(Photo by CBS Films/Courtesy Everett Collection)
All Christopher Walken Movies Ranked
Christopher Walken‘s first significant appearance in a movie, Annie Hall, may have been brief but it was certainly memorable (he played Annie’s possibly psychotic brother) – so memorable that studios began casting him in seemingly everything that possibly could. And, indeed, Walken has since been in nearly 100 movies across a six-decade career, a performer whose intense presence and halting speech cadence makes him perfectly suited for dramatics, comedy, and villainy.
Walken has collaborated with some of the biggest name directors out there, including Steven Spielberg (Catch Me If You Can), Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction), Clint Eastwood (Jersey Boys), Tim Burton (Batman Returns, Sleepy Hollow, The Dead Zone), Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopaths), Abel Ferrara (The King of New York, New Rose Hotel), and Michael Cimino. Cimino’s The Deer Hunter got Walken his first Oscar nomination and win for Best Supporting Actor. Another nomination in the same category came over 20 years later for Catch Me If You Can.
An unparalleled workhorse, Walken has averaged three movie releases a year over the recent decades, crediting his robust resume to having no hobbies. And you can re-visit his work now as we rank all Christopher Walken movies by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
#88
Critics Consensus: Bizarre and clumsily plotted, Gigli is a mess. As for its stars, Affleck and Lopez lack chemistry.
Synopsis: Gigli (Ben Affleck) is ordered to kidnap the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor. When plans go
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#87
Critics Consensus: Jack Black and Ben Stiller fail to wring laughs from a script that's essentially one extended poop joke.
Synopsis: Tim (Ben Stiller) has a chance to invest in Vapoorizer, the latest harebrained venture by his friend Nick (Jack Black).
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#86
Critics Consensus: The humor is gratingly dumb, and Kangaroo Jack contains too much violence and sexual innuendo for a family movie.
Synopsis: Two friends from Brooklyn (Jerry O'Connell), (Anthony Anderson) are forced to deliver mob money to Australia. Their misadventures begin when
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#85
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Joe Dirt (David Spade) returns with a mop in his hand and a mullet on his noggin. The white-trash hero
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#84
Critics Consensus: If you fall within the target audience of Joe Dirt, you may find it funny. Otherwise, the jokes will seem like a tired retread.
Synopsis: He's the wrong person, at the wrong place, at the wrong time. Joe Dirt (David Spade) is a janitor with
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#83
Critics Consensus: Not meow, not ever.
Synopsis: Tom Brand (Kevin Spacey) is a billionaire whose workaholic lifestyle takes him away from his loving wife Lara and adorable
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#82
Critics Consensus: A film about court intrigue, The Affair of the Necklace turns out to be more dull than juicy. Swank seems flat and miscast in the central role of Jeanne.
Synopsis: Romantic drama based on the controversial true story of Jeanne De La Motte Valois, a countess whose name was stripped
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#81
Critics Consensus: Success has many fathers, but failure is Father Figures.
Synopsis: Brothers Kyle and Peter Reynolds were raised to believe that their dad died when they were young. They're shocked to
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#80
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Danyael (Dave Buzzotta) is the offspring of an angel and a mortal woman. After being gunned down in a seemingly
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#79
Critics Consensus: The life story of model-turned- bounty-hunter Domino Harvey struggles to get out of this overwrought and excessive biopic.
Synopsis: In this film loosely based on a true story, Domino Harvey (Keira Knightley), a former model, is now a bounty
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#78
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A corporate raider (Christopher Walken) and his henchman (Willem Dafoe) use a chanteuse (Asia Argento) to lure a scientific genius
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#77
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Threatened reactions from her writer husband (Jonathan Pryce) and her publisher boyfriend (Christopher Walken) greet a London department-store model's (Carole
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#76
Critics Consensus: The Jesus Rolls limply into the gutter in its misguided attempt to belatedly explore the saga of a supporting character better left on the margins.
Synopsis: Hours after his release from prison, Jesus Quintana pairs up with fellow misfits Petey and Marie for a freewheeling joyride
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#75
Critics Consensus: Tasteless, yet harmless, Balls of Fury nevertheless fails to generate enough laughs despite its lowbrow intentions.
Synopsis: A hard fall from grace strips Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) of being considered a pingpong phenomenon. Now he must bounce
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#74
Critics Consensus: Weakened by second-half attempts at thriller and romance, this presidential comedy also fails to hit any sharp political notes, resulting in a confused and unsatisfying mess.
Synopsis: Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), the satirical host of a political talk show, decides to shake things up by running for
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#73
Critics Consensus: In exchanging the chilling satire of the original into mindless camp, this remake has itself become Stepford-ized.
Synopsis: After enduring setbacks in her television career, executive Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman) relocates with her family from New York City
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#72
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A novelist's (Christopher Walken) wife (Lindsay Crouse) and son (Joel Carlson) see him changed by an apparent encounter with aliens
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#71
Critics Consensus: Last Embrace benefits from a strong cast led by the ever-likable Roy Scheider, but its increasingly implausible story makes it difficult to hold on.
Synopsis: Secret agent Harry Hannan (Roy Scheider) suffers a mental breakdown when a botched mission in Mexico results in the death
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#70
Critics Consensus: Fitfully funny but mostly misguided, The War with Grandpa will leave audiences with a handful of chuckles -- and a lot of questions about what this talented cast was thinking.
Synopsis: Peter and his grandpa used to be very close, but when Grandpa Jack moves in with the family, Peter is
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#69
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Filmmaker Orson Welles plunges into postwar Rome's criminal underworld while investigating the murder of an actress's stepfather.
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#68
Critics Consensus: Around the Bend sets a destination of earnest generational drama, but settles for the most derivative route to get there, veering off course into trite sentimentality.
Synopsis: Jason Lair (Josh Lucas) and his son, Zach (Jonah Bobo), move from Los Angeles to the Southwest to live with
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#67
Critics Consensus: Fatally undermined by dodgy accents and a questionable story, Wild Mountain Thyme is a baffling misfire for a talented filmmaker and impressive cast.
Synopsis: John Patrick Shanley, who created the classic MOONSTRUCK, brings his sweeping romantic vision to Ireland with Wild Mountain Thyme. The
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#66
Critics Consensus: Despite all the celebrities on hand, this spin-off from a theme park attraction still feels tired and hokey.
Synopsis: Like other celebrated rock-and-roll groups, the members of the legendary group the Country Bears were torn apart by the perils
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#65
Critics Consensus: It isn't the worst '90s action thriller, but by bungling a story pitting Johnny Depp against Christopher Walken, the rote Nick of Time ranks among the most disappointing.
Synopsis: Gene Watson (Johnny Depp) arrives at an L.A. train station with his young daughter, Lynn (Courtney Chase), and is confronted
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#64
Critics Consensus: Struggling to find a romantic spark in a seedy premise, Excise Baggage is weighed down by a lot of comedic dead weight.
Synopsis: A spoiled young woman, desperate for attention from her millionaire father (Jack Thompson), Emily Hope (Alicia Silverstone) fakes her own
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#63
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When Abbie is diagnosed with cancer, she embarks on a humorous mission to find a new love for Sam, her
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#62
Critics Consensus: Despite its famous cast, the movie lacks sympathetic characters and is only funny in spurts.
Synopsis: For an awkward, self-conscious girl like Kiki (Julia Roberts), being the personal assistant to a beautiful megastar like Gwen (Catherine
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#61
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A self-help guru's televised teachings inspire a down-and-out businessman to pursue his dream of making a movie.
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#60
Critics Consensus: Just watch a Tarantino movie instead -- and buy a Warren Zevon record while you're at it.
Synopsis: Ex-crook Jimmy "The Saint" Tosnia (Andy Garcia) is trying his best to go legitimate until he's dragged back into the
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#59
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Down-and-out former preacher Bill Hill (Christopher Walken) witnesses stranger Juvenal (Skeet Ulrich) save Virginia Worrell (Conchata Ferrell) from her abusive
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#58
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A billiards player ends his conflicted friendship with a con man who taught him how to play the game.
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#57
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Evil angel Gabriel (Christopher Walken) rises from hell to declare war on God and humanity. To win the spiritual war,
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#56
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A woman (Alison Elliott) returns home to Ireland to try to get well and finds out the curse of a
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#55
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Avery (Henry Thomas), Max (Sean Patrick Flanery) and two friends (Jay Mohr, Jeremy Sisto), all wealthy men in their 20s,
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#54
Critics Consensus: This Adam Sandler vehicle borrows shamelessly from It's A Wonderful Life and Back To The Future, and fails to produce the necessary laughs that would forgive such imitation.
Synopsis: Michael Newman seems to have it all but his wife, Donna, is increasingly frustrated by the amount of time he
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#53
Critics Consensus: Stand Up Guys largely wastes its talented cast in a resolutely mediocre comedy hampered by messy direction and a perfunctory script.
Synopsis: After serving 28 years in prison for accidentally killing the son of a crime boss, newly paroled gangster Val (Al
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#52
Critics Consensus: Absurd even by Bond standards, A View to a Kill is weighted down by campy jokes and a noticeable lack of energy.
Synopsis: After recovering a microchip from the body of a deceased colleague in Russia, British secret agent James Bond (Roger Moore)
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#51
Critics Consensus: Last Man Standing's brooding atmosphere and bursts of artfully arranged action prove intriguing yet ultimately insufficient substitutes for a consistently compelling story.
Synopsis: Loyal to nobody but himself, John Smith (Bruce Willis) hires his services out to Fredo Strozzi (Ned Eisenberg), a bootlegging
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#50
Critics Consensus: Man on Fire's solid action and top-shelf cast are undone by a relentlessly grim story that gets harder to take the longer it goes on.
Synopsis: In a Mexico City wracked by a recent wave of kidnappings, ex-CIA operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) reluctantly accepts a
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#49
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Tuccio (John Turturro) is having problems staging his latest play, "Illuminata." In fact, the production is a melodrama in its
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#48
Critics Consensus: Even with some vivaciously archaic mugging from its two leads, Mouse Hunt gets trapped under the weight of its excessive slapstick antics.
Synopsis: When their string magnate father, Rudolf Smuntz, dies, brothers Ernie (Nathan Lane) and Lars (Lee Evans) move into his decrepit
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#47
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A New York City model with a troubled past, Alison Parker decides to make some changes in her life. Breaking
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#46
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: An Italian diplomat's son (Christopher Walken) follows and seduces English lovers (Rupert Everett, Natasha Richardson) in Venice.
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#45
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Urban crime and religious conspiracy mix as an event unfolds from multiple perspectives.
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#44
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A politician's wife (Brenda Blethyn) and the mortician (Alfred Molina) who has secretly loved her for years plan to fake
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#43
Critics Consensus: Jersey Boys is neither as inventive nor as energetic as it could be, but there's no denying the powerful pleasures of its musical moments.
Synopsis: In the 1960s, four scrappy young men from New Jersey -- Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), Bob Gaudio (Erich Bergen),
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#42
Critics Consensus: This movie musical aims for fun and modern, but Romance and Cigarettes is too scattered and uneven to achieve either.
Synopsis: In this musical that features characters lip-synching to classic songs, Nick (James Gandolfini), a Queens, N.Y.-based ironworker, lives with his
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#41
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: A struggling musician (Amber Heard) reconnects with her wealthy father (Christopher Walken), an aging singer who's looking to make a
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#40
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: All Victor Kelly (Christopher Walken) really wants is to be a responsible man, earn an honest living, and in so
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#39
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Researchers Michael Brace (Christopher Walken) and Lillian Reynolds (Louise Fletcher) develop a system that allows the recording and playback of
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#38
Critics Consensus: Allison Williams and company do their best, but no amount of clapping or pixie dust can keep Peter Pan Live! afloat.
#37
Critics Consensus: Cute idea, but not consistently funny.
Synopsis: Adam Webber (Brendan Fraser) has lived his entire life in confinement in a fallout shelter in Pasadena, Calif. When the
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#36
Critics Consensus: Heaven's Gate contains too many ideas and striking spectacle to be a disaster, but this western buckles under the weight of its own sprawl.
Synopsis: Harvard graduate James Averill (Kris Kristofferson) is the sheriff of prosperous Jackson County, Wyo., when a battle erupts between the
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#35
Critics Consensus: Arguably Robert Redford's most inchoate work, The Milagro Beanfield War has plenty of beautiful moments, but they don't quite add up to a worthwhile whole.
Synopsis: In the tiny town of Milagro, New Mexico, where the local water is a premium resource, shady developer Ladd Devine
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#34
Critics Consensus: Though it's not as good as it could have been, Scotland PA shows cleverness at utilizing its premise.
Synopsis: "Scotland, Pa." is a black comedy retelling of Shakespeare's "Macbeth," set against the backdrop of a fast food restaurant in
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#33
Critics Consensus: The characters are still endearing, but the jokes in Wayne's World 2 are more hit-and-miss the second time around.
Synopsis: After Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) has a dream in which Jim Morrison tells him to put on a rock concert,
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#32
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: When bank executive Alex Lee (Anne Heche) turns to prostitution in order to make ends meet, she becomes a high-class
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#31
Critics Consensus: Kill the Irishman may not add much in the way of new ingredients to its crowded genre, but the admirable efforts of a solidly assembled cast add extra depth to a familiar story.
Synopsis: Mobster Danny Greene (Ray Stevenson) ignites a turf war in 1970s Cleveland that leads to the collapse of the Mafia
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#30
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Mercenary soldiers Jamie (Christopher Walken) and Drew (Tom Berenger) are hired by a large corporation to liberate Zangaro, a small
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#29
Critics Consensus: With affected strokes, Basquiat paints an expressionist portrait of a misfit artist, masterfully rendered by a riveting Jeffrey Wright.
Synopsis: Despite living a life of extreme poverty in Brooklyn, graffiti artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (Jeffrey Wright) strives to rise up through
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#28
Critics Consensus: The Rundown doesn't break any new ground, but it's a smart, funny buddy action picture with terrific comic chemistry between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Seann William Scott.
Synopsis: Beck (The Rock) is a tight-lipped bounty hunter who doesn't like to use a gun and accepts any job without
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#27
Critics Consensus: It isn't Tim Burton's best work, but Sleepy Hollow entertains with its stunning visuals and creepy atmosphere.
Synopsis: Set in 1799, "Sleepy Hollow" is based on Washington Irving's classic tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Faithful to the
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#26
Critics Consensus: Typically misanthropic yet curiously satisfying and incisive, Dark Horse is a movie that preaches to the cynical converted.
Synopsis: An odd romance blooms between a chronic underachiever (Jordan Gelber) and a depressed woman (Selma Blair) who has still not
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#25
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Struggling filmmaker Marvin Landisman (Robert Wuhl) gets a surprise phone call from Jack Roth (Martin Landau), an ex-Hollywood executive who
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#24
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: John Duke Anderson is a burglar (Sean Connery) recently released from prison who returns to his ex-girlfriend (Dyan Cannon) after
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#23
Critics Consensus: King of New York covers familiar narrative ground with impressive style -- and leaves plenty of room for its talented cast to deliver gripping performances.
Synopsis: A crime lord plots to take control of New York's underground drug economy and distribute the profits to the poor.
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#22
Critics Consensus: Abel Ferrara's 1995 horror/suspense experiment blends urban vampire adventure with philosophical analysis to create a smart, idiosyncratic, and undeniably odd take on the genre.
Synopsis: A vampiric doctoral student tries to follow the philosophy of a nocturnal comrade and control her thirst for blood.
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#21
Critics Consensus: An outstanding ensemble cast lends weight and depth to A Late Quartet's melodramatic script, and the result is insightful and emotionally satisfying.
Synopsis: For 25 years, the Fugue, a string quartet, has wowed music-lovers with its skilled performances. However, as the musicians prepare
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#20
Critics Consensus: Wedding Crashers is both raunchy and sweet, and features top-notch comic performances from Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.
Synopsis: Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) and John (Owen Wilson) are divorce mediators who spend their free time crashing wedding receptions. For the
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#19
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In this adaptation of a semi-autobiographical Neil Simon play, young Eugene Morris Jerome (Matthew Broderick) enlists in the U.S. Army
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#18
Critics Consensus: Abel Ferrara reunites with Christopher Walken to forge another haunting gangster saga, delivering a bruising exploration of vengeance.
Synopsis: At the funeral of murdered Johnny Tempio (Vincent Gallo), his brothers, Chez (Chris Penn) and Ray (Christopher Walken), begin plotting
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#17
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Fresh out of college, Larry Lapinsky (Lenny Baker) leaves Brooklyn and moves to Greenwich Village. Larry comes from a traditional
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#16
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: In 1910 Kansas, widowed farmer Jacob Witting (Christopher Walken) is having a hard time raising his children and running his
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#15
Critics Consensus: Director Tim Burton's dark, brooding atmosphere, Michael Keaton's work as the tormented hero, and the flawless casting of Danny DeVito as The Penguin and Christopher Walken as, well, Christopher Walken make the sequel better than the first.
Synopsis: The monstrous Penguin (Danny DeVito), who lives in the sewers beneath Gotham, joins up with wicked shock-headed businessman Max Shreck
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#14
Critics Consensus: A complicated little musical, Pennies from Heaven is a dazzling, tragic spectacle.
Synopsis: This heavily stylized production with lip-synched musical numbers follows Arthur Parker (Steve Martin), a Depression-era sheet-music salesman with big dreams.
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#13
Critics Consensus: Eddie the Eagle's amiable sweetness can't disguise its story's many inspirational clichés -- but for many viewers, it will be more than enough to make up for them.
Synopsis: Cut from the Olympic ski team, British athlete Michael "Eddie" Edwards travels to Germany to test his skills at ski
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#12
Critics Consensus: Layered performances from Nicole Kidman and director-star Jason Bateman add extra depth to The Family Fang's sharply observed look at domestic dysfunction.
Synopsis: An actress (Nicole Kidman) and her brother (Jason Bateman) investigate the mysterious disappearance of their parents, two performance artists known
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#11
Critics Consensus: Seven Psychopaths delivers sly cinematic commentary while serving up a heaping helping of sharp dialogue and gleeful violence.
Synopsis: Boozy writer Marty (Colin Farrell) is a man in search of a screenplay. He has a catchy title but no
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#10
Critics Consensus: No consensus yet.
Synopsis: Based on a true story, "At Close Range" follows the lives of the Whitewood family in rural Pennsylvania. Brothers Brad
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#9
Critics Consensus: The Dead Zone combines taut direction from David Cronenberg and and a rich performance from Christopher Walken to create one of the strongest Stephen King adaptations.
Synopsis: When Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) awakens from a coma caused by a car accident, he finds that years have passed,
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#8
Critics Consensus: Hairspray is an energetic, wholly entertaining musical romp; a fun Summer movie with plenty of heart. Its contagious songs will make you want to get up and start dancing.
Synopsis: In 1960s Baltimore, dance-loving teen Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) auditions for a spot on "The Corny Collins Show" and wins.
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#7
Critics Consensus: Its greatness is blunted by its length and one-sided point of view, but the film's weaknesses are overpowered by Michael Cimino's sympathetic direction and a series of heartbreaking performances from Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, and Christopher Walken.
Synopsis: In 1968, Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken) and Steven (John Savage), lifelong friends from a working-class Pennsylvania steel
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#6
Critics Consensus: Injecting its compendium of crime tales with the patois of everyday conversation, Pulp Fiction is a cinematic shot of adrenaline that cements writer-director Quentin Tarantino as an audacious purveyor of killer kino.
Synopsis: Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) are hitmen with a penchant for philosophical discussions. In this
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#5
Critics Consensus: Featuring a stellar voice cast, technically dazzling animation, and loads of good humor, Antz should delight both children and adults.
Synopsis: Z the worker ant (Woody Allen) strives to reconcile his own individuality with the communal work-ethic of the ant colony.
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#4
Critics Consensus: Fueled by Quentin Tarantino's savvy screenplay and a gallery of oddball performances, Tony Scott's True Romance is a funny and violent action jaunt in the best sense.
Synopsis: A comic-book nerd and Elvis fanatic Clarence (Christian Slater) and a prostitute named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) fall in love. Clarence
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#3
Critics Consensus: As lovely to behold as it is engrossing to watch, The Jungle Book is the rare remake that actually improves upon its predecessors -- all while setting a new standard for CGI.
Synopsis: Raised by a family of wolves since birth, Mowgli (Neel Sethi) must leave the only home he's ever known when
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#2
Critics Consensus: Filled with poignant performances and devastating humor, Annie Hall represents a quantum leap for Woody Allen and remains an American classic.
Synopsis: Comedian Alvy Singer (Woody Allen) examines the rise and fall of his relationship with struggling nightclub singer Annie Hall (Diane
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#1
Critics Consensus: With help from a strong performance by Leonardo DiCaprio as real-life wunderkind con artist Frank Abagnale, Steven Spielberg crafts a film that's stylish, breezily entertaining, and surprisingly sweet.
Synopsis: Frank Abagnale, Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio) worked as a doctor, a lawyer, and as a co-pilot for a major airline --
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