Every Jude Law Movie Ranked Worst To Best

Though he often plays American characters, Jude Law, whose full name is David Jude Heyworth Law, is a British actor hailing from London, England. Like many young actors, Law got his start in theater. Though his acting abilities eventually blossomed into a movie career, Law has periodically returned to theater throughout his life. He continues to appear in both Broadway and West End stage productions from time to time.

These days, Jude Law is best known as an international movie star, but Law's first brushes with acting in front of the camera came in the form of television shows and made-for-TV movies. After making the shift to feature films, Law worked in them exclusively for the majority of his career, though he has had a couple of recent noteworthy television roles in the current stage of his career (both on prestige TV factory HBO). 

This list will be focused solely on his major movie roles and ranking them from worst to best according to their critic scores on Rotten Tomatoes.

Jude Law's second lowest-rated film according to Rotten Tomatoes critics is "360," a drama from 2011. "360" bills itself as a "dynamic roundelay of stories" and as "a modern and stylish kaleidoscope." This vignette film takes a look at various characters living all around the world, with the only real connective tissue between each story being that they all have something to do with romance in the 21st century. Different vignettes within the film take place in Denver, Phoenix, Paris, London, Vienna, Rio de Janeiro, and Bratislava. Jude plays the subject of one vignette alongside other recognizable faces like Anthony Hopkins, Rachel Weisz, and Ben Foster.

With a premise as far-reaching and intentionally scattershot as "360," it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that critics found the film unfulfilling and disjointed. Film critic Violet Lucca was especially harsh to "360," saying, "Spending 111 minutes watching people at the mall would be a more illuminating study of human behavior—and undoubtedly more entertaining." "360" is a rare dud in the career of Oscar-nominated Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, who broke out to international audiences with the excellent gangster film "City of God," which was nominated for four Academy Awards, and recently made the highly acclaimed "The Two Popes," which was nominated for three Oscars.

Jude Law's most recent feature film to date is also one of his lowest rated. "The Rhythm Section" is an action thriller from 2020 about a woman who decides to take revenge when she finds out that the plane crash that killed her family was no accident. "The Rhythm Section" is also the story of this ordinary woman's journey to becoming an assassin/spy. Blake Lively stars in the lead role, while Jude Law plays the former MI6 agent who becomes her mentor and main point of contact on her quest for vengeance.

The story was adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name. The book was the debut of author Mark Burnell and would go on to receive three sequels featuring the same main character. The film adaptation was directed by Reed Morano, who worked extensively as a cinematographer before directing the film "Meadowland" and episodes of television shows like "The Handmaid's Tale." Rotten Tomatoes critics agreed that "The Rhythm Section" was an action thriller devoid of thrills or satisfying action sequences. Times (UK) said of the film, "The plot is risible. The action worse."

2006's "Breaking and Entering" is a romantic drama with some light crime film elements. Jude Law plays an architect who works at a firm that is being regularly broken into and robbed. Law's character, Will, decides to keep watch overnight in case the thief returns. The thief turns out to be a teenager named Miro, played by Rafi Gavron. Rather than confronting the teen directly, Will tails him back to his home, where he eventually meets the teen's mother, Amira, played by Juliette Binoche. A romance blossoms between Will and Amira while Will's relationship with his current partner, Liv, played by Robin Wright, falls apart. Other notable cast members include Martin Freeman and Vera Farmiga.

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes generally disliked the film for prioritizing heavy-handed and manipulative social commentary on class over story depth and character logic. Film critic Felicia Feaster called the film "sorrowful yuppie chow and shallow treatment of alienation favored by angsty Hollywood melodramas such as 'Crash.'" Some also criticized the performances and casting decisions, including Jude Law's role, such as Lou Lumenick with the New York Post, who wrote, "Though Binoche does very solid work, she can't sell the idea of her and Law as a couple; the chemistry isn't there. Not much else rings true in Minghella's screenplay, which is full of coincidences and speeches about race and class."

Jude Law occasionally produces the projects that he appears in. While the majority of his produced projects have fared well, "Sleuth" landed rotten critic and audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes. "Sleuth" is a small and contained drama adapted from the Broadway play of the same name written by Anthony Shaffer and first performed in 1970. The story is a cat-and-mouse game between a young actor and a rich old writer. The two match wits as the writer unfolds a complex revenge plot against the actor for stealing the heart of his wife. Jude Law plays the actor opposite Michael Caine as the writer.

The "Sleuth" stage play was previously brought to the big screen by Joseph L. Mankiewicz in 1972. This first adaptation fared much better with critics and audiences alike on Rotten Tomatoes. Michael Caine appears in both the 1972 and the 2007 versions of the film, playing the young actor in the former and the old writer in the latter. Kenneth Branagh helmed the 2007 version, and most critics agreed that his take on the material was a major step down from the earlier incarnation. David Stratton of At the Movies warned that "[f]ans of the original should stay away," while critic Mike Massie said, "even without comparisons to previous iterations, it's difficult to appreciate the ludicrous twist that Branagh has inserted into this remake's final act."

"My Blueberry Nights" was an unexpected failure to come from a highly acclaimed filmmaker writing and directing material with an A-list cast at his disposal. Wong Kar-Wai is a Chinese filmmaker known for making massively critically successful romantic dramas like "Fallen Angles," "2046," "Chungking Express," "Days of Being Wild," "The Grandmaster," and "In the Mood for Love," which routinely ranks highly on lists of the greatest movies ever made, such as the BFI's Sight and Sound list of the 100 Greatest Films of All Time. "My Blueberry Nights" was Wong Kar-Wai's first film in the English language, and that may have had something to do with the dip in quality. This was an issue highlighted in a review by Josh Larsen, who described the film as "an awkward exercise in translating Wong Kar-Wai to a Western setting."

The story of "My Blueberry Nights" follows Elizabeth (Norah Jones), who is emotionally devastated after being dumped by her longtime boyfriend. Jude Law plays the kindly owner of the café Elizabeth frequents to drown her sorrows in blueberry pie a la mode. When she takes off on an impulsive road trip, she finds herself interacting with a number of colorful characters along the way, played by the likes of Natalie Portman, Rachel Weisz, and David Strathairn. Some critics, such as Philippa Hawker of The Age, found "My Blueberry Nights" to be a worthwhile film, saying, "As visually lush and distinctive and enveloping as you would expect from a Wong Kar-wai film, with space for performances that have impact." Others outlets, however, considered the movie to be "slim pickings for fans of this master filmmaker."

"Alfie" is a 2004 remake of the 1966 film of the same name. Jude Law stars in the titular role that was previously played by Michael Caine in the original, which was itself adapted from a stage play that debuted on Broadway in 1964. The original version of this story goes back even further, to when it was broadcast over BBC radio in 1962 under the unabridged title "Alfie Elkins & His Little Life." Every telling of the story pulls from the material originally written by Bill Naughton, but the 2004 remake brought a pair of screenwriters on board, Elaine Pope and Charles Shyer, to update the material. The latter also directed the remake.

The story follows the womanizing adventures of Alfie as he drives a limousine around New York City. Over the course of the film, Alfie slowly changes his mind about his lifestyle. Joining Jude Law on the cast of the remake are Susan Sarandon, Sienna Miller, Jane Krakowski, Omar Epps, and Nia Long. Most Rotten Tomatoes critics agreed that "Alfie" was a thoroughly unnecessary remake. Will Self of the London Evening Standard wrote that "[t]he weakness is the script.... It isn't funny, it isn't clever and it certainly isn't profound."

Audiences enjoyed "The Holiday" a whole lot more than critics on Rotten Tomatoes. This is a rom-com written and directed by Nancy Myers, who is a veteran of the genre, having made rom-coms like "Father of the Bride," "Something's Gotta Give," and "What Women Want." "The Holiday" fits the mold of her other movies. Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet play an American and a Brit, respectively, who are friends and both go through major relationship troubles at the same time. They decide to swap homes for the holidays, and each finds love while living abroad. Jude Law and Jack Black play the two men that the home-swapping women fall for. Also in the cast are Eli Wallach, Edward Burns, Kathryn Hahn, John Krasinski, and Rufus Sewell.

The critical reception for "The Holiday" on Rotten Tomatoes was split right down the middle. Some critics, like PJ Nabarro, came down hard on the film, calling it a "thoroughly preposterous, utter bourgeois fantasy of a romantic comedy." Others, like Anna Smith of Time Out, found the movie familiar but endearing, describing "The Holiday" as "a leisurely feel good rom-com."

"Enemy at the Gates" received a pretty great reception from general audiences with more than 100,000 ratings counted on Rotten Tomatoes, but the critical consensus still landed the movie a rotten score. This 2001 war film takes place during the World War II battle of Stalingrad and centers around a Russian sniper, played by Jude Law, as he engages in a tense fight with a German sniper, played by Ed Harris. Meanwhile, Joseph Fiennes plays a Russian political officer who turns Law's sniper character into a heroic, near-legendary figure in the press for the general Russian population to believe in, and Rachel Weisz plays a soldier with whom both Fiennes and Law fall in love. Bob Hoskins and Ron Perlman play significant supporting roles as well.

The film was directed by French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud, who also co-wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator Alain Godard. Annaud's previous film was the Brad Pitt-starring bio-drama "Seven Years in Tibet." Most film critics who had a negative response to "Enemy at the Gates" conceded that it had strong action and a few thrills, but that it ultimately fell short in the character department and was implausible and cliched. Critics like Ryan Cracknell wrote, "While it does have some solid moments of action, the film as a whole is laughable." Other critics were more blunt, such as Mark Steyn of The Spectator, who wrote, "Everything in the movie is obstinately stupid."

2011's "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" is a direct sequel to director Guy Ritchie's first "Sherlock Holmes" movie from 2009. Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law reprise their roles as Holmes and Watson for another action-filled mystery. This time, the story pits Holmes and Watson against Professor Moriarty—Sherlock's arch-nemesis, played by Jared Harris—as he commits a series of seemingly unrelated crimes in different countries. Stephen Fry, Eddie Marsen, Rachel McAdams, Noomi Rapace, and Kelly Reilly round out the rest of the main cast.

This sequel wasn't received by Rotten Tomatoes critics nearly as well as the original film. General audiences, however, found Guy Ritchie's two "Sherlock Holmes" movies to be about on par with each other. Critic Sara Michelle Fetters of MovieFreak compared the two, writing that "unlike its 2009 predecessor, there's very little mystery to be solved in this sequel." Other critics came down even harder on the film, such as Bruce Diones of The New Yorker, who wrote, "It's complete trash and makes a mockery of Holmes' vaunted deductive reasoning."

Leo Tolstoy's acclaimed novel from 1878 has been adapted for the big screen more than a dozen times, not counting television, ballet, and opera adaptations (via Literary Hub). The 2012 version of "Anna Karenina" is the latest feature film telling of the classic story so far. Keira Knightley stars in the titular role, while Jude Law plays her husband Karenin. Kelly Macdonald, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Matthew Macfadyen play the major roles of Dolly, Vronsky, and Oblonsky, respectively.

This particular version of "Anna Karenina" was directed by British filmmaker Joe Wright, who has been nominated for BAFTA awards 10 times. Wright is the filmmaker behind movies like "The Darkest Hour," "Atonement," "Pride & Prejudice," and "Cyrano," which is a current nominee in this year's upcoming BAFTA and Academy Awards. Film critic David Stratton of At the Movies crystalized what sets Wright's take on the familiar material apart from alternate adaptations, saying, "Joe Wright uses the theatre and has the actors taking part in a stage production which then moves out into the real world. I think that's done beautifully."

2004 was a major year for Jude Law. "Closer" was just one of six movies Law appeared in throughout 2004, and five out of those six movies received favorable reviews. "Closer" is a character drama about two couples tangled up in a mess of infidelity. The four lead characters in this 'love square' are played by Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Clive Owen, and Natalie Portman. The film was directed by Mike Nichols, the Oscar-winning director of "The Graduate" back in 1967, and was adapted from a stage play by Patrick Marber, which opened on Broadway in 1999.

Much praise was given by Rotten Tomatoes critics for the performances and thematic depth of "Closer." Some critics felt the cast was a little imbalanced, such as Dave Calhoun of Time Out, who wrote that "Owen and Portman give excellent, committed performances, leaving Law and Roberts in the shade." Others found the translation from stage to screen to be a bit rocky, such as Todd McCarthy of Variety, who wrote, "what seems trenchant and perfectly pitched in the theater can come off as arch even when skillfully transferred to film."

"Cold Mountain" is a historical drama and romance film from 2003 set during the tail end of the Civil War. The movie was adapted from the novel of the same name written by Charles Frazier, who based the story on local and family history. With a long run time and a huge, star-studded cast, "Cold Mountain" is an ambitious film that attempts to showcase both the Civil War and its long-lasting effects on the individuals involved.

Jude Law earned his second Oscar nomination—his latest to date—for playing the lead role of W.P. Inman, a wounded soldier who deserts the Confederate army to journey home to Cold Mountain, North Carolina. Nicole Kidman plays Ada, Inman's love, who promises to wait for him while he's at war. Renée Zellweger won the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for her performance as Ruby, her first of two Oscar wins. 

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ray Winstone, Brendan Gleeson, Eileen Atkins, Natalie Portman, Giovanni Ribisi, Charlie Hunnam, Donald Sutherland, and White Stripes frontman Jack White all play memorable supporting characters. In addition to Renée Zellweger and Jude Law's Oscar nominations, "Cold Mountain" also received Academy Award nominations for cinematography and editing, and three separate Oscar nominations for the original music composed by Sting, Gabriel Yared, T Bone Burnett, and Elvis Costello.

2004's "A Series of Unfortunate Events" was an attempt to translate the long-running children's book series written by Lemony Snicket to the big screen. No sequels were made despite a small financial gain, via Insider. The source material wound up receiving a second adaptation in 2017 as a Netflix original series that ran for three seasons. The 2004 adaptation of "A Series of Unfortunate Events" stars Jim Carrey as the bizarre and nefarious Count Olaf, who takes custody of three children after their parents die in a fire. The film combined the plots of the first three books of the 13-volume children's book series: "The Bad Beginning," "The Reptile Room," and "The Wilde Window."

In addition to Jim Carrey, there were plenty of other recognizable faces on the cast, including Emily Browning, Cedric the Entertainer, Craig Ferguson, Jane Adams, Luis Guzmán, Catherine O'Hara, Billy Connolly, Jennifer Coolidge, Timothy Spall, and Meryl Streep. Jude Law doesn't appear on camera, but he provides the voice of Lemony Snicket, the author of the source material who serves as the film's narrator. Critics noted how much darker "A Series of Unfortunate Events" was than the average kids' movie. Nathan Rabin of the AV Club described it as "[a] sick joke of a film that realizes the best children's entertainment doesn't hide from the bleaker side of life, but plunges into the void and respects kids enough to assume they can handle it."

"eXistenZ" is a film written and directed by body horror master David Cronenberg, who fuses horror, action, and science-fiction elements together for this bizarre story. Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as the world's top video game designer in a futuristic world where gaming has become fused with anatomy. While testing her latest project, a virtual reality game called "eXistenZ," an assassin attacks her with an organic firearm called the gristle gun. She is forced to go on the run with a trainee of her company, played by Jude Law. Fiction and reality blend as the two attempt to unravel the strange mystery surrounding the "eXistenZ" game. Willem Dafoe and Christopher Eccleston co-star.

Rotten Tomatoes critics admired "eXistenZ" for its wild originality. Time Out critic Geoff Andrew called the movie "dark, delirious fun," while Urban Cinefile called it "a galactic leap from any other film you're likely to see this week. Or this month. Perhaps this whole year."

"Rise of the Guardians" is another certified fresh Jude Law movie. This is an animated kids' movie with a star-studded voice cast. The movie is based on a series of children's books known as "The Guardians of Childhood" written by William Joyce. The story follows a group of heroes known as the Immortal Guardians who must save the world from an evil villain named Pitch who is dubbed the Nightmare King, voiced by Jude Law. Isla Fisher, Alec Baldwin, and Hugh Jackman all lend their voices to spins on the classic figures that make up the Guardians: the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and the Easter Bunny. Chris Pine plays the newest addition to the Guardians, a teenage Jack Frost.

Some critics landed negatively on this kids' movie, like Michael Philips of the Chicago Tribune, who called "Rise of the Guardians" the "least entertaining film" to come from DreamWorks animation. Others were more favorable and called the movie "charming, sweet and enchanting, but not without its flaws."

"Black Sea" is another certified fresh Jude Law movie that Rotten Tomatoes critics enjoyed but that general audiences left with a rotten score. Jude Law takes center stage as Robinson, a submarine captain on the hunt for a rumored sunken vessel loaded with gold. Ben Mendelsohn, Scoot McNairy, Karl Davies, David Threlfall, and Jodie Whittaker co-star. Jude Law's lead performance was a highlighted strength for many film critics, such as Kristin Tillotson of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who wrote "Too often, moviegoers must choose between character-driven drama and edge-of-your-seat action. 'Black Sea' has both, with a gripping performance by Jude Law as their nexus."

"Black Sea" was directed by Dennis Kelly, who wrote the mini-series "The Third Day," which Jude Law also starred in. The movie was directed by filmmaker and documentarian Kevin Macdonald, who won an Oscar for his documentary "One Day in September." He also scored BAFTAs for his documentary "Touching the Void" and his narrative biopic "The Last King of Scotland" starring Forest Whitaker, who won both the BAFTA and Oscar for his lead performance as Idi Amin.

"Side Effects" is a medical thriller mystery about a woman, played by Rooney Mara, who begins experiencing, you guessed it, side effects after being prescribed a new medication by her psychiatrist, played by Jude Law. Channing Tatum plays her recently released from prison husband, whom she unintentionally kills while suffering from the strange side effects.  

The movie wasn't a universal hit, with some calling it "fatally silly." Others were kinder, and reserved particular praise for Law's likability. Director Steven Soderbergh is the filmmaker behind movies like "Traffic," "Sex, Lies, and Videotape," "Ocean's Eleven," and "Erin Brockovich." 

Jude Law earned his first of two Oscar nominations for his supporting role in "The Talented Mr. Ripley." He would go on to win the BAFTA for this performance as well. Matt Damon stars as Tom Ripley, a lowly bathroom attendant who cons his way into the leagues of Manhattan socialites in the 1950s. He winds up being hired to track down Dickie Greenleaf, played by Jude Law, and convince him to return home from living it large abroad in Italy. Mr. Ripley forms a dangerous obsession with Dickie and, to a lesser extent, his fiancée Marge, played by Gwyneth Paltrow. Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cate Blanchett, James Rebhorn, Philip Baker Hall, Sergio Rubini, and Jack Davenport make up the rest of the impressive cast.

"The Talented Mr. Ripley" was written for the screen and directed by Anthony Minghella, who would go on to write and direct the Jude Law films "Cold Mountain" and "Breaking and Entering," covered earlier on this list. The screenplay was adapted from the 1955 novel of the same name written by Patricia Highsmith. Highsmith wrote a total of five novels following the Tom Ripley character. Other books in the series have been brought to the big screen, such as "Ripley Under Ground" in 2005 starring Barry Pepper in the role and "Ripley's Game" in 2002 with John Malkovich in the Ripley part, but none broke through to audiences to the same degree as "The Talented Mr. Ripley." The Ripley character will also be coming to the small screen with a Showtime television series in the works.

Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" is the first to crack the top five of Jude Law's highest-rated movies. The film is a biopic examining the complicated life of Howard Hughes between the 1920s and the 1940s. "The Aviator" won five Academy Awards and was nominated for an additional six Oscars, including Best Picture. Leonardo DiCaprio stars in the lead role, and the huge supporting cast is packed with big names portraying real people, including Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn, John C. Reilly as Noah Dietrich, Alan Alda as Senator Ralph Owen Brewster, Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner, Gwen Stefani as Jean Harlow, and many others. Jude Law takes on the role of Errol Flynn, the Hollywood star who portrayed classic characters like Robin Hood and Don Juan.

Time Out film critic Geoff Andrew recommended "The Aviator," saying "Scorsese's Howard Hughes movie is his best since 'The Age of Innocence.'" Of the film's themes and social commentary, Nathan Rabin of The AV Club wrote, "It's a measure of 'The Aviator's' complexity and ambiguity that it can be read equally as a celebration of rugged, capitalist individualism and as a leftist critique of cutthroat free-market competition."

Jude Law's third highest-rated movie is the whimsical Wes Anderson comedy "The Grand Budapest Hotel." The movie explores the history of the titular hotel under the stewardship of Gustave H., played by Ralph Fiennes. Gustave is aided by a trustee bellhop named Zero, played by Tony Revolori. In typical Wes Anderson fashion, the film makes use of a massive ensemble of quirky characters. Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Mathieu Amalric, Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Léa Seydoux, and Owen Wilson all take part in the fantastical adventure. Jude Law plays the writer opposite F. Murray Abraham's older version of Zero in the film's wraparound book-end segments.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" was nominated for a total of nine Academy Awards and took home four Oscars in the music, hair and makeup, costume design, and production design categories. Critical praise was near unanimous for "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Critic Debbie Lynn Elias of Behind the Lens described the film as "magnificent and magical," while Matthew Lucas of The Dispatch said that it "achieves something deeply beautiful."

It might be a surprise to find out that this 2015 Melissa McCarthy comedy is Jude Law's highest-rated movie, but Rotten Tomatoes critics were thoroughly taken with "Spy." Melissa McCarthy stars as a CIA analyst who becomes an undercover agent in order to prevent catastrophic destruction. Jason Statham and Rose Byrne co-star, while Jude Law plays the super-spy that Melissa McCarthy assisted from a control room before he went missing in action. The opening sequence of "Spy" features Jude Law in full "James Bond" mode—perhaps the closest he has come to playing the iconic character despite inaccurate rumors he was offered the role of Bond when casting "Casino Royale."

Paul Feig wrote and directed this spoof of spy movies like "James Bond" and "Jason Bourne." Feig previously directed Melissa McCarthy in "The Heat" and "Bridesmaids," for which McCarthy earned a best supporting actress Oscar nomination. They would go on to collaborate again the following year on the 2016 "Ghostbusters" reboot. Film critics largely agreed that "Spy" was a fun romp, such as Nick Levine of NME, who said, "Melissa McCarthy shows off her superb comic timing in this frothy action comedy."