(Photo by Universal Pictures courtesy Everett Collection)
All Paul Rudd Movies Ranked
Yes, Paul Rudd has been around for a while, and yes, the guy never ages. It all started, as most auspicious Hollywood careers do, in a execrable slasher movie — the sixth Halloween, to be exact in Rudd’s case. Clueless came out that same year and was the crown jewel in his filmography for nearly a decade because, although Rudd quickly rose to leading man status with The Object of My Affection and The Shape of Things, it doesn’t matter much if nobody watches the movies.
Of course, Rudd’s career trajectory exploded with cultural comedy touchstone Anchorman, which was followed by The 40-Year-Old Virgin, ushering in the Judd Apatow era of American comedy. Combined with his 2001 role in Wet Hot American Summer, appearances on TV’s Tim & Eric, and his internet-tailored running joke of showing Mac & Me on Conan O’Brien’s show in lieu of whatever he was supposed to promote, Rudd made his presence known in virtually ever niche of 21st century comedy.
Subsequently, he joined the MCU in 2015 in Ant-Man, which had a publicly rocky development leading to original director Edgar Wright’s departure. But with its light step and heist-movie architecture, the film won over audiences, and Rudd’s fanboy enthusiasm as Scott Lang has been a welcome addition in all his appearances since. All that wide-eyed cheer came in handy with the heavy Avengers: Endgame, and with that saga now complete, we’re celebrating with the best Paul Rudd movies! And then the worst! —Alex Vo
#1
Adjusted Score: 123951%
Critics Consensus: Exciting, entertaining, and emotionally impactful, Avengers: Endgame does whatever it takes to deliver a satisfying finale to Marvel's epic Infinity Saga.
Synopsis: The fourth installment in the Avengers saga is the culmination of 22 interconnected Marvel films and the climax of a...
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#2
Adjusted Score: 96123%
Critics Consensus: Beautifully animated and faithful to the spirit of its classic source material, The Little Prince is a family-friendly treat that anchors thrilling visuals with a satisfying story.
Synopsis: The Aviator introduces a girl to a world where she rediscovers her childhood and learns that it's human connections that...
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#3
Adjusted Score: 111097%
Critics Consensus: Captain America: Civil War begins the next wave of Marvel movies with an action-packed superhero blockbuster boasting a decidedly non-cartoonish plot and the courage to explore thought-provoking themes.
Synopsis: Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The...
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#4
Adjusted Score: 99277%
Critics Consensus: Knocked Up is a hilarious, poignant and refreshing look at the rigors of courtship and child-rearing, with a sometimes raunchy, yet savvy script that is ably acted and directed.
Synopsis: Rising journalist Alison Scott (Katherine Heigl) hits a serious bump in the road after a one-night stand with irresponsible slacker...
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#5
Adjusted Score: 112174%
Critics Consensus: A lighter, brighter superhero movie powered by the effortless charisma of Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, Ant-Man and The Wasp offers a much-needed MCU palate cleanser.
Synopsis: Scott Lang is grappling with the consequences of his choices as both a superhero and a father. Approached by Hope...
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#6
Adjusted Score: 91850%
Critics Consensus: Steve Carell's first star turn scores big with a tender treatment of its titular underdog, using raunchy but realistically funny comedy to connect with adult audiences.
Synopsis: Three dysfunctional co-workers embark on a mission to help their newfound friend lose his sexual innocence....
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#7
Adjusted Score: 92862%
Critics Consensus: The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a heartfelt and sincere adaptation that's bolstered by strong lead performances.
Synopsis: Socially awkward Charlie is a wallflower watching from the sidelines, until a pair of charismatic seniors take him under their...
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#8
Adjusted Score: 99826%
Critics Consensus: Led by a charming performance from Paul Rudd, Ant-Man offers Marvel thrills on an appropriately smaller scale -- albeit not as smoothly as its most successful predecessors.
Synopsis: Forced out of his own company by former protégé Darren Cross, Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) recruits the talents of...
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#9
Adjusted Score: 92475%
Critics Consensus: Energetic, self-deprecating performances and enough guffaw-inducing humor make up for the flaws in This Is the End loosely written script.
Synopsis: In Hollywood, actor James Franco is throwing a party with a slew of celebrity pals. Among those in attendance are...
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#10
Adjusted Score: 91257%
Critics Consensus: I Love You, Man makes the most of its simple premise due to the heartfelt and hilarious performances of Paul Rudd and Jason Segel.
Synopsis: As his wedding day approaches, Peter Klaven (Paul Rudd) realizes he has no one to act as his best man....
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#11
Adjusted Score: 90351%
Critics Consensus: With ample laughs and sharp performances, Forgetting Sarah Marshall finds just the right mix of romantic and raunchy comedy.
Synopsis: Struggling musician Peter Bretter (Jason Segel) is better-known as the boyfriend of TV star Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). After she...
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#12
Adjusted Score: 93225%
Critics Consensus: Sausage Party is definitely offensive, but backs up its enthusiastic profanity with an impressively high laugh-to-gag ratio -- and a surprisingly thought-provoking storyline.
Synopsis: Life is good for all the food items that occupy the shelves at the local supermarket. Frank (Seth Rogen) the...
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#13
Adjusted Score: 87291%
Critics Consensus: A step back in the right direction for director David Gordon Green, Prince Avalanche shambles amiably along with a pair of artfully low-key performances from Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch.
Synopsis: Two road-crew workers (Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch) spend the summer of 1988 isolated and away from their city lives, eventually...
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#14
Adjusted Score: 90119%
Critics Consensus: A funny and clever reshaping of Emma, Clueless offers a soft satire that pokes as much fun at teen films as it does at the Beverly Hills glitterati.
Synopsis: Shallow, rich and socially successful Cher (Alicia Silverstone) is at the top of her Beverly Hills high school's pecking scale....
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#15
Adjusted Score: 83318%
Critics Consensus: Role Models is a frequently crude, always funny comedy with the cast providing solid work throughout.
Synopsis: After salesmen Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) trash a company truck, the court gives them a choice:...
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#16
Adjusted Score: 83216%
Critics Consensus: It's just as uneven and loosely structured as the first Anchorman -- and while Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues may not be quite as quotable, it's nearly as funny as its predecessor.
Synopsis: Seven years after capturing the heart of co-anchor Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), newsman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is offered the...
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#17
Adjusted Score: 78841%
Critics Consensus: The Fundamentals of Caring gets maximum mileage out of the chemistry between its well-matched leads as it follows a fairly well-worn coming-of-age road trip route.
Synopsis: A writer (Paul Rudd) retires after a personal tragedy and becomes a disabled teen's caregiver. When the two embark on...
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#18
Adjusted Score: 81746%
Critics Consensus: Though it doesn't approach the depth of the best animated films, Monsters Vs. Aliens has enough humor and special effects to entertain moviegoers of all ages.
Synopsis: When a meteor full of space gunk transforms Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) into a giant, the government renames her Ginormica...
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#19
Adjusted Score: 78518%
Critics Consensus: Baz Luhrmann's visual aesthetic is as divisive as it is fresh and inventive.
Synopsis: Baz Luhrmann helped adapt this classic Shakespearean romantic tragedy for the screen, updating the setting to a post-modern city named...
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#20
Adjusted Score: 76344%
Critics Consensus: The Cider House Rules derives affecting drama from wonderful performances, lovely visuals, and an old-fashioned feel.
Synopsis: The film follows the life of Homer Wells (Tobey Maguire), a precocious orphan who leaves his lifelong home and his...
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#21
Adjusted Score: 76352%
Critics Consensus: It's decidedly uneven, but like Paul Rudd's performance in the title role, Our Idiot Brother is too charming to resist.
Synopsis: Easygoing, dimwitted slacker Ned Rochlin (Paul Rudd) makes the biggest mistake of his so-far uninspired life when he sells some...
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#22
Adjusted Score: 74037%
Critics Consensus: They Came Together is surprisingly messy and perhaps too smart for its own good, but Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd's chemistry is enough to overcome many of the movie's flaws.
Synopsis: The owner (Amy Poehler) of an independent candy shop and the corporate stooge (Paul Rudd) who has been sent to...
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#23
Adjusted Score: 70655%
Critics Consensus: Though the plot may be familiar, Diggers is just pleasant, charming, and heartwarming enough to make it worth your while.
Synopsis: During the 1970s as corporate fisheries begin snatching up water rights around the Hamptons, independent clammers Hunt (Paul Rudd) and...
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#24
Adjusted Score: 70339%
Critics Consensus: Ideal Home benefits from the chemistry between a well-chosen cast, whose work helps tip the scales against the script's inconsistent -- and occasionally retrograde -- humor.
Synopsis: Celebrity chef Erasmus and his partner, Paul, have a happy and rather self-indulgent life together. Their perfect existence is soon...
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#25
Adjusted Score: 72656%
Critics Consensus: Filled with inspired silliness and quotable lines, Anchorman isn't the most consistent comedy in the world, but Will Ferrell's buffoonish central performance helps keep this portrait of a clueless newsman from going off the rails.
Synopsis: Hotshot television anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) welcomes upstart reporter Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) into the male-dominated world of 1970s...
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#26
Adjusted Score: 68446%
Critics Consensus: LaBute returns to his earlier themes of cruelty in relationships, and the results hit hard.
Synopsis: "The Shape of Things," a contemporary story of love and art set in a college town, follows the steadily intensifying...
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#27
Adjusted Score: 35836%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Mother Nature (Saoirse Ronan) loves to cause mischief, and she steps in to help two love-starved souls find happiness. She...
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#28
Adjusted Score: 78628%
Critics Consensus: Ghostbusters: Afterlife crosses the streams between franchise revival and exercise in nostalgia -- and this time around, the bustin' mostly feels good.
Synopsis: In Ghostbusters: Afterlife, when a single mom and her two kids arrive in a small town, they begin to discover...
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#29
Adjusted Score: 65574%
Critics Consensus: It isn't always as funny as it should be, but Wanderlust benefits from an extremely talented cast and some of David Wain's most confident, assured work behind the camera.
Synopsis: George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) have overextended, overstressed lives in Manhattan. After George loses his job, he and...
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#30
Adjusted Score: 57108%
Critics Consensus: Laura Linney is as watchable as ever, but the melancholy P.S. never finds its footing.
Synopsis: Louise Harrington (Laura Linney) is a lonely divorcée working at the admissions office at Columbia University when she notices an...
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#31
Adjusted Score: 56197%
Critics Consensus: Despite heartfelt performances from Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd, The Object of My Affection suffers from too many plot contrivances and frequent turns into rom-com sappiness.
Synopsis: New York City social worker Nina Borowski (Jennifer Aniston) invites her gay friend, George (Paul Rudd), to move into her...
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#32
Adjusted Score: 61541%
Critics Consensus: Judd Apatow definitely delivers funny and perceptive scenes in This is 40, even if they are buried in aimless self-indulgence.
Synopsis: After many years of marriage, Pete (Paul Rudd) is the sole male in a household that includes his wife, Debbie...
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#33
Adjusted Score: 52200%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: The story follows brothers Graham (Paul Rudd) and Allen (Romany Malco) Granville as they make their way from America to...
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#34
Adjusted Score: 49013%
Critics Consensus: Well-acted but uneven, All Is Bright strands a pair of strong performances from Paul Giamatti and Paul Rudd in a meandering script.
Synopsis: Two shady French-Canadians (Paul Rudd, Paul Giamatti) hatch a get-rich-quick scheme, selling Christmas trees in New York City....
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#35
Adjusted Score: 69753%
Critics Consensus: Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania mostly lacks the spark of fun that elevated earlier adventures, but Jonathan Majors' Kang is a thrilling villain poised to alter the course of the MCU.
Synopsis: Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and...
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#36
Adjusted Score: 47362%
Critics Consensus: Parents might call this either a spectacle-filled adventure or a shallow and vapid CG-fest, depending on whether they choose to embrace this on the same level as their kids.
Synopsis: A night watchman (Ben Stiller) at a museum of natural history makes a startling discovery: Thanks to the unleashing of...
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#37
Adjusted Score: 12704%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A Hollywood actor (Donal Logue) and his best friend compete in celebrity tennis tournaments....
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#38
Adjusted Score: 21054%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: College student Wyatt (Paul Rudd) is convinced that his hometown girlfriend, Kimberly (Christine Taylor), is cheating on him. Disconsolate at...
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#39
Adjusted Score: 49576%
Critics Consensus: It doesn't honor its source material -- or its immensely likable leads -- as well as it should, but Dinner for Schmucks offers fitfully nourishing comedy.
Synopsis: Tim (Paul Rudd) a rising executive, works for a boss who hosts a monthly event in which the guest who...
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#40
Adjusted Score: 43799%
Critics Consensus: Admission has a pair of immensely likable leads in Tina Fey and Paul Rudd, but it wastes them on a contrived (and clumsily directed) screenplay.
Synopsis: When straight-laced Princeton University admissions officer Portia Nathan (Tina Fey) pays a recruiting visit to an alternative high school, she...
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#41
Adjusted Score: 40155%
Critics Consensus: Wet Hot American Summer's incredibly talented cast is too often outmatched by a deeply silly script that misses its targets at least as often as it skewers them.
Synopsis: Set on the last day of camp, in the hot summer of 1981, "Wet Hot American Summer" follows a group...
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#42
Adjusted Score: 37700%
Critics Consensus: Although a few of the sketches that make up The Ten are humorous, the uneven and random tone of the film cause it to fall apart.
Synopsis: A series of interweaving vignettes spoof the Ten Commandments. In one story, a skydiver (Adam Brody) forgets to pack his...
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#43
Adjusted Score: 38502%
Critics Consensus: Reno 911!'s anarchic brand of comedy loses much in translation to the big screen where it feels slapdash and shallow.
Synopsis: Bumbling officers (Thomas Lennon, Ben Garant, Kerri Kenney) of the Reno (Nevada) Police Department finally get an opportunity to attend...
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#44
Adjusted Score: 36450%
Critics Consensus: The Catcher Was a Spy loses sight of the most interesting elements of its fact-based story, dropping the ball and leaving likable lead Paul Rudd stranded.
Synopsis: Major League Baseball player Moe Berg lives a double life as a spy for the Office of Strategic Services during...
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#45
Adjusted Score: 34165%
Critics Consensus: The Baxter is good-natured, but there are simply not enough laughs to fuel this comedy.
Synopsis: Elliot Sherman (Michael Showalter) has had terrible luck with women during his life, losing three of them to ex-boyfriends in...
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#46
Adjusted Score: 36735%
Critics Consensus: How Do You Know boasts a quartet of likeable leads -- and they deserve better than this glib, overlong misfire from writer/director James L. Brooks.
Synopsis: Lisa Jorgenson's (Reese Witherspoon) entire life has been defined by softball, but at 31, she is deemed too old to...
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#47
Adjusted Score: 32658%
Critics Consensus: A clumsy and scattered comedy with a poorly executed script.
Synopsis: This ensemble comedy follows an array of young people in New York City on New Year's Eve. Among the numerous...
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#48
Adjusted Score: 25158%
Critics Consensus: A muddled sex-comedy that feels oddly sexless, The Oh in Ohio packs in too many ideas without establishing a clear identity or objective.
Synopsis: Priscilla (Parker Posey) and Jack (Paul Rudd) appear to be the perfect couple, but they have a secret: She is...
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#49
Adjusted Score: 25042%
Critics Consensus: Visually polished but narratively derivative and overall muddled, Mute is a would-be sci-fi epic whose title serves as an unfortunate guide to how it might be best enjoyed.
Synopsis: In a Berlin of the future, a mute bartender's search for his missing lady-love takes him deeper and deeper into...
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#50
Adjusted Score: 15038%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A struggling actor (Paul Rudd) and his screenwriting roommate (Patton Oswalt) embark on an attention-grabbing journey through Los Angeles to...
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#51
Adjusted Score: 15410%
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In American heartland of the 1960s, the aimless and penniless Clay (Vince Vaughn) decides to work on a flourishing farm...
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#52
Adjusted Score: 17849%
Critics Consensus: With few laughs and little romantic chemistry, Over Her Dead Body lacks the ingredients of a successful romantic comedy.
Synopsis: After his fiancée, Kate (Eva Longoria Parker), dies in an accident on their wedding day, veterinarian Henry (Paul Rudd) grows...
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#53
Adjusted Score: 10120%
Critics Consensus: Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers trades the simple, brutal effectiveness of the original for convoluted mysticism, with disastrously dull results.
Synopsis: This installment marks the return of the seemingly indestructible masked murderer Michael Myers (George P. Wilbur), who is targeting Tommy...
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