10 Best John C. Reilly Movies, Ranked
John C. Reilly is one of the most talented actors alive, whose work cannot be defined simply as “dramatic” or “comedic.” It says a lot about an actor if they can become one of Paul Thomas Anderson’s favorite actors and still get in the mud and wrestle with Will Ferrell every now and again.
Reilly continues to take his career to new heights with his endlessly entertaining performance on HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, even if his most valuable work is in film. These ten movies are John C. Reilly's best.
10 'Boogie Nights' (1997)
Reilly appeared in all of Anderson’s first three features, and while his smallest role came in Boogie Nights, it’s not one that he failed to make memorable. Boogie Nights is a celebration of outsiders, weirdos, and misfits that make up a “family” of those that work in the adult film industry, and some of the best acting in the film comes from the stars that aren’t playing the main characters.
Reilly steals every scene he’s in as the aspiring magician Reed Rothchild, who gives some early career advice to Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg).
9 'We Need To Talk About Kevin'
Anyone who knows Reilly primarily thanks to his collaborations with Ferrell and Adam McKay may be shocked to see his dramatic depths in the terrifying 2011 indie film We Need To Talk About Kevin. Reilly and Tilda Swinton star as a couple raising their disturbed son Kevin (Ezra Miller), whose abusive and hostile behavior leads to a tragedy that neither of his guardians could have imagined.
Reilly plays a complex father committed but firmly in denial about his son’s issues; his aloof ignorance makes the ending even more tragic.
8 'Magnolia' (1999)
Anderson’s three-hour magnum opus has a tone of standout performances from actors playing against type, including Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy, Felicity Huffman, and Alfred Molina, to name a few.
However, none of the interconnected stories Anderson tells in the San Fernando Valley are quite as emotional as that of police officer Jim Kurring, who finds love and meaning after a particularly unusual case introduces him to the love of his life. It would be Reilly’s last collaboration with Anderson until his amusing cameo in Licorice Pizza.
7 'Carnage' (2011)
Carnage is the other 2011 film where Reilly plays the awkward father of a troubled child, but Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the stage comedy of the same name is a lot more entertaining than We Need To Talk About Kevin.
Reilly and Jodie Foster star as the couple of a young boy who gets into a fight at school; in the aftermath, they reach out to the opposing boy’s parents (Kate Winslet and Christoph Waltz). Their well-intended meeting breaks down into arguing and shenanigans as the adults prove to be just as childish as their offspring.
6 'The Lobster' (2015)
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Academy Award-nominated screenplay for The Lobster has one of the most brilliant premises of any modern existential comedy. The film takes place in a dystopian future where singles are forced to mingle and find mates at a luxurious resort, and those that fail to match at the end of their given period are transformed into animals.
Reilly appears in a supporting role as an unnamed bachelor who has a rather prominent lisp; unfortunately, it always gets in the way of his romantic endeavors.
5 'The Sisters Brothers' (2015)
The Sisters Brothers is one of the most underrated Westerns of the 21st century, while the film was largely marketed as a shoot ‘em up, gunslinging action film. In reality, it was a much softer and more empathetic examination of masculinity.
Reilly and Joaquin Phoenix star as the brothers Eli and Charlie Sister, two bounty hunters that experience both the joys and terrors of the American frontier as they set out to capture an enigmatic man (Riz Ahmed) who has supposedly discovered a way to find gold. Eli is soft at heart but must fulfill the responsibilities of his profession.
4 'Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby' (2006)
Even when Ferrell was at the peak of his career, Reilly was able to match him in every goofy accent and ridiculous feat of physical comedy. He co-stars in McKay’s 2006 satire Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby as Cal Naughton Jr., the best friend and biggest fan of the titular racer.
The character of Cal is both hilarious and somewhat tragic in his complete dedication to Ricky; his admiration of Ricky clouds his judgment so much that he doesn’t realize that the award-winning NASCAR driver doesn’t even take the time to appreciate him.
3 'Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story' (2007)
It’s hard to watch any musician biopic in retrospect after witnessing Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story; the 2007 satire tells the story of a fictional musician who rises from poverty after the death of his brother to become a megastar. The film manages to pinpoint every cliché and archetype that exists in musician biopics to an absurdly accurate degree.
While the screenplay itself is a work of genius, it's Reilly’s performance as the titular character that makes the film so rewatchable and endearing. Reilly commits to the role and manages to do all his own singing for the film’s terrific soundtrack.
2 'Chicago' (2002)
Despite being one of the most talented character actors working today, Reilly strangely has only one Academy Award nomination. He received the honor for his supporting performance in Chicago, Rob Marshall’s razzle-dazzle adaptation of the iconic stage musical of the same name. Arguably, he should have won the award compared to the category winner, Chris Cooper, in Adaptation.
Reilly does his own singing, although Chicago is a lot more traditional than Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. His showcase number, “Mr. Cellophane,” is one of the film’s best moments.
1 'Hard Eight' (1996)
Anderson’s directorial debut is still one of the strongest of his career, and it served as a star-making performance for Reilly at the time. Even though he’s often the MVP of films where he’s in a supporting role, Reilly got the rare chance to play the lead in 1997’s Hard Eight.
Reilly stars as John Finnegan, a homeless young man simply trying to make enough money to pay for his mother’s funeral. After meeting the mysterious man Sydney Brown (Philip Baker Hall), John is lured into a life of gambling and crime as the pair head to Las Vegas.
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