Aaron Eckhart 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 Aaron Eckhart-whose latest project "Deep Water" releases in theaters tonight. 

Aaron Eckhart's Filmography Ranked:

16.The Bricklayer (D)

15.The Pledge (D+)

14.Any Given Sunday (C-)

13.I, Frankenstein (C)

12.Paycheck (C)

11.Line of Duty (C)

10.The Rum Diary (B-)

9.Battle: Los Angeles (B-)

8.London Has Fallen (B-)

7.Olympus Has Fallen (B-)

6.Bleed for This (B)

5.Thank You for Smoking (B)

4.Erin Brockovich (B)

3.Sully (B)

2.Rabbit Hole (B+)

1.The Dark Knight (B+)

Top Dog: The Dark Knight (2008)

While I'm downright negative on it compared to a lot of people out there, The Dark Knight is an unquestionable cultural touchstone movie that really cemented Christopher Nolan as the Hollywood pillar that he is today and provided the world with one final showcase of the late Heath Ledger's extraordinary talent with his career-defining turn as The Joker. 

Bottom Feeder: The Bricklayer (2024)

Deep Water is the second collaboration between Eckhart and Renny Harlin in recent years. It won't take much for it to be an improvement over their first. Ironically, The Bricklayer is considered to be one of the better VOD action vehicles Eckhart has fronted since he got demoted to Hollywood's minor leagues in the late 2010's and if that's the case, I'm glad that I haven't bothered to watch the ones that are viewed as the worst. This is just a completely lifeless slog with incoherent action and an even more incoherent espionage thriller storyline that takes itself far too seriously for something that's so deeply stupid at its core. Both Harlin and Eckhart are above this kind of thing and it's a shame to see them be forced to take on these kinds of projects to remain steadily employed.  

Most Underrated: Rabbit Hole (2010)

Thumbing through streaming service to find a couple of Nicole Kidman titles to watch for this piece ahead of the release of The Northman 4 years ago this month led me to watching Rabbit Hole and I'm thankful that it happened to be on HBO Max at that time because this is a great little movie that otherwise would've evaded my radar. Kidman and Eckhart are terrific are a married couple trying to put the pieces of their life back together after their 4-year-old son is killed in a tragic accident and the film manages to tackle the grieving process with a full compassionate heart without glossing over the ugly emotions that accompany it or resorting to shamelessly over-the-top melodrama to upsell the emotional turmoil its characters are facing. 

Most Overrated: Any Given Sunday (1999)

The timing of Any Given Sunday showing up here once again couldn't be more impeccable as some clips from it have been recirculating online in honor of Al Pacino celebrating his 86th birthday last weekend. Oliver Stone let's all of his worst impulses take the wheel here as he churns out a cartoonish, shockingly dull examination of the petty, ego-driven landscape that is a professional football organization. Pacino and Jamie Foxx's swagger gives the movie pulse at times, but a couple of cool scenery-chewing performances can't provide this film with the level of maximalist spark it needs to deliver on its aspirations to be a relentlessly chaotic gridiron soap opera.