We Ranked Every Jennifer Lawrence Movie, From The Hunger Games to the New Don’t Look Up

The rise of Jennifer Lawrence to superstardom is likely one of the most staggering and memorable profession ascents in trendy Hollywood historical past. About a decade in the past, the Kentucky native grew to become a family identify following vital acclaim, awards consideration—and, maybe most crucially, her starring function within the enormously widespread dystopian motion franchise The Hunger Games, as motion heroine Katniss Everdeen. With her formidably numerous expertise, bodily prowess, and knack for humor—plus her refreshingly laid-back, self-effacing presence in interviews—Lawrence was an immediate hit with just about everyone.

Throughout years of continuous prominence, the now-31-year-old has appeared in high-profile movies throughout loads of genres. In reality, Lawrence simply garnered her fifth Golden Globe nod for her new starring flip in Adam McKay‘s darkish comedy Don’t Look Up. Playing a Michigan State astronomy pupil who embarks on a media tour after discovering a meteor is on target to destroy Earth, J-Law spearheads an astounding ensemble forged that additionally contains Leonardo DiCaprio, Jonah Hill and Meryl Streep.

To have fun the release of McKay’s end-0f-the-world farce—in addition to one of many most interesting, most revered actresses of her era—we’ve ranked each Jennifer Lawerence film, from least memorable to absolute best.

Jennifer Lawrence films ranked

22. Dark Phoenix (2019)

Spoiler alert for these fortunate to have averted the critically derided, anticlimactic finale of the nearly-two-decades-spanning, usually sensible X-Men sequence: Mystique (Lawrence) dies within the first reel. Frankly, it feels just like the esteemed actress dodged a bullet right here, rising unscathed from a really, very dangerous film.

This was one other swing and miss for the saga of the Phoenix on the massive display screen. Downbeat and self-serious but insubstantial, Dark Phoenix feels no less than twice its 114-minute size, and there’s just about no humor. A bummer when you could have gifted performers who’re nice with humor. What a buzzkill this was.

Related: Best Superhero Movies of All Time, Ranked 

21. The House on the End of the Street (2012) 

Decades of proof suggests there’s an unwritten rule in Hollywood that each main starlet on the rise should seem in a single dreadfully boring horror film throughout her ascent. Enter The House on the End of the Street, a film you’ve in all probability completely forgotten about. Lawrence and the at all times dependable Elisabeth Shue do what they’ll with a vanilla ice cream cone of a script, however that is in the end the form of film that evaporates when you’re watching it, lifeless.

20. Passengers (2016) 

There are two actually good issues about big-budget sci-fi Passengers: a darkly tantalizing premise that the trailers famously lied about—and Lawrence, firing on all cylinders as a film star. Ultimately, the visually vague, dispassionately secure film blows it; the superb premise turns into Gravity-lite with an ending so weak it’s laughable. Lawrence deserved a lot better materials. So did the viewers.

19. The Burning Plain (2008)

Years earlier than attaining stardom, Lawrence appeared reverse Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Kim Basinger in a non-linear, heavy-handed slog intertwining three female-led tales. Fine performances from three top-notch actresses solely go to this point to redeem a wan, lame snoozefest. The Burning Plain debuted on the pageant circuit in a shot at awards consideration, however didn’t catch fireplace (pun supposed).

18. Serena (2014)

Much has been mentioned of the oft-seen chemistry between Lawrence and Bradley Cooper. The weakest automobile to supply them a collaboration is undeniably this turgid romantic drama, set amidst the backdrop of the Thirties lumber business; it’s simply as thrilling because it sounds.

17. X-Men Apocalypse (2016)

Immediate predecessor Days of Future Past was a leap ahead for the X-Men on movie and the superhero style; sadly, Apocalypse took no less than just a few steps again. The tone is a shambles; at instances, Apocalypse is both lethal critical, or simply taking itself too severely. On the opposite finish of the spectrum, there are fleeting makes an attempt to wink and be meta, and a number of the costumes make characters seem like strippers.

In Days, more and more well-known Lawrence’s expanded function match the venture and felt natural. Fully remodeling Mystique into the chief of the X-Men feels pressured right here. All this mentioned, in a stuff-blows-up, check-your-brain-at-the-door form of approach, X-Men: Apocalypse is fairly watchable.

16. The Beaver (2011) 

Jodie Foster directed Mel Gibson alongside herself, Anton Yelchin and Lawrence (one yr earlier than she rose to the highest of the A-list) in a somber dramedy a couple of depressed, failed exec who communicates with a puppet after hitting all-time low. Great performing and assured route go a protracted method to bringing credibility to a plot that’s essentially absurd.

15. Joy (2015)

After two knockout, awards-showered collaborations with David O. Russell, this comedian biopic of self-made millionaire Joy Mangano was undeniably a disappointment. Lawrence brings humor and grit to the function (that is an actress who could make just about something work), and it’s unclear if she was too younger for the half, or if this was certain to by no means absolutely work, resulting from unremarkable writing and hardly spectacular pacing. Still, Lawrence nabbed her fourth Oscar nod for Joy.

14. The Poker House (2008)

Lori Petty‘s semi-autobiographical indie drama starred Lawrence—reverse Selma Blair and Chloë Grace Moretz—as a younger lady struggling to lift two youthful sisters of their mom’s brothel. The takeaway was certainly Lawrence, who garnered excellent vital notices and an Outstanding Performance Award from the Los Angeles Film Festival. This doubtless was a think about her career-changing Winter’s Bone casting.

13. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2015) 

Plain and easy, the ultimate Hunger Games e-book didn’t should be break up into to 2 big-screen chapters. The once-edgy, even zeitgeist-ruling sequence by no means falls flat on its face, however it’s anticlimactic within the residence stretch for positive. The weakest of the 4 Hunger Games movies has wonderful performing, a plot that’s usually gripping, and a few first rate if scarce motion—however it merely lacks impetus. It’s much less the calm earlier than the storm, extra treading water.

12. Don’t Look Up (2021)

McKay’s ensemble satire has ambition, wonderful performances throughout the board and a few large laughs. Still, it’s laborious to not see it as underwhelming, given the astronomical expertise concerned. It’s darkish and dour to a fault—clumsily strung collectively at instances, even. Dark comedy has a lot potential when it’s dealt with proper, however it’s laborious to completely defend an usually downright disagreeable, shrill viewing expertise on this style. Lawrence is characteristically sensible and sympathetic as a pariah nobody believes, however it’s an oddly muted function (DiCaprio’s is by far the meatiest) for an actress whose skills seem limitless. Many will say seeing the A-list expertise riffing off one another on this flick is definitely worth the worth of admission. But with such a stellar forged, Don’t Look Up ought to have been one for the ages.

11. Like Crazy (2011)

Drake Dormus‘ romance stars Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin as college students in a long-distance relationship. Like Crazy obtained principally constructive evaluations, with critics significantly praising the performing (Lawrence seems in a supporting function) however criticizing an often convoluted plot. Like Crazy was largely improvised by the performers, who labored with solely about 50 pages of script.

10. X-Men: First Class (2011)

Rebecca Romijn was an underrated asset of the earliest X-Men movies, however Lawrence (simply as she was getting ready to superstardom) really made the function of Raven her personal in Matthew Vaughn‘s fashionable shot within the arm the sequence wanted after the coarse, clunky, dumb X-Men: The Last Stand. Some of the CGI results of First Class look horrible now, and there’s quite a lot of leery, casually extreme underwear pictures of feminine leads and extras that make it really feel extra ’60s than it must. It’s undeniably an total well-crafted, generally thrilling superhero image, although.

9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 (2015)

The remaining Hunger Games movie was launched after viewers enthusiasm had already waned due to the comparatively limp third movie. It opened on the mushy facet of box-office analyst’s expectations, then fell off the map completely just a few weeks later as Star Wars: The Force Awakens shattered holiday-season data. Still, it was undoubtedly a success, with a web revenue of $134 million, reflecting effectively upon its star’s bankability. The movie is a satisfying sufficient conclusion to the franchise, however granted the highs of the primary two movies, it ought to have been higher, extra thrilling.

8. mom! (2017)

Darren Aronofsky‘s slow-burn freakout features Lawrence walking around in a big farmhouse for two hours, and it’s a metaphor for Mother Earth and the Book of Genesis. It was additionally a field workplace bomb and arguably essentially the most divisive film of 2017, which is saying one thing: mom! obtained principally constructive evaluations, with some critics calling it a masterpiece, whereas others hated it. Mostly everybody agreed that it’s deeply disturbing, however A.O. Scott of The New York Times called it “a hoot!”

mom! isn’t as profound because it thinks it’s, however Aronofsky can stage escalating set items higher than simply about anybody working in the present day, and also you merely should hand it to him: Few up to date auteurs, if any, can get that form of all-over-the-map public response from a single flick. The stagey, ostensibly one-take, POV model alternative does the actors—particularly Lawrence—no favors, however she attracts us in regardless of the gimmick like in all probability no different younger actor might.

7. Red Sparrow (2018)

Curiously underrated upon release (and doubtless essentially the most under-appreciated film on this listing), this undeniably flawed however usually extraordinarily entertaining espionage thriller explored thematically lurid territory with aplomb. Graphically, arguably sadistically violent, it’s a sophisticated exploitation movie elevated by a film star within the traditional sense who is aware of precisely what she’s doing. A automobile like this could solely work with a star in full management. Red Sparrow works.

6. The Hunger Games (2012)

Following a standout flip in X-Men: First Class, essentially the most extremely publicized casting search in lots of moons ended when the 21-year-old from Kentucky claimed the function of Katniss Everdeen.

Admirably scrappy, disturbingly violent—and one thing of a cautionary story re: the risks of a shaky-cam strategy to motion—2012’s The Hunger Games broke spring field workplace data and launched a franchise. It was a mistake to separate the already-downbeat and low-on-action remaining installment of Suzanne Collins‘ trilogy into two movies, and The Hunger Games ended with a relative whimper. None of this displays on Lawrence, who’s super all through. In the midst of all this, she gained an Oscar for Silver Linings Playbook and have become the most popular, highest-paid actress on Earth.

Related: The 21 Best Action Heroines in Movie History, Ranked

5. X-Men Days of Future Past  (2012)

The excessive level of the X-Men sequence so far. Nothing lower than emotionally gripping, usually hilarious, densely-plotted but gentle on its toes and wildly entertaining, Days of Future Past will get just about all the pieces proper.

Thanks to the added component of time journey, that is the second followers might bask within the charms of each X-Men casts, with many characters performed by two actors. In making Raven/Mystique’s arc the guts of the yarn, the display screen story makes correct use of Lawrence‘s formidable abilities. This is certainly one of her most interesting performances, a style film that arguably transcends.

4. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)

Hunger Games followup Catching Fire is by some margin the most effective movie of the bunch: absolutely satisfying, heady sci-fi blended with red-blooded motion (this time, extra fluidly shot) that might make the ’80s proud. This is Lawrence’s highest-grossing film ($865 million worldwide), making her the largest motion heroine ever on the time.

3. American Hustle (2013)

After Silver Linings Playbook was a shock box-office, vital and awards-season smash, all eyes have been on Russell’s semi-fictional, glitzy crime film the place Lawrence and Cooper rounded out a supporting forged reverse Christian Bale and Amy Adams. The film is killer—hilarious, sprawling and deeply romantic. It’s a modern-day successor to classics like The Lady Eve, glowing comedies that dared us to see the great within the dangerous and the dangerous within the good. Lawrence garnered her third Oscar nod. As with Silver Linings, American Hustle is certainly one of few movies in historical past to be nominated in all 4 Oscars performing classes.

2. Winter’s Bone (2010)

It’s not getting carried away to name this the most effective, richest American thrillers of the fashionable period. This can be, in some ways, the one which began all of it; after boundless pageant reward and glowing evaluations from Roger Ebert and others, Lawrence obtained her first Oscar nod for a strong flip in Debra Granik‘s indie a couple of headstrong lady looking for her drug vendor father by way of the Ozarks (the movie obtained three different nods together with Best Picture).

Lawrence’s nomination led to an excellent PR transfer. Though she wasn’t favored to win that yr, the newly identified actress confirmed up early to the Oscars purple carpet, wanting like an angel in a merely timeless, now-iconic Calvin Klein purple robe. She was all anybody might speak about for the remainder of the evening.

1. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) 

David O. Russell‘s Philly-set masterpiece, about two sizzling messes who fall for one another as they heal from important trauma, is an astounding mix of big laughs, painful authenticity and a transferring love story. Silver Linings Playbook walks a dangerous tightrope thematically and by no means units a foot flawed—a lot to the delight and pleasure of anybody who watches it. This was the primary film since Warren Beatty‘s Reds 31 years earlier to be nominated for Oscars in all 4 performing classes (for stars Lawrence, Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver). Lawrence is electrifying as layered and persistently stunning Tiffany Maxwell, a intercourse addict with a damaged wing whose comedian timing would make Lucille Ball proud. Honestly, there’s by no means been a personality fairly like this; it’s the form of factor you always remember.

She gained the Oscar. The relaxation is historical past.

Next, see the place Silver Linings Playbook ranks on our list of the 100 best movies of all time. 

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