Forest Whitaker Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted relevant accolades. This week, I'm profiling the work of Forest Whitaker-whose latest project "Respect" hits theaters on Friday.

Forest Whitaker's Filmography Ranked:

19.Sorry to Bother You (D)

18.Phenomenon (C-)

17.Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (C-)

16.Phone Booth (C-)

15.Platoon (C)

14.Lee Daniels' The Butler (C+)

13.Panic Room (C+)

12.Southpaw (B-)

11.Repo Men (B)

10.Vantage Point (B)

9.Out of the Furnace (B)

8.The Last King of Scotland (B)

7.Bloodsport (B)

6.Street Kings (B+)

5.Fast Times at Ridgemont High (B+)

4.The Last Stand (A-)

3.Arrival (A-)

2.Dope (A)

1.Black Panther (A)

Top Dog: Black Panther (2018)

As I'm currently dealing with a pretty strong case of Marvel fatigue at the moment after taking in all of the projects they've released from January through July of this year, I've had to remind myself that they're also capable of making really special stuff like Black Panther that makes sitting through all of the perfectly adequate yet not even remotely special shit they churn out on the regular worth it at the end of the day. Ryan Coogler flexed his immense talent by turning the first (and tragically final) solo headlining outing for Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa into a sweeping epic that featured some of the best acting, visuals, villains, drama and action that the MCU has seen to date.

Lowlight: Sorry to Bother You (2018)

It's been just over 3 years since Sorry to Bother You was released in theaters and I'm still kind of in awe of how deeply shitty it is. Boots Riley's desire to address seemingly every single political/social issue talking point he could possibly think of in under 2 hours paired with his complete lack of feel for how to write or direct comedy turns this film into such an incoherent, rambling mess that he even manages to make a cast led by several reliably strong actors (LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Steven Yuen, Danny Glover) look like fucking amateurs.    

Most Overrated: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)

Before Rise of Skywalker came along and redefined the low bar for the Stars Wars brand with its completely half-assed efforts from almost all of the cast/crew and shameless, inorganic pandering to the toxic clown fans that incessantly bitched about the events of The Last Jedi, Rogue One cemented itself as the worst Star Wars film. The tedious pacing from the reliably sleepy hand of Gareth Edwards and mix of stiff (Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Donnie Yen) and bizarrely animated acting (Ben Mendelson, Whitaker) from the bulk of its primary cast was so painful to sit through that it had me clamoring for the sloppy yet energetic silliness of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones.    

Most Underrated: The Last Stand (2013)

Arnold Schwarzenegger became an action legend in the 80's courtesy of his charisma and ace comedic timing in delivering one-liners. 31 years after his breakout role in Conan the Barbarian, Schwarzenegger proved he hadn't lost a step as he entered his 4th decade of acting with the terrific The Last Stand. Acclaimed Korean director Kim Jee-woon (I Saw the Devil, The Good, The Bad, The Weird) found a ton of success in his English-language debut by playing off Schwarzenegger's established strengths as a performer to create this over-the-top B-movie extravaganza that proudly serves up bloody action, big laughs and energetic absurdity for 105 consecutive minutes.       

A Flawed Yet Compelling Film with An Exceptional Lead Performance: The Last King of Scotland (2006)

The Last King of Scotland bites off more than it can chew by telling a fictionalized story about a Scottish doctor (James McAvoy) who is hired to be the personal physician for Ugandan dictator Idi Amin (Whitaker). However, the charisma, menace and unpredictability that Whitaker brings to his portrayal of Amin keeps the film interesting despite the issues with narrative focus and scope that hold it back.