Every Amy Adams Movie Ranked From Worst To Best

Since her film debut in 1999, Amy Adams has become an actor who fascinates casual moviegoers and film buffs alike. How could she not be? Adams isn't afraid to explore every genre, from musicals to indie dramas to superhero movies and everything in between, all while lending authenticity to an equally eclectic range of characters. There's something consistently daring about her work as a performer — her very presence can garner a person's interest in a movie that they otherwise might not have given the time of day.

Of course, that doesn't mean every single feature in which Adams has had a sizable role has been an all-time masterpiece. Like any actor, Adams has starred in a few movies that just didn't land with critics. Still, it's remarkable just how many universally acclaimed projects Adams has been a part of, and this feat becomes even more apparent when ranking her works from worst to best in terms of general critical reception. To get a full accounting of her career, we averaged the critical scores received by Adams' films on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic to create a definitive ranking. When organizing her resume in this fashion, one can truly appreciate the impressive roles that have turned Adams into a must-see artist.

An adaptation of a best-selling memoir directed by Ron Howard doesn't sound like a recipe for one of the worst-reviewed projects Amy Adam has ever starred in. Unfortunately, that was the outcome for "Hillbilly Elegy," a 2020 Netflix title that featured Adams as the drug-addicted mom of the film's protagonist.

"Hillbilly Elegy" was widely-criticized for showing little subtlety or tact in tackling the topic of addiction. The Week even produced a piece arguing that Adams was too good to appear in a movie as bad as "Hillbilly Elegy." The essay zeroed in on how a movie that relies so heavily on big, showy depictions of familial turmoil was a poor fit for Adams, who usually excels in quiet performances. Though Adams scored a handful of minor award nominations for her work here, the mismatch between performer and material led to "Hillbilly Elegy" being the rare Adams drama to get almost universally panned.

Much of the conversation surrounding "Dear Evan Hansen," the 2021 film about an anxiety-riddled teenager who finds himself inventing a friendship with a fellow student who committed suicide, has been around lead actor Ben Platt — specifically, whether he was a proper fit for a high school character. While that controversy has gotten lots of attention, it's not the only area in which "Dear Evan Hansen" received a disastrous reception. Critics like Robert Daniels lambasted the film's emotionally manipulative writing and direction, as well as the lack of distinctly human characters to which audiences could get attached.

That's a far cry from the sort of universal praise that has greeted many other Amy Adams projects (Adams plays the grieving mother of the deceased student), though it's clear the problems with this adaptation of an award-winning musical ran far deeper than any one actor. With numerous flaws weighing it down, it's unlikely that Adams could have salvaged this one even if she'd delivered an Oscar-worthy performance.

The theatrical cut of "Justice League" drummed up a ridiculous amount of internet discourse, with the superhero blockbuster's reputation sinking further and further over time thanks to the release of original director Zack Snyder's version of the film and allegations of misconduct by re-shoots director Joss Whedon. Even its initial reviews weren't kind, though, with many criticizing the movie's clumsy visual choices, including an overabundance of bright lighting, gags that failed to land properly, and especially strange tonal shifts.

Rarely getting much mention across these reviews, for good or for ill, was Amy Adams' third performance as Lois Lane. Her role just wasn't large enough or memorable enough to warrant much attention in initial reviews for the project, with most of the focus going to other details like Henry Cavill's upper lip. We're sure Adams did the best she could, but her presence couldn't spark any critical love for the theatrical version of "Justice League."

Jack Kerouac's novel "On the Road" is one of the most acclaimed pieces of 20th-century American literature, with its massive influence on art spreading far and wide. It's no surprise, then, that such an iconic work would eventually get a film adaptation, though it took a long time for such a project to emerge — Kerouac himself was reportedly attempting to get a movie made as far back as 1957, the same year the book was published. An "On the Road" movie finally debuted in 2012 with a star-studded cast that included Amy Adams as Jane, Kerouac's analogue of the ill-fated Joan Vollmer.

Though its source material has been praised all over the world, the "On the Road" film garnered mixed marks, with widespread criticism from writers like Richard Corliss over how the movie missed key lively ingredients from the original text. Even with the participation of Adams, the "On the Road" feature film was a sizable disappointment.

When it was first released in 2013, "Man of Steel" got a divisive response from critics, though it would end up seeing far more positive reviews than the next two DC Extended Universe projects attributed to director Zack Snyder. While there was praise for the production's cinematography and bolder creative swings, "Man of Steel" was still criticized for focusing so heavily on action, and for its stilted dialogue, among other shortcomings.

This was Amy Adams' first appearance as Lois Lane, and it wasn't the best debut, though Adams herself can hardly bear the entirety of the blame. Charlie Schmidlin of IndieWire called out the movie's screenplay for handing Adams a perfunctory role that was lacking in personality, a problem he attributed to being a byproduct of the film's overall detached approach to the human characters. There were many other aspects of "Man of Steel" that were more widely-criticized than Adams' performance, but she didn't escape unscathed from the generally lukewarm reception to the project.

In 2018, following up on his first foray into dramatic filmmaking with "The Big Short," writer/director Adam McKay delivered a motion picture about former Vice President Dick Cheney entitled "Vice." This production had an all-star cast, including Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney, reuniting her with McKay after the duo worked together on "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby."

The project ended up being a major player at the Academy Awards, with one of its many nominations being a Best Supporting Actress nod for Adams, her sixth total. The critical response to "Vice" was a bit more on the mixed side, though outlets like Parade did take the time to single out Adams and her performance as one of the production's standout elements. Even if it wasn't beloved by everyone, Adams' work in "Vice" still got a fair amount of praise and some award season glory, and she and McKay were now two-for-two on successful artistic collaborations.

Amy Adams and Emily Blunt as two sisters dealing with the aftermath of horrific crimes might sound like the pitch for a seedy thriller. Instead, it's the starting idea for "Sunshine Cleaning," an indie comedy from director Christine Jeffs about a family who gets into the business of cleaning up crime scenes, working through their relationships with one another along the way.

Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, "Sunshine Cleaning" was warmly-received by critics, despite some pointing out the familiarity of Megan Holley's screenplay. Joe Neumaier of Daily News was taken aback by how commanding Adams was in her expressions alone, commenting on how so much emotion could be conveyed "with her big, sad eyes." The rich emotions of this lead performance made "Sunshine Cleaning" a charming winner, despite kicking off with a premise that sounds like it could easily go in a pretty macabre direction.

Just a few months after she was launched into A-list leading lady status with "Enchanted," Amy Adams reappeared on movie theater screens playing co-star to Frances McDormand in "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day." The duo portray a pair of vastly different ladies who end up getting into all sorts of shenanigans across London in the 1930s.

Though the project was widely perceived as being undeniably slight, "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" still got fine marks from critics, who especially praised the two central performances. Stephen Holden in the New York Times was particularly enamored with Adams and her jubilant, entertaining energy, which he compared favorably to vintage movie star Jean Arthur. Though not the most lasting or impactful feature she's ever appeared in, "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" still helped Adams add another charmer of a motion picture to her resume. 

The final directorial effort from Nora Ephron (of "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail" fame), "Julie & Julia" chronicled two true stories, both of which centered around famous cooking teacher Julia Child, portrayed by Meryl Streep. Framing Child's own story is the more modern tale focusing on author Julie Powell, a role tackled by Amy Adams.

Some critiques of "Julie & Julia," such as a review by Keith Phipps for the A.V. Club, criticized the storyline focused on Powell as inherently inferior to the flashback sequences focused on Child and yearned for a more concise take on the material. Primarily, though, "Julie & Julia" scored positive remarks from critics, with leading ladies Adams and Streep garnering the lion's share of the praise. It was a fittingly well-received end to the directorial career of Ephron, who passed away in 2012, leaving a string of crowdpleasers like "Julie & Julia" behind for moviegoers to enjoy.

Amy Adams has worked with a slew of significant filmmakers throughout her career, including Steven Spielberg, Paul Thomas Anderson, and Denis Villeneuve. Another instance of this trend came in 2007, when she landed a sizable role as Bonnie Bach in "Charlie Wilson's War." The film was directed by Mike Nichols, the man responsible for helming legendary titles like "The Graduate" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Though the film was not one of the most acclaimed projects Nichols ever put his name on, it did earn generally positive notices, with particular praise heaped on the cast for working so well with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin's distinctive brand of dialogue.

As for Adams, Roger Ebert himself made sure to commend her for portraying an amusing straight-arrow contrast to the more morally flexible protagonist played by Tom Hanks. Consider "Charlie Wilson's War" another victory in Adams' long history of collaborating with great filmmakers.

After her success in "Junebug" led to several more supporting roles, Amy Adams snagged her first big turn as a leading lady with 2007's "Enchanted," the movie that officially made her a star. While some actors have found themselves stumbling when handed a chance to headline a major theatrical feature, Adams had the opposite experience. The production received extremely positive reviews, many of which took the time to highlight the fact that Adams' performance as Giselle, a storybook princess transported to the real world, was integral to making the whole movie click.

Adams inhabited the classical Disney princess persona without so much as a wink to the viewer. She was totally immersed in doing the best possible classical iteration of that archetype, and the result was a beloved performance that earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy. After so many years of hard work, the Disney musical finally got Adams her big break as an actor.

For the first theatrical "Muppets" movie in over a decade, director James Bobin and screenwriter/leading man Jason Segel pulled out all the stops to make "The Muppets" more than just an obligatory follow-up. This included getting Amy Adams to portray the co-lead human character of the story, a small-town gal and mechanic named Mary.

Though the focus of the production was obviously on the titular puppet characters, Adams still got opportunities to shine here, including her own musical number entitled "Me Party." The bubbly musical energy of "The Muppets" was a perfect fit for the sort of family movie performance Amy Adams had delivered in the past, making it no surprise that she proved to be so entertaining here. The enthusiasm and commitment by artists like Adams on this project ensured that "The Muppets" scored widespread critical acclaim, cementing it as a successful comeback motion picture for the franchise.

Communication is key in "Arrival," a movie in which Amy Adams portrays linguist Louise Banks, a woman tasked with helping to foster communication between humanity and a pair of alien lifeforms. The ensuing plot makes great use of Adams' gift for subtly detailed performances, a gift she manages to hold onto no matter how heady or stylized "Arrival" gets. Her work provides the film's captivating emotional anchor, with countless reviews for the project highlighting her as one of the very best parts of a remarkable sci-fi movie.

Even in a feature containing massive aliens and astounding spaceships, it was the raw performance from Adams that lingered in the minds of audiences once the credits started rolling. Though she was controversially snubbed for a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her work here, a performance as good as Adams puts forth in "Arrival" doesn't need awards attention to affirm its value.

When it came to the cast of Spike Jonze's 2013 film "Her," much of the attention went towards Joaquin Phoenix's lead performance as Theodore Twombly, as well as Scarlett Johansson's equally integral voice-over work. However, one can't discount the presence of Amy Adams in the supporting cast as the character appropriately named Amy. A best pal and confidant to Twombly, Adams instills a lived-in quality in her interactions with the protagonist that effectively and immediately conveys the long-standing dynamic between the two. Even better, her delivery gives an impressively natural feel to profound lines like "I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's kind of like a form of socially acceptable insanity."

In the hands of a lesser performer, it's a role that could've felt perfunctory and ended up fading deep into the background. The deeply warm and humanistic qualities possessed by Adams, however, ensured that this character didn't have to be showy to leave an impression, and her talent was integral in making "Her" a masterpiece.