranha 3D got greenlit for theatrical release in the present day. This is a proper grindhouse-inspired exploitation flick that goes so over-the-top with its gore, nudity and self-aware stupidity that it almost feels surreal. Obviously that combo is going to alienate a lot of viewers, but its unapologetic commitment to its sleaziness is something that I find admirable, refreshing and downright hilarious.