In the realm of smug actors, Ryan Reynolds takes the cake — and I mean that in a good way. The man knows how to play a snarky asshole, which is precisely why he embodies the comic book “hero” Deadpool so damn well and why many of the best Ryan Reynolds movies are a blast.
Lucky for us, the man slips into the red spandex once more in this week’s Deadpool and Wolverine alongside Hugh Jackman. By all accounts, the film sounds like a blast, with our own Jonathan Sim calling it “bloody fun MCU fan service” and praising Reynolds’ performance as the Merc with the Mouth. In the realm of smug actors, Ryan Reynolds takes the cake — and I mean that in a good way. The man knows how to play a snarky asshole, which is precisely why he embodies the comic book hero Deadpool so damn well.
As typical, this new film presents the perfect opportunity to look back at Reynolds’ career and highlight his best performances. Read on!
Just Friends (2005)
Call me crazy, but Just Friends might feature my favorite Reynolds performance. He hams it up as Chris Brander, an obese nerd-turned-superstar who winds up in his childhood town trying to woo his childhood sweetheart, Jamie (Amy Smart, swoon). The problem is Jamie slapped him with the “friendship” tag years earlier, leaving Chris with plenty of obstacles to overcome to win the girl. Oh, and he’s also busy taking care of Anna Faris’ Britney Spears-esque pop star and avoiding former friends and colleagues who bullied him in school.
Admittedly, the slapsticky hijinks and broad humor grow stale by the third act, and the story never amounts to anything substantial. Yet, I always have an itch to watch this one every Christmas, if only for the incredible cast (shout out to Chris Marquette) and some genuinely side-splitting set pieces that elevate it onto this list of the best Ryan Reynolds movies.
Van Wilder (2002)
Forget the incredibly harsh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes (18% fresh, ouch!); Van Wilder is a fun, endlessly quotable early 2000s feature with enough wisecracks and R-rated chaos to warrant a late-night Friday watch. Reynolds stars as Van Wilder, a laid-back college student trying to maintain his carefree lifestyle after his parents cut off his financial support.
Ultimately, the film is a series of gags — some good, some not so good — that effectively convey Reynolds’ dry wit and sardonic nature. It’s basically Deadpool in college, co-starring Tara Reid and Kal Penn. What’s not to like?
Safe House (2012)
Daniel Espinosa’s Safe House has plenty of flaws, mainly due to its clunky script, but it gets by thanks to the star power of Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Washington stars as a former operative turned rogue agent named Tobin Frost, who gets his hands on essential data and turns himself in at the American consulate. Eventually, he arrives at a safe house that Matt Weston (Reynolds) presides over and is subsequently attacked by mercenaries. Frost and Weston escape the facility and must find out who is behind the hit.
Safe House doesn’t upend the action buddy formula, but it works as a serviceable piece of hard-hitting entertainment with a few nifty set pieces and fine performances from the two leads.
The Proposal (2009)
After branching out and experimenting with various genres via The Amityville Horror and The Nines (and nose-diving with X-Men Origins), Reynolds returned to his comic roots and scored at the box office by starring alongside Sandra Bullock in The Proposal. While certainly not the most original picture — a crass boss pushes her employee to marry her to retain her citizenship, leading the bickering pair to fall in love — the two leads’ chemistry results in surprisingly effective comedy.
For his part, Reynolds dials down the smugness, crafting a likable character stuck in an impossible situation. He and Bullock carry the picture right down to its predictable ending. It may not be high art, but The Proposal gets the job done and is one of the best Ryan Reynolds movies as a result.
Buried (2010)
Ryan Reynolds is terrific in Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried, a gimmicky thriller about a man named Paul Conroy who wakes up inside a coffin deep underground. With time running out and a cell phone as his only means of escape, Paul must survive long enough for a rescue team to locate him.
A little silly and a tad melodramatic, Buried nonetheless delivers an intense, claustrophobic thriller with a few shocking twists and turns. You will be amazed at how far Cortes and screenwriter Chris Sparling stretch the rather thin premise. At the very least, they deserve credit for finally giving Reynolds a juicy role to bite on.
Deadpool (2016)
Ultimately, out of his entire body of work, Deadpool is the film that truly showcases Ryan Reynolds’ talents. He was born to play the Merc with the Mouth, and while it took Hollywood two attempts to get the character right, the result more than makes up for his unfortunate portrayal in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
This praise extends to Deadpool 2 as well. While the original remains the superior of the two, both films deliver the thrilling, action-packed, and often hilarious escapism that audiences crave. Reynolds was already a star before Deadpool, but his very R-rated portrayal of everyone’s favorite meta-superhero catapulted him to superstardom and is one of the best Ryan Reynolds movies as a result.
Honorable Mentions
Definitely, Maybe: This charming romantic comedy borrows more than a few cues from the TV series How I Met Your Mother, featuring an amusing performance from Reynolds.
The Croods: Reynolds lends his voice to DreamWorks’ animated fare with fun results. In The Croods, he plays Guy, a lone traveler who bumps into the eccentric titular cave-dwelling family. Together, the group must navigate an ever-changing and very dangerous landscape.
