Every Sandra Bullock Movie Ranked Worst To Best

With the release of mega-hit "Speed" in 1994, Sandra Bullock catapulted onto everyone's radar and has stayed there ever since. A string of romantic comedy blockbusters after "Speed" helped the actor very nearly usurp Julia Roberts' crown as America's Sweetheart during the remainder of the decade. Since then, Bullock has carved a niche for herself with films about lively, strong-willed, and dynamic women. Her work has won her an Oscar and a Golden Globe, immense praise, and the hearts of audiences everywhere. (This is a stingy description of Bullock's accolades and accomplishments — listing all of them would mean doubling this article in length.)

Of course, all this doesn't mean that Bullock's career is all highs and no lows. She's been known to take risks — The New York Times didn't call her "Hollywood's gutsiest A-list actress" for nothing. Those bets have paid off at times and left her in the lurch at other moments. For every Bullock film that took off, there are others that didn't. In this piece, we aim to chart the ebb and flow of her career with a look at every Sandra Bullock movie, ranked worst to best.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a single word of acclaim for "A Fool and His Money." (Actually, you'd be lucky to find a single word written about the movie at all, that's how nondescript it was.) The only thing that may have aged well about this comedy flick is its name: Given that its director David Adams was later mired in legal trouble for fraud, the title achieves unprecedented levels of irony now, as Adams has said so himself.

In this comedy, advertising executive Morris Codman (Jonathan Penner) invents a religion that preaches the gospel of greed and egotism. Originally known as "Religion, Inc.," the film purports to bring great moral quandaries to the fore but ends up as shallow as its main character. As reviewer Brian Rowe puts it, "The only joy one can have in watching [A Fool and His Money] is to see Sandra trying to make the most of mediocre parts." And although Bullock's role is nowhere as prominent as Pedder's in "A Fool and His Money," the movie also sought to benefit from her stardom, plastering her picture all over its DVD cover.

Compared to the gigantic milestones Bullock has reached in her prolific career, the poorly received and universally panned "Who Shot Pat?" seems like a blip. But the movie marks one of Bullock's first leading roles, and that in itself earns it a spot on this list, however low. Stylized as "Who Shot Patakango?" for promotions, the movie digs into racial friction in a high school during the 1950s. Caught up in this veritable mess are Bic Bickham (David Knight) and his love interest Devlin Moran (Bullock). TV Guide called their romance a "tired, conventional Romeo and Juliet scenario." The rest of the story, which is composed of various sentimental episodic chunks, also didn't measure up. Ultimately, "Who Shot Pat" tries to be a nostalgic slice-of-life story, but fails to "piece together all its teen trials into a cohesive entity," as TV Guide puts it. Bullock's role in the film received some recognition, with the LA Times lumping her in with what it calls the movie's "promising new talent."

From the icy critic reviews "The Unforgivable" received, one would think the movie's title referred to the makers of the film, for the inexcusable grief they caused reviewers. RogerEbert.com likened "The Unforgivable" to an act of "Divine punishment" inflicted on audiences. The publication diagnosed the movie as suffering from an identity crisis, citing how it alternates between a redemption story, a courtroom drama, and a thriller.

Bullock, having produced as well as acted in the movie, is not spared any of this criticism. The actor plays Ruth Slater, a paroled convicted killer who seeks redemption and reconciliation with her long-lost sister. She receives cautious sympathy and help from corporate lawyer John Ingram (Vincent D'Onofrio) and his wife Liz (Viola Davis). The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes praises Bullock's performance but ultimately deems it insufficient to redeem the movie's shape-shifting plot. Audiences, on the other hand, were far kinder to the movie, even sending it to the top of Netflix charts (via LA Times).

In "Two If by Sea," Bullock plays Roz, one-half of a pair of Bonnie and Clyde wannabes. Her better (but really, worse) half, Frank (Denis Leary), is a scheming, thieving simpleton. Roz attempts to be Frank's moral compass, guiding him away from foolhardy plans and towards honest work. Her goals, however, keep getting foiled as Frank hatches and executes a master plan to steal a pricey work of art. Unbeknownst to the duo, the artwork is more priceless than pricey, which ends up putting law enforcement on their heels.

Rolling Stone mourned the (mis)use of Bullock's talents in the movie, going as far as to suggest that its greatest casualty is Bullock "getting dragged down in the drivel." Variety likened director Bill Bennett to a man "at sea without a paddle," alluding to the way the filmmaker banks on stale dialogue, incredulous situations, and poorly fleshed out characters to keep his sinking ship afloat.

Normally, who wouldn't want to watch Sandra Bullock transport her rom-com craftsmanship to the early 20th century? "In Love and War" allows her to do just that ... but without any of that trademark craftsmanship. In this historical drama, at the height of World War I, a pre-fame Ernest Hemmingway (Chris O'Donnell) is wounded during battle and taken to a place of convalescence. Here, he meets and falls in love with Agnes von Kurowsky (Bullock), who is considerably older than him.

Somewhere along the way, the film loses sight of its protagonist and the unique role he played in shaping history. It instead becomes a "generic historical romance and older woman-younger man fable of sexual initiation," in The New York Times' words. Hemingway's writing is known for its lean and self-disciplined style. To make a film so dense with trivialities is to do the writer's elegance a disservice.

Before there was "Searching" or "Clickbait," there was "The Net," a movie about the dangers of living an extremely online existence — in a time when "extremely online" hadn't yet become a thing. Bullock is Angela Bennett, a systems analyst who leads her life through the screen of a computer. But when the entirety of your life fits into your computer system, wiping all evidence of your existence is as simple as erasing data. That's precisely what a bunch of cyber-terrorists do to Angela when she gets entangled in their conspiracy.

The Chicago Reader faulted the film's lackluster script, calling it the brainchild of a "computer with identity problems of its own." Entertainment Weekly praised the movie's "thrill" sequences (which were, ironically, composed mainly of Bullock furiously typing away at her keyboard), but criticized the filmmakers for not including more of them. Even in movies that don't receive audience or critic appreciation, you can still count on Bullock to draw praise. EW, for instance, commended Bullock for her "naturalistic performance."

In "Love Potion No. 9," Paul Matthews (Tate Donovan) and Diane Farrow (Bullock) are a pair of socially awkward biochemists who understand scientific chemistry much better than they do romantic chemistry. The unlucky-in-love Paul consults a mystic for help with his problem and is given a magical, love-inducing potion that causes several more. Diane also partakes of this strange brew, with similarly tricky results.

As The New York Times argued, the movie winds up taking the predictable route through misplaced affections, romantic epiphanies, sudden misunderstandings, and, finally, starry-eyed reconciliations. Its "preponderence of easy, tasteless gags," as TV Guide termed it, also doesn't do "Love Potion No. 9" any favors. NYT compared such ill-timed jokes to "pennies not worth picking up." The Bullock-Donovan team does make up for some of these capers with their charming onscreen rapport, which undoubtedly stemmed from their real-life romance at the time.

In "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood," the already frayed relationship between Sidda Walker (Sandra Bullock) and her mother Vivi (played by Ellen Burstyn in old age and Ashley Judd in youth) is dangerously close to falling apart. In steps Vivi's "Ya-Ya" sisterhood, a tight-knit gang of Southern dames who have sworn a blood oath to endure love, heartbreak, and, apparently, old age together. The belles set about mediating this mother-daughter conflict before it descends into an all-out war. They do so by recounting Vivi's life in great detail and showing Sidda who her mother was before she had a child.

Perhaps the movie's greatest downfall is that it treats its characters as caricatures of themselves. "Sisterhood" could have blossomed into something truly divine, if only it didn't get so caught up with what Variety termed "surface impressions" and instead focused on shaping its characters with authenticity. Despite that, argued Variet, "there are pleasures to be had from watching so many grand actresses strut their stuff."

If any single movie could be credited with launching Sandra Bullock's career, it might be "Demolition Man."

Set in a dystopian future that TIME Magazine dubbed hellish, this sci-fi action-comedy imagines a world in which everything considered a "vice" — alcohol, cigarettes, fatty foods, sex — is outlawed, and Big Brother keeps watch over all. In the midst of all this, dangerous criminal Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), once sentenced to cryo-sleep for his crimes, escapes from captivity. In pursuit of Phoenix, Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Bullock) thaws out Phoenix's nemesis, disgraced LAPD cop Spartan (Sylvester Stallone). The film borrows some of its dystopic vision — and all of the Lieutenant's surname — from Aldous Huxley and his novel "Brave New World."

Reviewers like Eugene Siskel and Roger Ebert found that the film's satirical undertones set it apart from similar fare. In the same vein, The Washington Post thought the movie had "more imagination and wit than the typical example of the slash-and-burn genre."

It's little wonder that Bullock has commanded such respect for her performances, given that she polished her acting skills among legends like Robert Duvall and Richard Harris in movies like "Wrestling Ernest Hemingway." In this lighthearted drama, Duvall and Harris play a pair of lonesome retirees, respectively named Walter and Frank, who bond over their shared old age and solitude while bickering about everything else. Frank is a cantankerous (former) sailor who claims to have wrestled Hemingway himself (hence the title), while Walter is a finicky (former) barber who derives the most joy from his interactions with a waitress named Elaine (Bullock). Soon, the two seniors become inseparable. If you're wondering whether this premise is as sweet as it sounds, don't worry — it is. Unfortunately, it sometimes crosses the line into "sappy and message-laden," as Variety put it.

The first "Miss Congeniality" is everything its sequel is not: endearing, suspenseful, and of course, actually funny.

Essentially a modern cinematic interpretation of the Pygmalion play, it tells the tale of FBI Special Agent Gracie Hart, who excels at fighting crime, but not so much at everything else. This is all set to change when Hart has to go undercover as a supermodel and is assigned her own version of Henry Higgins — or as he's known in the movie, Victor Melling (Michael Caine). The film's feminist message goes something like this: glamour doesn't necessarily come at the expense of a woman's smarts. And Hart can deliver a knockout punch in heels as well as chunky shoes. Pundits, however, did have some bones to pick with "Miss Congeniality”: The New York Times called it "standard-rate," while Roger Ebert thought it "lacks any ambition." Others like Empire, however, were all compliments for what they called a "genuine crowd-pleaser."

What do you get when you combine the powers of two romantic-comedy stalwarts like Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant? A mega-hit like "Two Weeks Notice," of course. The fact that one of Bullock's most adored and well-known roles is so low on this list is a testament to how prolific and versatile an actor she really is.

In "Two Weeks Notice," Bullock's Lucy Kelson is a lawyer fighting on the side of good; George Wade (Grant) is the antithesis of everything she stands for. Through a mixture of luck, fate, and George's hubris, they end up on the same side. Both actors have played similar roles in separate movies, but paired together, they become a force that Entertainment Weekly called "inspired" and Roger Ebert termed "lovable." Calling romantic comedies the "comfort food of the movies," he applauded "Two Weeks Notice" for hitting precisely that note.

While "The Lake House" may not have been a critical darling, it netted a handsome sum at the box office, comfortably recouping its sizable budget. The movie reunited Bullock with her "Speed" co-star Keanu Reeves, and the pairing proved to be a big draw for audiences. Critics, on the other hand, weren't so easily appeased. Many found the movie's central premise — a magical lake house connects past to present and Bullock's Kate to Reeves' Alex — lacking. Most took issue with the movie's logical consistency or lack thereof. The New York Times didn't mince its words in calling the film "wondrously illogical" and "completely preposterous." "The Lake House" received its most glowing review from Roger Ebert, who argued that the film relied on "emotional" and not "temporal" logic to make its story truly sing.

It's rare that Sandra Bullock isn't the star attraction when she appears in a movie, but "Ocean's 8" puts her in the envious company of an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Sarah Paulson, and Rihanna, to name a few. They gel together in a manner that creates an "unpredictable, irresistible alchemy," as RogerEbert.com put it.

"Ocean's 8" turns gender tropes on their head by swapping out thief extraordinaire Danny Ocean (George Clooney) and his band of criminals for his sister Debbie (portrayed by Bullock) and her gang of female thieves. This time around, Debbie sets her sights on her most ambitious mission yet: stealing a priceless necklace at the MET Gala.

Debbie has all of her brother's cunning, but none of the male privilege that often allowed him to so deftly wield his slickness. Instead, she pulls off heist after heist by relying on the tendency for women to be relegated to the sidelines — as she puts it, "A 'her' gets ignored. And for once, we want to be ignored." Bullock ably takes over for Clooney as a new Ocean with what Variety deemed the "debauched insolence of a hungry criminal."

"Murder by Numbers" begins with murder and slowly diverts onto psychological inquiry as it investigates the deranged psyche of two young psychopaths, Justin Pendleton (Michael Pitt) and Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling), out to commit the perfect crime. Dead set on catching them is Detective Cassie Mayweather (Bullock), whose troubled past haunts her present.

Such movies usually keep their characters in the know and their audience in the dark. "Murder by Numbers" does the reverse, which both Roger Ebert and The New York Times called one of its most "interesting" and "surprising" aspects, respectively. Watching Mayweather connect the dots between murder and murderer brings a certain type of enjoyment, especially when you know more than she does. Also riveting are the scenes between the two teenage murderers as they repeatedly try to psychologically best the other. Gosling and Pitt do a splendid job of conveying the dark, frenzied thought process of their morally corrupt characters.

"In Cold Blood," Truman Capote's magnum opus about mass murder in a Kansas backwater, made him a household name. "Infamous" brings us the story behind that story. Bullock plays the role of Truman's (Toby Jones) friend and confidant Harper Lee, who helps him in his investigations.

While "Infamous" won the approval of many critics, the film was unluckily released only a year after the widely acclaimed "Capote," which told the same story from a slightly different angle. The San Francisco Chronicle, for instance, called "Infamous" a fine example of "intelligent, thoughtful filmmaking" that only failed to reach the same yardstick as "Capote." Bullock's performance, however, was a standout by any measure: The Chronicle called the actor's portrayal of Harper Lee "the performance to take from the movie," and Variety dubbed it a "high point."

Sandra Bullock has often surprised viewers with her unconventional movie choices, but it still came as a shock to see her playing the role of a racist, upper-class housewife in "Crash," which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2004 (albeit controversially so). The movie also made Empire Magazine's list of 500 Greatest Films of All Time and IFTA's (Independent Film & Television Alliance) list of 30 Most Significant Independent Films from 1980 to 2010.

"Crash" incorporates characters from different racial and socio-economic backgrounds projecting their prejudices, aspersions, and misplaced angst onto the real world and each other. The Independent described the film's artistry aptly: "[The filmmakers] have given the famous melting pot a fierce old stir, and from it drawn a passionately felt, somewhat contrived but highly watchable drama." In its profile of the actor, the New York Times commended Bullock for continuously stepping outside her comfort zone and "fighting for smaller dramatic roles that weren't always flattering."

50mph: that's all the speed it took for Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves to launch themselves to superstardom. Bullock, for one, never imagined this "little silly bomb-on-the-bus movie" would end up being the seventh-highest grossing film the year it was released. Producers, however, knew they had bet on a winner when screenings of "Speed" tested off the charts. Audiences heading to the washroom would walk in reverse because they couldn't take their eyes off the screen. It's no wonder Roger Ebert thought "Speed" fit into the type of film he called "Bruised Forearm Movies" — as he put it, "you're always grabbing the arm of the person sitting next to you."

The high-concept "Speed" story shifts into high gear when a bomb is programmed to detonate if a bus drives under 50mph. One heroic cop named Jack Traven (Reeves), aided by commuter Annie Porter (Bullock) subbing for an injured bus driver, aims to outrun this fate. Of course, sparks fly between Jack and Annie — once, literally, as they attempt to get off the bus. Without being trite, the movie has all the makings of a blockbuster: edge-of-your-set suspense, electrifying action sequences, and endearingly corny romance. Popcorn entertainment just doesn't get any better.

Everything director Alfonso Cuarón touches turns to gold, and "Gravity" is no exception. The movie won big both at the box office and at award shows, firmly cementing its place in sci-fi history. In terms of concept, production scale, visual technique, and general audacity, "Gravity" goes where no film has gone before. So much so that Rolling Stone declared, "It's more than a movie. It's some kind of miracle."

Sandra Bullock and George Clooney star as Ryan Stone and Matt Kowalski, two astronauts marooned in outer space, fighting to stay alive. It's up to Bullock to shoulder the majority of the film and she does so splendidly, prompting The Wall Street Journal to call this the "best performance of her career." During filming, Bullock found herself inside a "10-foot-by-14-foot box equipped with special lights and placed on a darkened soundstage," which was precariously close to her character's situation: trapped in a dark, unfriendly space away from all forms of human contact. "I was literally acting off of nothing for up to 10 hours a day, with headphones my only connection to Alfonso," recounted the actor in her New York Times profile. It's hard to argue with the results.