Oscar Isaac Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked"-where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related accolades. This week, I'm profiling the work of Oscar Isaac-whose latest project "Dune" arrives in theaters and on HBO Max tonight. 

 Oscar Isaac's Filmography Ranked:

18.Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (D+)

17.The Bourne Legacy (C)

16.Suburbicon (C)

15.The Card Counter (C+)

14.The Addams Family (C+)

13.All About the Benjamins (C+)

12.Body of Lies (B-)

11.Robin Hood (B-)

10.Star Wars: The Last Jedi (B-)

9.A Most Violent Year (B)

8.X-Men: Apocalypse (B+)

7.Triple Frontier (B+) 

6.Sucker Punch (B+)

5.Annihilation (B+)  

4.Star Wars: The Force Awakens (A-)

3.Ex Machina (A-)

2.Inside Llewyn Davis (A-)

1.Drive (A-)

Top Dog: Drive (2011)

When Nicolas Winding Refn is left to write his own material, the results tend to be super pretentious and borderline insufferable. When Refn decided to outsource the script writing for the first (and still only) time in his career, he made a twisted gem in Drive. Refn's intoxicating neon visual style and flare for delivering violence in a visceral, unflinching fashion makes this a brutal noir thriller that's both cool and disturbing as hell.

Lowlight: Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker (2019)

What do you get when you combine an edict to cater to a vocal minority of crybaby fans that felt betrayed by the bolder choices Rian Johnson made on The Last Jedi with a group of actors (namely Isaac and John Boyega) that visibly don't want to be there? A lifeless, shamelessly pandering film that completely eviscerated whatever promise this trilogy once had with its limp ending and tarnished the Star Wars brand more than George Lucas' harmlessly goofy prequels ever did. 

Most Underrated: Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

Given its place among one of the most celebrated filmographies in cinema history, Inside Llewyn Davis has pretty much been completely buried underneath the weight of heavy hitters like No Country for Old Men, Fargo and The Big Lebowski. It may not have a cult following or any substantial award recognition  to its name, but this intimate character study about a 60's folk singer (Issac) struggling to make it in New York City is one of the most soulful, heartbreaking, darkly funny and superbly acted films that the prolific duo have ever put out. I'd honestly go as far to say that No Country for Old Men, Fargo and True Grit are the only Coen Brothers projects that are better than this near masterpiece and I really hope that more people will discover it down the line.      

Most Overrated: The Card Counter (2021)

This was a pretty tricky choice since something like The Last Jedi is too polarizing to qualify as overrated and I really love all of Isaac's more acclaimed stuff (Ex Machina, Drive, Annihilation). What led me to picking The Card Counter was the immense critical acclaim its received-as it currently sits with Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores of 86 and 78 respectively. While Isaac himself turns in a powerhouse performance that keeps the film from completely collapsing, Paul Schrader's psychological drama/character study is too emotionally restrained and underwritten to have its intended impact.   

Worst Coen Brothers Riff: Suburbicon (2017)

As someone who has acted in four of their films since 2000, George Clooney knows the Coen Brothers as well as just about anybody in the industry. That first hand knowledge of their work and even some script contributions from the actual Coens couldn't save Suburbicon from being anything more than a poor clone of their work. Everything from the dark, quirky humor to the plights of the dopey suburban  protagonists (Matt Damon, Julianne Moore) whose sudden turn to a life of crime backfires in a catastrophic way is present here, it's just that the laughs and level of urgency present in the plot just never come together like they often do in the Coens work.

Best Movie That I Didn't Realize He Was Until Years Later: Sucker Punch (2011)

Sucker Punch was a film that I saw in theaters on its opening weekend back in March 2011 and loved very much. Isaac came on my radar with his incredible performance in Inside Llewyn Davis in the early days of January 2014. It wasn't until a few years after seeing Inside Llewyn Davis that I discovered that Isaac portrayed Blue Jones-the villainous mental hospital orderly that takes advantage of his female patients and owner of the brothel that the protagonists (Emily Browning, Abbie Cornish, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung) are trying to escape from in the fantasy sequences .A recent rewatch of Sucker Punch clued me into just how great Issac is at chewing scenery when given such a deliberately over-the-top role while also reminding me what a hypnotic, engaging and wonderous spectacle that this graphic novel come to life is.