Paul Rudd 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 Paul Rudd-whose latest project "Anaconda" releases in theaters on Wednesday. 

Paul Rudd's Filmography Ranked:

34.Year One (D)

33.Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (D+)

32.Monsters vs. Aliens (C-)

31.Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (C)

30.They Came Together (C)

29.Wake Up, Ron Burgundy: The Lost Movie (C+) 

28.Night at the Museum (B-)

27.Ghostbusters: Afterlife (B-)

26.Wanderlust (B-)

25.Death of a Unicorn (B-)

24.Our Idiot Brother (B-)

23.Reno 911!: Miami (B)

22.Ant-Man and the Wasp (B)

21.Dinner for Schmucks (B)

20.This is 40 (B)

19.Ant-Man (B)

18.Captain America: Civil War (B)

17.The Fundamentals of Caring (B)

16.Role Models (B)

15.Clueless (B)

14.Sausage Party (B+)

13.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (B+)

12.Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (B+)

11.The Perks of Being a Wallflower (B+)

10.Forgetting Sarah Marshall (B+)

9.I Love You, Man (B+)

8.Avengers: Endgame (A-)

7.Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (A-)

6.Knocked Up (A)

5.Wet Hot American Summer (A)

4.This is the End (A)

3.Friendship (A)

2.The 40-Year-Old Virgin (A+)

1.Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (A+)

Top Dog: Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)

It's been almost 21-and-a-half years since Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy was released in theaters and there's still very little in the world of entertainment that has ever made me laugh as hard. Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Rudd, Steve Carrell, David Koecher and Fred Willard are all on fire here as they glide through this stupid, absurdist world with almost superhuman ease and palpable glee. The day that this shit stops being laugh-out-loud funny is a day that I don't want to experience. 

Bottom Feeder: Year One (2009)

Harold Ramis was a man who wore a lot of hats over the course of his career in film, but aside from being a Ghostbuster, directing is what he's recognized most for. It's not difficult to deduce why this is the case as his directorial filmography features several beloved comedy gems including Groundhog Day, National Lampoon's Vacation and Caddyshack. Unfortunately, the last film Ramis directed before his passing in 2014 served as an unfortunate sour closing note to his impressive career. Year One is one of those comedies where the jokes are lobbed up with regularity and land with a thud 95+% of the time. Despite its disheartening failure, the idea of a comedy spoofing the Book of Genesis has potential and perhaps some brave, talented soul in the future will be able to crack it.

Most Underrated: Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013)

Another opportunity to defend Anchorman?!? Merry Christmas to me!!! In all seriousness, I've never understood the hate towards this movie. While it's not on the level of the original (nor was it ever going to be), it's still full of incredible bits (this one is my favorite) and the cast does a terrific job of returning to the manic absurdist rhythm that made the original so special. 

Most Overrated: Ghostbusters: Afterlife (2021)

Speaking of Ramis, the morally dubious VFX recreation of him actually didn't factor into why I selected Afterlife. My issues with this movie can largely be chalked up to not being all that moved by the parade of fan service Jason Reitman trots out during this movie and the charming performances from McKenna Grace, Carrie Coon and Rudd are really the only reason I was able to have any sort of fun watching this. Reitman's efforts worked like a charm though as Afterlife was a hit that Ghostbusters went feral over and that's precisely why he's making movies and I'm criticizing his work on a blog right now. At least it delivers a coherent plot and doesn't feel overstuffed with characters, which is more than can be said for its sequel Frozen Empire.