Colin Farrell Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Colin Farrell-whose latest project "The Banshees of Inisherin" opens in NYC/LA theaters tomorrow. 

Colin Farrell's Filmography Ranked:

21.Daredevil (D+)

20.Roman J. Israel, Esq. (C-)

19.The Beguiled (C-)

18.Phone Booth (C)

17.Pride and Glory (C)

16.Ava (B-)

15.Minority Report (B-)

14.S.W.A.T. (B-)

13.The Recruit (B-)

12.Total Recall (B-)

11.Fright Night (B-)

10.Widows (B)

9.The Gentlemen (B)

8.The Lobster (B)

7.Crazy Heart (B)

6.The Killing of a Sacred Deer (B+)

5.Miami Vice (B+)

4.Seven Psychopaths (A-)

3.In Bruges (A-)

2.Horrible Bosses (A)

1.The Batman (A+)

Top Dog: The Batman (2022)

After he's done burning bridges with creatives and firing 75% of the tenured staff, new Warner Brothers CEO/world class clueless corporate dipshit David Zaslav should be thankful that the previous regime hired Matt Reeves to handle the current wave of Batman movies. With The Batman, Reeves commits to a version of the character and the world surrounding him that we've never seen in live action before. The darkness, danger and deep-seeded rot that overruns Gotham is felt in every frame and since The Batman is set at the start of Bruce Wayne's 2nd year donning the Bat Suit, the combination of the people of Gotham largely viewed him as just another faceless menace terrorizing their city and Wayne questioning whether or not his efforts to fight crime in the city are making a difference creates a mysterious, vulnerable aura around a character that has previously been only seen as a larger-than-life symbol of strength and justice. Having a Batman film that deals with the early days of Batman was long overdue and Reeves couldn't have possibly put together a better drawn out or executed vision than this.   

Bottom Feeder: Daredevil (2003)

Time really hasn't been kind to Ben Affleck's inaugural superhero vehicle. Outside of a couple fun villain performances from Farrell and Michael Clarke Duncan-who are the only actors here that aren't taking this movie needlessly seriously, the ineptitude of writer/director Mark Steven Johnson shines through brightly when viewed through a set of eyes that don't belong to a child (my prior viewing of the film was in theaters roughly 2 months before my 11th birthday). The plot is more a string of loosely connected scenes than a proper storyline, the dialogue-particularly in the Daredevil (Affleck) and Elektra (Jennifer Garner) scenes-is insufferably cheesy and the CGI-aided martial arts fight scenes are poorly lit, choppily edited messes that are painful to sit through.

Most Underrated: Horrible Bosses (2011)

Some inspired dark comedy writing, a trio of hilarious leads that have a terrific buddy rapport (Jason Batman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day) and over-the-top weird, committed supporting performances from A-list actors (Jennifer Aniston, Jamie Foxx, Farrell) made Horrible Bosses a really wild ride that remains one of the funniest movies released in the 2010's.

Most Overrated: The Gentlemen (2020)

The Gentlemen is a fine return to the crime comedy genre that put Guy Ritchie on the map. Farrell, Charlie Hunnam and Hugh Grant chew up the scenery really well, there's a handful of really memorable, funny scenes and it holds up well on repeat viewings. However, the whole affair just reeks of somebody trying to regain the spark they once had only to discover their heart just isn't quite in it as much in the present as it was back in their younger days and if last year's much grittier/better Wrath of Man is any indication, Ritchie could be better off if he permanently retires his signature style.

Most Unconventional Triumph: Miami Vice (2006)

In terms of an actual plot, there's not much to Miami Vice. Michael Mann's noir reworking of the classic detective show sees the flashy Miami Detectives Crockett (Farrell) and Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) go undercover as international drug smugglers for a cartel sting operation that slowly gets more complicated once Crockett falls in love with the cartel's money manager (Gong Li) and the suspicious kingpin (John Ortiz) has Tubbs' girlfriend (Naomie Harris) kidnapped. Instead, Miami Vice finds success through the visceral power of feelings and images. Whether it's a longing gaze between Farrell and Li's doomed lovers or Crockett and Tubbs trying to survive a chaotic nighttime shootout with cartel henchmen, Mann creates a vast, spellbinding visual language that allows the viewer to really feel the opulent highs and violent lows that come with sincerely or pretending to live a life of crime. Some people would understandably label this as a style over substance affair, but I view it as more of a story that's told through the gut and the eye instead of the mind or the spoken word and I wish more movies could pull that off as well as Miami Vice does.