(Photo by Lucasfilm/ courtesy Everett Collection)
All Ewan McGregor Movies Ranked by Tomatometer
A lot of careers were launched with the release of Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting, star Ewan McGregor’s among them. Big career moves were clearly in play for him, but mega stardom would have to wait as McGregor used his post-Trainspotting boost to continue doing diverse and challenging work in the UK. Films like Little Voice, Velvet Goldmine, and The Pillow Book came out in this period.
But soon American blockbuster entertainment came knocking and, well, McGregor actually didn’t have to go anywhere to answer the call since Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace shot in England and Europe abroad. George Lucas cast McGregor as young Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi, and his consistency in the role made him a steady highlight in a very inconsistent trilogy of prequel films.
Phantom Menace put a spotlight on his first post-Star Wars project, which unfortunately was the bewildering Ashley Judd mystery Eye of the Beholder, representing the lowest point of his career. McGregor bounced back quickly with Moulin Rouge! and Black Hawk Down, which are spectacles in very different ways.
By 2005, the Star Wars prequels were all released, freeing McGregor up to go on a long run of critical disappointments, like The Island, Angels & Demons, and Amelia. The 2010 political thriller The Ghost Writer represented something of a comeback for McGregor (and its director Roman Polanski), and he’s since added Beginners, Haywire, The Impossible, and T2 Trainspotting to his portfolio of Certified Fresh hits.
With his most recent movies Doctor Sleep and Birds of Prey out there in the universe, we’re looking back with all of Ewan McGregor’s movies ranked by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
#56
Critics Consensus: Improbable and muddled.
Synopsis: British spy Steve Wilson (Ewan McGregor), known as "The Eye" to his employers, is trailing Paul Hugo (Steven McCarthy) for
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#55
Critics Consensus: Deception is a middling, predictable potboiler with mediocre dialogue and ludicrous plot twists.
Synopsis: As a corporate auditor who works in a number of different offices, Jonathan McQuarry (Ewan McGregor) wanders without an anchor
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#54
Critics Consensus: Aggressively strange and willfully unfunny, the misguided Mortdecai sounds a frightfully low note in Johnny Depp's post-Pirates filmography.
Synopsis: Charismatic British aristocrat and part-time shady art dealer Charlie Mortdecai (Johnny Depp) suffers from a constant lack of funds to
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#53
Critics Consensus: A solid performance from Michelle Williams isn't enough to save this well meaning, but disappointing, cliché ridden drama.
Synopsis: A suicide bomber kills the husband and infant son of an adulterous woman, destroying her life.
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#52
Critics Consensus: Amelia takes the compelling raw materials of its subject's life and does little with them, conventionally ticking off Earhart's accomplishments without exploring the soul of the woman.
Synopsis: From the time she first sits in the pilot's seat, aviatrix Amelia Earhart (Hilary Swank) feels destined to achieve great
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#51
Critics Consensus: American Pastoral finds debuting director Ewan McGregor's reach exceeding its grasp with a well-intentioned Philip Roth adaptation that retains the form, but little of the function, of its source material.
Synopsis: Seymour Swede Levov (Ewan McGregor) is a once legendary high school athlete who is now a successful businessman married to
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#50
Critics Consensus: A muddled brain-teaser, Stay has a solid cast and innovative visuals but little beneath the surface.
Synopsis: Sam Foster (Ewan McGregor), a psychiatrist, has a new patient, Henry Letham (Ryan Gosling), who claims to be suicidal. In
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#49
Critics Consensus: Nightwatch loses much of what made its inspiration entertaining - and proves that when remaking a foreign film, hiring the original director is no guarantee of success.
Synopsis: Law student Martin Bells (Ewan McGregor) needs to make some money, and so he takes a side job as a
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#48
Critics Consensus: Rogue Trader tells its headline-grabbing true story too late to really have much of an impact - and too clumsily to take advantage of Ewan McGregor's game performance.
Synopsis: This drama, based on a true story, follows Nick Leeson (Ewan McGregor), a young British man working at Barings, a
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#47
Critics Consensus: Zoe has some interesting ideas but never manages to get a satisfying grip on them, settling for slow-moving sci-fi that ultimately fails to engage.
Synopsis: Two colleagues at a research lab work to improve and perfect romantic relationships.
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#46
Critics Consensus: Valiant has a good collection of voice talents, but the story is strictly by-the-numbers.
Synopsis: As the Allies prepare for the D-Day Invasion, a pigeon named Valiant (Ewan McGregor) wants to contribute to the war
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#45
Critics Consensus: Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker is strictly children's fare, as it lacks originality, excitement, and believabiltity.
Synopsis: Alex Rider (Alex Pettyfer) is a British teenager, whom MI6 recruits into its ranks, for his skills as a linguist,
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#44
Critics Consensus: Angels and Demons is a fast-paced thrill ride, and an improvement on the last Dan Brown adaptation, but the storyline too often wavers between implausible and ridiculous, and does not translate effectively to the big screen.
Synopsis: When Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon discovers the resurgence of an ancient brotherhood known as the Illuminati, he flies to Rome
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#43
Critics Consensus: A Life Less Ordinary has an intriguing cast and stylish work from director Danny Boyle, but they're not enough to overcome the story's fatally misjudged tonal mishmash.
Synopsis: A couple of angels, O'Reilly (Holly Hunter) and Jackson (Delroy Lindo), are sent to Earth to make sure that their
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#42
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: On the lush green lawns of London's Hampstead Heath Park, a variety of couples commune and sort through their assorted
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#40
Critics Consensus: Jane Got a Gun flounders between campy Western and hard-hitting revisionist take on the genre, leaving Natalie Portman's committed performance stranded in the dust.
Synopsis: Panic strikes Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman) when her outlaw husband John returns to their farm with bullet wounds. Expecting the
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#39
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An alternative ending to World War II has Nazis seizing control of London, and has English citizens banding together to
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#38
Critics Consensus: Colin Farrell and Tom Wilkinson act up a storm in Cassandra's Dream, but Woody Allen's heavy-handed symbolism and foreshadowing drains the plot of all tension.
Synopsis: Life is good for the Blaine brothers, at least for the moment. Ian (Ewan McGregor), a restaurateur, is in love
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#37
Critics Consensus: Though The Men Who Stare at Goats is a mostly entertaining, farcical glimpse of men at war, some may find its satire and dark humor less than edgy.
Synopsis: Struggling reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) gets the scoop of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady (George Clooney), who
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#36
Critics Consensus: It's enthusiastically acted and reasonably fun, but Jack the Giant Slayer is also overwhelmed by digital effects and a bland, impersonal story.
Synopsis: When young farmhand Jack (Nicholas Hoult) unwittingly opens a portal between his realm and a race of giants, it rekindles
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#35
Critics Consensus: Burdened by exposition and populated with stock characters, The Phantom Menace gets the Star Wars prequels off to a bumpy -- albeit visually dazzling -- start.
Synopsis: Experience the heroic action and unforgettable adventures of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace. See the first fateful
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#34
Critics Consensus: Perfect Sense has interesting ideas and charismatic stars, all of which add up to a viewing experience that's frustratingly less than the sum of its intriguing parts.
Synopsis: A chef (Ewan McGregor) and a scientist (Eva Green) fall in love amid a plague that robs people of their
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#33
Critics Consensus: Velvet Goldmine takes a visual and narrative approach befitting its larger-than-life subject, although it's still disappointingly less than the sum of its parts.
Synopsis: Glam rock star Brian Slade (Jonathan Rhys Myers) plays a character on stage named Maxwell Demon who predicts his death
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#32
Critics Consensus: Looks great, but Zellweger and McGregor have no chemistry together, and the self-satisfied, knowing tone grates.
Synopsis: It's 1962, and feminist Barbara Novak (Renée Zellweger) pens a best-selling book that details the drawbacks of love. She encourages
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#31
Critics Consensus: Gritty, stylish, and smart, Son of a Gun serves up plenty of genre thrills while offering a refreshing change of pace for Ewan McGregor.
Synopsis: JR, a teenage criminal, is locked up for a minor crime and forced to adapt to the harsh realities of
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#30
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: It is love at first sight when raffish young writer James Joyce (Ewan McGregor) meets the simple barmaid Nora Barnacle
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#29
Critics Consensus: Robots delights on a visual level, but the story feels like it came off an assembly line.
Synopsis: In a world of sentient robots, striving young inventor Rodney Copperbottom (Ewan McGregor) wants to work for the avuncular Bigweld
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#28
Critics Consensus: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones benefits from an increased emphasis on thrilling action, although it's undercut by ponderous plot points and underdeveloped characters.
Synopsis: Set ten years after the events of "The Phantom Menace," the Republic continues to be mired in strife and chaos.
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#27
Critics Consensus: The sheer amount of acting going on in August: Osage County threatens to overwhelm, but when the actors involved are as talented as Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, it's difficult to complain.
Synopsis: The death and funeral of their father brings three sisters to the home of their mother, Violet (Meryl Streep), an
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#26
Critics Consensus: The Pillow Book is undeniably sensual and visually ravishing, but the film's narrative lacks the hypnotic pull of its imagery.
Synopsis: A Japanese model (Vivian Wu) who likes lovers to adorn her body with calligraphy falls for an erotic Englishman (Ewan
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#25
Critics Consensus: A charming biopic that maintains its sweetness even in sadder moments.
Synopsis: Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) overcomes many obstacles in her quest to become a writer, including a domineering mother and the
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#24
Critics Consensus: Quirky and a little reserved, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is nonetheless a charming little romantic drama sold by some strong central performances.
Synopsis: Dr. Alfred Jones (Ewan McGregor) is a fisheries scientist who one day receives an unusual request: A businesswoman named Harriet
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#23
Critics Consensus: This black-humored thriller features characters who are more obnoxious than clever. During the second half, the movie descends into gratuitous violence.
Synopsis: When accountant David (Christopher Eccleston), doctor Juliet (Kerry Fox) and journalist Alex (Ewan McGregor) are searching for a fourth roommate
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#22
Critics Consensus: This fact-based romantic comedy has its flaws, but they're mostly overcome by its consistently sweet, funny tone and one of the best performances of Jim Carrey's career.
Synopsis: Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) becomes a cop, gets married and starts a family, but after a terrible car accident, he
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#21
Critics Consensus: With an enchanting cast, beautifully crafted songs, and a painterly eye for detail, Beauty and the Beast offers a faithful yet fresh retelling that honors its beloved source material.
Synopsis: Belle (Emma Watson), a bright, beautiful and independent young woman, is taken prisoner by a beast (Dan Stevens) in its
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#20
Critics Consensus: Our Kind of Traitor relies on solid writing and acting rather than action to deliver its spy-movie thrills -- and thankfully has the pedigree to pull it off on both fronts.
Synopsis: A money launderer (Stellan Skarsgard) for Russian gangsters asks a couple vacationing in Marrakech, Morocco, to deliver incriminating evidence to
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#19
Critics Consensus: Miles Ahead is worth watching for Don Cheadle's strong work on both sides of the camera, even if this unconventional biopic doesn't quite capture its subject's timeless appeal.
Synopsis: In the 1970s, down-and-out jazz trumpeter Miles Davis (Don Cheadle) tries to recover his new session tape from music producers.
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#18
Critics Consensus: Christopher Robin may not equal A.A. Milne's stories -- or their animated Disney adaptations -- but it should prove sweet enough for audiences seeking a little childhood magic.
Synopsis: Christopher Robin -- now a family man living in London -- receives a surprise visit from his old childhood pal,
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#17
Critics Consensus: A charming father-and-son tale filled with typical Tim Burton flourishes, Big Fish is an impressive catch.
Synopsis: When Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) becomes ill, his son, William (Billy Crudup), travels to be with him. William has a
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#16
Critics Consensus: Emma Thompson's second labor of love with the Nanny McPhee character actually improves on the first, delivering charming family fare with an excellent cast.
Synopsis: Enigmatic Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) arrives on the doorstep of a harried mother, Isabel Green (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who is trying
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#15
Critics Consensus: Though it's light on character development and cultural empathy, Black Hawk Down is a visceral, pulse-pounding portrait of war, elevated by Ridley Scott's superb technical skill.
Synopsis: In 1993, the U.S. sends special forces into Somalia to destabilize the government and bring food and humanitarian aid to
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#14
Critics Consensus: A love-it-or-hate-it experience, Moulin Rouge is all style, all giddy, over-the-top spectacle. But it's also daring in its vision and wildly original.
Synopsis: A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp
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#13
Critics Consensus: Last Days in the Desert offers enough stately grandeur and spiritual exploration to offset an occasionally ambiguous narrative.
Synopsis: As he wanders in the desert, Jesus Christ (Ewan McGregor) tangles with Satan (also McGregor) for the souls of a
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#12
Critics Consensus: Doctor Sleep forsakes the elemental terror of its predecessor for a more contemplative sequel that balances poignant themes against spine-tingling chills.
Synopsis: Struggling with alcoholism, Dan Torrance remains traumatized by the sinister events that occurred at the Overlook Hotel when he was
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#11
Critics Consensus: Brassed Off combines inspiring drama with populist socioeconomics to create a film whose familiar outlines are filled in with genuine and surprisingly palpable emotion.
Synopsis: In a village in Northern England, Danny (Pete Postlethwaite), the conductor of a colliery brass band, has difficulty maintaining the
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#10
Critics Consensus: Little Voice brings its award-winning source material to the screen in style, elevated by a commanding lead performance from Jane Horrocks.
Synopsis: A London talent agent learns that his girlfriend's repressed daughter, Briton, knows how to mimick singers.
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#9
Critics Consensus: MMA star and first-time actress Gina Carano displays ample action-movie chops in Haywire, a fast-paced thriller with a top-notch cast and outstanding direction from Steven Soderbergh.
Synopsis: Mallory Kane (Gina Carano) is a highly trained operative for a government security contractor. Her missions take her to the
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#8
Critics Consensus: With Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, George Lucas brings his second Star Wars trilogy to a suitably thrilling and often poignant -- if still a bit uneven -- conclusion.
Synopsis: It has been three years since the Clone Wars began. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Jedi Knight Anakin
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#7
Critics Consensus: With a fresh perspective, some new friends, and loads of fast-paced action, Birds of Prey captures the colorfully anarchic spirit of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.
Synopsis: It's open season on Harley Quinn when her explosive breakup with the Joker puts a big fat target on her
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#6
Critics Consensus: The screenplay isn't quite as powerful as the direction or the acting, but with such an astonishing real-life story at its center, The Impossible is never less than compelling.
Synopsis: A couple and their three sons encounter terror, courage and compassion following the December 2004 tsunami that devastated Thailand.
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#5
Critics Consensus: T2 Trainspotting adds an intoxicating, emotionally resonant postscript to its classic predecessor, even without fully recapturing the original's fresh, subversive thrill.
Synopsis: First there was an opportunity, then there was a betrayal. Twenty years later, Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) returns to the
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#4
Critics Consensus: Emma marks an auspicious debut for writer-director Douglas McGrath, making the most of its Jane Austen source material -- and a charming performance from Gwyneth Paltrow.
Synopsis: In this adaptation of Jane Austen's classic novel, pretty socialite Emma Woodhouse (Gwyneth Paltrow) entertains herself by playing matchmaker for
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#3
Critics Consensus: While it may lack the revelatory punch of Polanski's finest films, Ghost Writer benefits from stylish direction, a tense screenplay, and a strong central performance from Ewan McGregor.
Synopsis: When a successful ghostwriter, The Ghost (Ewan McGregor), agrees to finish the memoirs of Adam Long (Pierce Brosnan), England's former
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#2
Critics Consensus: Wearing its twee heart on its sleeve, Beginners explores the depths of modern, multi-generational romance with wit and depth.
Synopsis: After his mother dies, Oliver (Ewan McGregor) is stunned when his father, Hal (Christopher Plummer), recently diagnosed with terminal cancer,
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#1
Critics Consensus: A brutal, often times funny, other times terrifying portrayal of drug addiction in Edinburgh. Not for the faint of heart, but well worth viewing as a realistic and entertaining reminder of the horrors of drug use.
Synopsis: Heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends -- Sick Boy
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