50 Dan Aykroyd Movies Ranked From Worst To Best

Dan Aykroyd has more hyphens in his bio than most. The comedian-actor-writer-director-producer-musician-entrepreneur-sheriff's deputy-philanthropist-amateur paleontologist began his professional life at 17, when he was part of a short-lived sketch comedy series with Lorne Michaels (per Starpulse). It wasn't long before he joined the famed Second City comedy troupe, followed by being part of Michaels' original cast of "Saturday Night Live." Soon after that, he was making movies — and the rest is history.

No matter how many hats Aykroyd has worn over the course of his 50+ year career, he will always be most commonly associated with "Saturday Night Live" and his biggest comedy blockbusters. But his filmography contains movies in basically every genre, and Aykroyd has showcased equal skill in the silliest of comedies and the most serious of dramas. His work as a screenwriter also can't be understated, as he has written or co-written many of his most famous films. 

This list will look at the most notable movies on Aykroyd's resume, considering both the quality of the movie itself and of Aykroyd's performance in it, balancing the two in terms of ranking. While a few smaller roles appear here, we're particularly going to look at his major roles.

The premise of "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry": Two male firefighters pretend to be gay so that they can get married and have their children be eligible for insurance benefits. There was definitely some potential there to take a biting satirical look at stereotypes, marriage equality, the broken health care system, and other such topics — and the fact that one of its writers is Alexander Payne gave people hope it could be that. But this is a movie that stars Adam Sandler and Kevin James, so it's not that. Not at all.

A lot of the comedy in "Chuck & Larry" plumbs the exact types of depths you'd expect, though there are occasional guilt-free laughs to be had. There are also a few moments of genuine heart, one of which comes from Dan Aykroyd who plays the pair's captain and gives a speech near the end of the film about tolerance and inclusion. It doesn't do much to make up for the previous hour-plus of offensive gay jokes, but it was a nice thought, anyway. 

Based on the novel "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham — yes, that John Grisham — "Christmas with the Kranks" is about a couple (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) who live on a Christmas-obsessed block. Normally, they're more than willing to participate in the neighborhood-wide yuletide celebration, but when their college-aged daughter reveals she isn't coming home for the holidays, Mr. and Mrs. Krank decide to spend Christmas on the beach instead. This draws the ire of their neighbors, informally led by Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd), who mobilizes everyone to make things miserable for the Kranks in the hopes that it'll make them rethink their holiday plans.

"Christmas with the Kranks" is far from a Christmas classic, but it's the kind of movie that makes for good background noise to wrapping presents. You just probably wouldn't ever make it a point to gather the family to sit and watch it. Aykroyd is at his cranky best in the role, stealing every scene, even next to the over-the-top mugging of Tim Allen. 

The 1980s were the golden age of the high-concept comedy, and many of them featured "Saturday Night Live" and/or "SCTV" alums. Case in point: "My Stepmother is an Alien," starring Dan Aykroyd as a single father and scientist who meets and quickly marries a strange but beautiful woman named Celeste (Kim Basinger) — not realizing she's an alien in disguise. His daughter, played by Alyson Hannigan in her second film role, is somehow the only one to notice her stepmother's odd behavior. Naturally, her dad doesn't believe her, assuming she's just having trouble accepting her new stepmom. 

And that doesn't even get into the real silliness of the movie — such as Bag, the shape-shifting, one-eyed alien tentacle that changes into everything from a designer purse to a dress. "My Stepmother is an Alien" has fun moments — but like many films of this ilk, it would've probably been better as a ten-minute sketch rather than an entire movie. Aykroyd playing a brilliant but not especially street smart scientist is hardly a stretch, but it's a part he always plays well. However, Basinger is the real MVP of the movie — she's actually great at comedy and it's too bad she hasn't done more of it.

Melissa McCarthy is undeniably funny, and she can't be blamed for striking while the iron is hot. But for a few years there after "Bridesmaids," she was in too many movies in too short a time frame, and quality control kind of got away from her. One of her lesser films was 2014's "Tammy," with her giving it 110% like she typically does but simply not having the quality of story or script to support her talents. 

"Tammy" does deserve credit for an impressive cast, from co-lead Susan Sarandon to supporting players Kathy Bates, Allison Janney, Gary Cole, and Toni Collette — not to mention Dan Aykroyd as Tammy's father. It's a brief and surprisingly subdued cameo by Aykroyd, but it's nice to see him have a fun walk-on in a movie that doesn't involve him playing an over-the-top character or trading on his most famous one — we're looking at you, Ray Stantz cameo in "Casper."

Though they both rose to fame in the 1980s and they both have a love for the city of Chicago, John Cusack and Dan Aykroyd didn't directly work together until 1997's "Grosse Pointe Blank" (more on that later). But Cusack would eventually bring Aykroyd back for a small role in one of his co-writing efforts, "War. Inc." The 2008 political satire sees Cusack play another hitman, only this time he's working for the government. The United States government and the modern military industrial complex are exactly what the movie is taking aim at.

"War, Inc." isn't quite as clever or as biting as Cusack and co. clearly want it to be, but it's an admirable attempt to make a film that has something to say. Where Aykroyd comes in is via a rather hilarious role as an obvious Dick Cheney type who is the one who gives Cusack's character his mission — only he does so in a video conference call while sitting on the toilet. It's not the most subtle of metaphors, but this movie isn't all that interested in subtlety. 

After a trio of successful and generally well-liked movies, it was with 2001's "Pearl Harbor" that the Michael Bay backlash began in earnest. It was one thing to make movies about cool, wise-cracking cops or drilling holes in asteroids — it's another to apply Bay's trademark loud, music video-esque, style-over-substance approach to a major historical tragedy that led to nearly 2,500 deaths (via census.gov). Sure, he toned things down a little, but it was ultimately still a Michael Bay movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor, which just felt kind of ... gross.

Some of the characters were based directly on real people, while others were fictitious but likely had some historical roots. Dan Aykroyd showed up to play one of the fictional people, U.S. Naval Intelligence Captain Harold Thurman, who had suspicions about the bombing before it happened. According to a Disney spokesperson (per the Chicago Tribune), Thurman is based on several real life officials who predicted the attack on Pearl Harbor.

In terms of screen time it's a small role, but it's obviously an important one, and Aykroyd plays it well. It makes one wish he showed up to play small but pivotal roles in other such movies — it's not hard to imagine him in "JFK" or "Saving Private Ryan," is it?

Based on the book "The Devil and Daniel Webster," "Shortcut to Happiness" is a dark comedy about a failed writer named Jabez (Alec Baldwin, also the director) who wishes he was as successful as his friend, Julius (Dan Aykroyd). When a gorgeous and mysterious woman (Jennifer Love Hewitt) offers to make all of Jabez's dreams comes true in exchange for his soul, he agrees.

When Jabez starts to see the downsides to the deal, he turns to celebrity public speaker Daniel Webster (Anthony Hopkins) for help, and the two decide to take the woman/devil to court to try and legally force her to give him back his soul. It's definitely an intriguing premise, but it ultimately doesn't quite pan out the way it should have despite game performances all around. Much of this is likely due to the movie's troubled production, which led to Baldwin asking to have his director credit removed over studio meddling and it being shelved and shuffled around for over five years before its eventual release (per Page Six).

Julie Kavner has largely settled into just being Marge Simpson, only appearing very occasionally in films and always in a supporting role. Her one and only film as a headliner was "This is My Life," also the first movie directed by Nora Ephron. Critical reception was lukewarm and it failed to break even on its $10 million budget. It's impossible to know if Kavner would've tried starring in more movies had it done better, since she is famously private and almost never does interviews or speaks publicly in any way (per The New York Times).

Dan Aykroyd plays the manager of Kavner's character, who is trying to start a career as a stand-up comedian. It's a fairly straightforward performance, save for giving him the quirk of eating napkins. It feels like something Aykroyd added to the character himself, possibly on the fly while they were filming. Either way, Aykroyd joins Carrie Fisher to offer solid supporting performances to back up Kavner, with all of them doing their best to try and elevate what is admittedly one of Ephron's more middle-of-the-road scripts. 

Comedies that take place on or around military bases go way back, and one of the most popular from the early days of black-and-white TV is "The Phil Silvers Show" (per TV Guide). In that series, Silvers plays Sgt. Ernest Bilko, who is more interested in goofing off and plotting new moneymaking scams than performing his actual duties. 40 years after Silver's TV run, the property would be adapted into a movie simply titled "Sgt. Bilko" with Steve Martin taking over the titular role. It's a perfect casting choice, especially when Martin's Bilko plays off of a commanding officer played by Dan Aykroyd and a rival played by Phil Hartman.

The movie has a fair amount of laughs, most of which come from Martin's talent for both verbal and physical comedy. Aykroyd and Hartman are mostly there to be the catalysts for Martin to say and do funny things, but that shouldn't suggest that it's easy to be a straight man to a performer like Martin, so they deserve credit for that. "Sgt. Bilko" is the kind of movie that looks like it was a lot more fun to make than it is to watch, but it's still a perfectly serviceable service comedy. 

"My Girl" — which will be discussed later on this list — is the kind of movie that doesn't typically have a sequel. It's not that audiences wouldn't be interested in checking in on Vada (Anna Chlumsky), Harry (Dan Aykroyd), and Shelly (Jamie Lee Curtis) Sultenfuss again three years later. But sequels to heartwarming family dramedies often just feel superfluous and rehash-y, and that's definitely an appropriate way to describe "My Girl 2."

Everyone is perfectly charming again, and it was clear even then that Chlumsky was growing into a talented young actress. Macaulay Culkin's character obviously couldn't return, but Austin O'Brien is a perfectly fine stand-in for the male friend role. There is nothing here to tarnish the legacy of the first film or anything like that, and it's worth a watch. But it's impossible to shake the notion that there just really wasn't any good reason to make this movie other than to cash in on the success of the original — and it's hard not view it cynically as a result. Fortunately, the long-rumored "My Girl 3" isn't going to happen, with Chlumsky saying in a 2012 interview that no such movie is in development, and that she wouldn't do it even if it was. 

Dan Aykroyd didn't do his obligatory Woody Allen movie until 2001, and he waited until Allen was no longer consistently knocking them out of the park as he previously had been. Indeed, "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" kicked off a period where Allen released multiple critically-panned movies in a row, whereas in the past he'd usually have just one stray dud before immediately bouncing back with several good movies.

It had nothing to do with the cast, however. In addition to the great lineup of actresses who all nailed their performances — Helen Hunt, Charlize Theron, and Elizabeth Berkley — is a strong supporting male cast led by Aykroyd, who's a great fit to play the slimeball boss in a 1940s-style noir comedy. If only he'd had the opportunity to appear in one of Allen's earlier, better films instead. Of course, there are worse things than getting to play the love interest of Elizabeth Berkley. 

As a franchise, police procedural "Dragnet" goes all the way back to the 1940s when it premiered as a radio drama. It eventually became a successful TV series that ran through the entire 1950s, with a feature film version releasing in the middle of that run. Another film followed in 1969, and another two decades later, it was resurrected by Dan Aykroyd. 

Aykroyd co-wrote screenplay and also starred as the iconic Sgt. Joe Friday, enlisting Tom Hanks to play his partner, Det. Streebek. It took more of a comedy approach to the material, with Aykroyd playing it straight and old-school while Hanks seems consistently befuddled and confused by his partner's anachronistic behavior. The duo turn the movie into part homage and part parody, the same approach used by 1995's "The Brady Bunch Movie." Admittedly, the latter did it a lot better, but "Dragnet" deserves credit for setting that template, as well as being one of Aykroyd's most underrated performances ever. It's good, but it's not great — and those are just the facts, ma'am.

In what would be his final film role before his death at age 33, John Belushi played against type opposite Dan Aykroyd, also playing against type. Anyone who read the script for "Neighbors" and knew Belushi and Aykroyd were attached would've automatically assumed that Belushi would play the boisterous Vic Zeck, while Aykroyd would take the role of the quiet, reserved Earl Keese. Instead, the two decided to swap, which Roger Ebert called "brilliant casting." 

By most accounts, "Neighbors" was a tough shoot. The stars weren't sold on director John G. Avildsen, believing he didn't know how to shoot comedy — he's best known for movies like "Rocky," "The Karate Kid," and "Lean on Me." Per Screen Crush, things got so bad that Belushi tried on multiple occasions to get Avildsen fired and replaced with "Blues Brothers" director John Landis. Not all directors can do comedy, even ones that are skilled in other genres, and "Neighbors" definitely feels like the work of a director who doesn't understand that you don't shoot a comedy the way you shoot a drama. 

Despite all that, "Neighbors" was a modest enough box office success to be profitable for the studio. But its legacy is mostly in it being Belushi's final film, even if it is a decent showcase for Belushi and Aykroyd's range and does have some flashes of the brilliant dark comedy it could have been.

Four election cycles after "My Fellow Americans," Dan Aykroyd returned to the world of political comedies with "The Campaign." This time, the two stars at the head of the movie are Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis as opposing politicians trying to win a North Carolina senate seat — and they aren't afraid to play dirty to do it. Naturally, subtlety isn't the name of the game here, and the pair go for big, broad laughs and (mostly) earn them.

Aykroyd and John Lithgow play the Motch brothers, two powerful businessmen who are known for pulling political strings and don't have the cleanest of reputations in doing so. Sound familiar? Again, they weren't going for subtlety with "The Campaign." The talented cast — which also includes Jason Sudeikis, Dylan McDermott, Brian Cox, and John Goodman — probably deserved a smarter, more complex political satire to star in. But for those who just want a light, inoffensive political comedy that doesn't require too much thought, "The Campaign" does its job. 

To be clear, the placement of "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call" on this list isn't indicative of its overall quality in comparison to the other movies. In that respect, it deserved to be much higher — no matter what a very vocal group on the internet might have you believe. (Particularly a group that had a frustratingly high number of people that never even bothered to actually see the movie they hated so.) But it's because this list is about Aykroyd, and his part is so small that it was moved down a few notches.

In fact, Aykroyd's role in the movie would've likely fallen into ineligible cameo territory if not for the fact that Aykroyd was one of the reboot's biggest cheerleaders leading up to its release (per Vulture), as well as being an executive producer on the movie. He and Ivan Reitman were definitely more invested in the movie than any of the franchise's other original creators — Harold Ramis might have been as well, but he had died in 2014 — and it is obvious that they still had a deep love and affection for the property, hoping for a revival that would be more than just a nostalgia-fueled cash grab.

"Chaplin" is part of a long tradition of biopics where the movie itself is merely pretty good, but the performance of the actor playing the real-life figure at its center receives widespread praise and elevates the whole thing. Robert Downey, Jr. was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role as the legendary silent film star, proof that he would have a bright career ahead of him if he could just overcome his various personal struggles. Spoiler alert: He did, and went on to become one of the most successful and highest-paid actors in history.

Dan Aykroyd has always had an affinity for Old Hollywood, and sometimes feels like he was transplanted from that era. So he's a great fit for the 1910s and '20s, when his part of the movie takes place. Aykroyd plays real-life filmmaker and studio exec Mack Sennett, who is known as the "father of slapstick cinema" (per Legacy.com). Indeed, Angie Errigo of Empire Online points out that Aykroyd "has fun" with the role — and If anyone should play the guy who introduced car chases as a means of comedy, it's Dan "Elwood Blues" Aykroyd.

In an interview with Jack Nicholson by Michel Ciment for his book, "The Definitive Kubrick," Nicholson claims that Kubrick's review of "1941" was that it was "great, but not funny." Indeed, the film's story was originally conceived of by John Milius, writer of such distinctly non-funny movies as "Magnum Force," "Red Dawn," and "Apocalypse Now." But Milius was joined by the writing team of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale — who'd later write all three "Back to the Future" movies — and combined with Steven Spielberg signing on as director, "1941" was suddenly an epic war comedy.

It was also be Spielberg's first flop — all the more surprising given that the ridiculously star-studded cast included Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, Ned Beatty, Christopher Lee, Toshiro Mifune, Penny Marshall, John Candy, James Caan, Mickey Rourke in his screen debut, and many more. The most common complaint was that it just wasn't funny enough for a movie that was supposed to be a comedy, but was otherwise well-acted and well-made. 

It's since become a cult classic, as people have slowly come around to viewing it with adjusted expectations, rather than looking for a military comedy along the lines of something like "Stripes" or "Private Benjamin." 

Most "Saturday Night Live" movies are typically based on sketches that are recent or current while a big-screen adaptation is prepped to strike while the iron's hot. The one major exception to this so far has been "Coneheads," released in 1993 despite not having appeared on the show since 1979 (per SNL Archives). Original Conehead performers Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtain both still returned to reprise their roles, adding Michelle Burke as daughter Connie and filling out the rest of the cast with both then-current and former "SNL" alums and a variety of other comic actors (including a cameo from original Connie Laraine Newman).

Critics weren't kind to it, but it was a hit with audiences and became a fixture on basic cable throughout the '90s. Even though it had been 14 years, Aykroyd and Curtain stepped back into their roles with ease as if they had been playing Beldar and Prymaat all along. Interestingly, there was some critical reappraisal of the film following changing attitudes towards immigrants after 9/11, with Steve Etheridge of Vulture writing that the movie "predicted the future of America and ripened into relevancy." It also helped to introduce "Tainted Love" by Soft Cell to a new generation, and there's certainly nothing wrong with that. 

Whether "Ghostbusters: Answer the Call" was treated or judged fairly, facts are facts: It didn't perform well at the box office. So when it came time to make another "Ghostbusters" movie, it stood to reason that it wouldn't be a follow-up to that but would instead go back to the original timeline and be a direct sequel to "Ghostbusters II." Unfortunately, elements of "Afterlife" de-canonize the excellent 2009 "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" — which was originally considered the official third chapter in the "Ghostbusters" saga and features Harold Ramis' final performance as Egon Spangler.

Even if you're in the camp of people who think "Answer the Call" shouldn't just be dismissed as a one-off side story, it's hard to argue with how awesome it was to see Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson suit up again as their original "Ghostbusters" characters in "Afterlife." There is definitely something to be said for the franchise continuing within the same universe and timeline of the original films, and eventually having the offspring of the original 'Busters take over — with the old crew there to officially pass the torch.

The third highest-rated Dan Aykroyd movie on Rotten Tomatoes — behind only "Ghostbusters" and a documentary about "Ghostbusters" — is HBO's Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra." Most of the press and acclaim for that movie focused on the performances of Michael Douglas in the lead role and Matt Damon as his partner Scott Thorson, as well as the masterful direction of Steven Soderbergh. 

Part of the reason for this is that some of the supporting cast, even the ones that are huge actors, are almost unrecognizable in their roles. Many wouldn't have realized Debbie Reynolds played Liberace's mother if her name wasn't in the credits. Same for Dan Aykroyd as Liberace's long-suffering manager — Rodney Twelftree of Fernby Films admits, "It took me half the film to figure out that it was Dan 'Blues Brothers' Aykroyd playing Liberace's manager, Seymour Heller." Aykroyd has a distinctive face and an even more distinctive voice, so for him to play a role where he isn't instantly recognizable is both surprising and impressive.

Though John Candy had small roles in "The Blues Brothers" and "1941," it wasn't until "The Great Outdoors" that he and Dan Aykroyd finally got to be co-leads in a movie. They might not have made quite the same magic that Candy had made with Steve Martin in the previous year's "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," but Candy and Aykroyd are still dynamite together in "The Great Outdoors."

After screenwriter John Hughes had spent the early-to-mid-'80s making dialogue-driven movies about teenagers and high school, he shifted gears near the end of the decade to broader comedies that seemed built around John Candy (the other being "Uncle Buck"). What "The Great Outdoors" does have over "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" is that Candy is basically the lead, even though he doesn't get top billing. This dynamic means that he doesn't spend the whole movie being bullied like he does in "Planes," but instead is an equal — and also much friendlier — rival to Aykroyd than he was to Martin. 

Aykroyd wouldn't have made for a compelling bully anyway — and it's nice that his one buddy comedy with Candy got to be a warm, friendly one that continues to be the perfect Saturday night family movie all these years later.

"Ghostbusters II" takes a lot of flak. In fact, it seems as though basically nobody save for Dan Aykroyd or Harold Ramis thought a sequel was a good idea, and most of them signed on to make it rather reluctantly. There is no denying that it is inferior to the original film — but then, most films are. So it not only had almost impossible expectations working against it, but it did the frustrating thing that many comedy sequels of its era did — taking a darker, edgier, more cynical film and following it up with a lighter, more family-friendly sequel. Critics largely hated it, and the general consensus for years was that it was a bad movie.

But over the years, people have reappraised it, and the vibe has largely shifted to proclaiming it underrated. There is article after article, from outlets like WhatCulture to Den of Geek, Uproxx, and Movie Babble all proclaiming it better than its reputation gives it credit for. Much of the thanks for this goes to Aykroyd and Ramis, who not only wrote what is ultimately an underrated movie but in their performances that didn't have that slightly bored and disaffected vibe that many of their doubting castmates did. 

Dan Aykroyd has worked steadily in films from his 1977 big-screen debut to bringing Ray Stantz back to the big screen in 2021, at times releasing a handful of movies in a single year. 1996 was his busiest one so far, with Aykroyd appearing in a whopping six films that were released that year. And none of them were classics, with one — "Celtic Pride" — not even being good enough for this list. He was closing in on 50, so maybe he felt he needed to get some extra paychecks in while he still had the energy to work that much, or maybe he just really loves being on movie sets. But either way, he definitely slowed down a bit after that.

The upside to his questionable and overly-busy 1996 is that he had a great and much better-focused 1997. That year, Aykroyd starred in only one movie — the dark action comedy "Grosse Pointe Blank" — and it is arguably his best role and best movie of the decade. In it, he plays a rival hitman to John Cusack's character, and it's probably the first time since "Driving Miss Daisy" that his performance in a movie earned him critical acclaim. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Aykroyd's "comic skill," and in a 2019 retrospective, Aliya Whiteley of Den of Geek called it, "one of [her] favorite Dan Aykroyd performances."

A lot of people forget that Dan Aykroyd is an Oscar nominee, an honor that he received thanks to his supporting role in 1989's "Driving Miss Daisy." Neither he nor Best Actor nominee Morgan Freeman won, but Jessica Tandy did — becoming the oldest Best Actress winner in history, a distinction she holds to this day. It was a well-deserved nomination for Aykroyd, who often doesn't get enough credit for being a legitimately good actor. 

However, his fellow nominees in the Best Supporting Actor category that year were Marlon Brando, Danny Aiello, Martin Landau, and winner Denzel Washington. That's some tough competition, and it honestly would've been a pretty huge upset for him to take the award over any of those guys. Still, it surely has to be nice for Aykroyd to be able to refer to himself as an Academy Award-nominated actor, something that very few of his fellow "SNL" alums — or largely comedic actors in general — can say.

Objectively, there are really only two choices when considering which Dan Aykroyd movie is the best, as well as which one contains his most iconic role. And, all due respect to "Blues Brothers" and Elwood Blues — a character he has been playing for a lot longer, performing live concerts and getting credited on soundtracks as if he were a real person — "Ghostbusters" just feels like the superior choice. After all, "Blues Brothers" didn't spawn three additional movies (and counting), multiple animated series, and over two dozen video games, while still remaining an active franchise to this day.

And that is all built on the foundation of the original movie, which comes pretty close to being a perfect film. It masters multiple individual genres — ensemble comedy, supernatural thriller, light horror, action movie, disaster movie, special effects epic — and yet still manages to bring them all together for a total package that should be a complete mess but somehow gels flawlessly. Much of that is due to not only the four 'Busters (Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson) but the stellar supporting cast of Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and William Atherton. 

It's a ridiculous amount of perfect elements that all happened to come together at the right place, at the right time, in such a way that won't ever happen again — not only for the franchise but for movies in general.