Anne Heche's Best Movies According To Rotten Tomatoes
The death of movie star Anne Heche has prompted people to take a look back at the longtime actor's life and career in Hollywood, which has included a wide range of film projects for both television and the big screen. Some flopped, and some have landed the 53-year-old Ohio native into awards categories (via Television Academy). But it never once seemed to matter to Heche, who always tried to do her best on-screen to entertain the masses, and according to Rotten Tomatoes, there were several movies of hers that did just that.
Getting her start in soaps, Heche managed to gain recognition for her roles as Vicky Carlson and Marley Love in "Another World" — nabbing a Daytime Emmy in the process. She would later move on to movies and eventually found success as a versatile actor in the film community, with roles like Dr. Amy Barnes in the 1997 disaster flick "Volcano," Robin Monroe, aka Harrison Ford's comedic relief, in 1998's "Six Days, Seven Nights," hospital administrator Rebecca Payne in 2002's "John Q," and countless other memorable performances. But when it comes down to it, which of Heche's films were actually her best in terms of Rotten Tomatoes rating?
My Friend Dahmer rounds out Heche's top 5 with an 86%
"My Friend Dahmer" is a movie that was widely liked by critics and audiences, boasting an 86% Tomatometer rating and 61% Audience Score — with people praising the graphic novel adaptation for its unique look at one of America's most notorious serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer. The role of Jeff's mother went to Anne Heche, and critics ate it up.
"Anne Heche is hilarious as Jeff's boozy, unstable mother who is a terrible cook and insists the family eat her calamitous dishes as a learning experience," wrote Peter Bradshaw in his review for The Guardian. "'We eat our mistakes,' she says cheerily — an unfortunate motto, considering her son's later adventures in cannibalism." Empire reviewer Alex Godfrey described Heche's performance as being "entertainingly off-kilter" as Dahmer's mother Joyce, which is a role that Heche approached in a very personal way.
"I have a very particular point of view of children, who end up really messed up, which obviously is fitting of a statement about Dahmer," Heche told Parade in November 2017. "Do I feel that there is a responsibility when you bring in a child into the world to take care of and nurture them, respect them, pay attention to them and feed them? Yes," Heche said. "Do I feel like Joyce didn't do that? Yes, 100 percent, and that's why I wanted to play her." Heche struggled with mental health issues and substance problems for years before her August 12 death, which she claimed was the result of domestic abuse that she suffered as a child (via ABC News). According to Heche, acting was ultimately a way of escaping the trauma of her past. And movies played a big role in the recovery, especially the next one.
Heche's fourth highest rated film is 1997's Wag the Dog
Coming in at No. 4 on the list of highest-rated Anne Heche movies — according to Rotten Tomatoes — is none other than Barry Levinson's political satire hit "Wag the Dog," which has an 86% Tomatometer rating and 76% audience score. Playing White House aide Winifred Ames, Anne Heche had to try and do her best to keep up with the acting heavyweights on set, including main stars Dustin Hoffman and Robert De Niro, as well as Denis Leary, Woody Harrelson, and Billy Bob Thornton. According to critics, the young screen star managed to do just that.
"As a presidential aide, Anne Heche helps anchor the picture as a bystander in the midst of the madness, a kind of stand-in for the audience," wrote Mick LaSalle in his "Wag the Dog" review for the San Francisco Chronicle.
Levinson's film centers around the United States presidency during a sex scandal, which was perfectly fitting at the time of its release — which came just one month before the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewisky scandal went public, per CNN. "In need of outside help to quell the situation, presidential adviser Winifred Ames enlists the expertise of spin doctor Conrad Brean (De Niro), who decides a distraction is the best course of action," the synopsis reads. "Brean approaches Hollywood producer Stanley Motss (Hoffman) to help him fabricate a war in Albania — and once underway, the duo has the media entirely focused on the war."
Working with Hoffman and De Niro wound up being a dream come true for Heche, who told The Morning Call in 1998, "I loved them. I really loved them."
Heche's third highest rated film is the 1996 cult classic Walking and Talking
According to Rotten Tomatoes, Nicole Holofcener's 1996 independent hit "Walking and Talking" is technically the third highest-rated Anne Heche movie, even though it shares the same Tomatometer score as the top two films with an 88% rating. What separates it, however, is the film's slightly lower 70% Audience Score, which is still very impressive.
"Anne Heche definitely holds her own," wrote IMDb reviewer Chrysanthepop. "Heche is believable, amusing and sympathetic," said a second reviewer, MarieGabrielle.
In the movie, Heche plays a young woman named Laura who is longtime friends with Catherine Keener's character, Amelia. The two try to navigate through the waters of friendship, love, and growing up, while also staying happy. "Though her particular brand of walking + talking through relationship dramas and adult anxieties has been well sublimated into US indie film-making at this point, no one quite makes films as understated, deceptive and mature as [director Nicole Holofcener]," wrote a Mubi reviewer. In 2003, Entertainment Weekly reportedly listed "Walking and Talking" at No. 47 on its Top 50 Cult Movies of All Time. It marked the start of an illustrious time in Heche's career, with her next two highest-rated films releasing in 1996 and 1997, both being Hollywood powerhouses.
The 1996 drama If These Walls Could Talk is Heche's second highest rated film
Featuring three of the biggest female stars in Hollywood and pop culture history, the HBO film "If These Walls Could Talk" comes in as the second highest-rated movie of Anne Heche's career. The film focuses on the issue of abortion throughout three different time periods — the 1950s, 1970s, and 1990s. It stars Demi Moore, Cher, and Sissy Spacek, with Heche playing the lead role of college student Christine Cullen in the 1990s segment.
"I quite enjoyed this deep, emotional drama which is set from the 50's to the 90's about 3 different women, Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek and Anne Heche, who all have problems concerning abortion," wrote one user on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie has an 88% Tomatometer rating stemming from only eight reviews, but a 74% Audience Score after being reviewed over 5,000 times.
Heche wound up participating in an "If These Walls Could Talk 2" follow-up for HBO in 2000 that was instead focused on lesbianism, and she also took the time to write and direct one of its segments (via IMDb). "It's a lighthearted romantic comedy," Heche told Larry King in 2000. "So it expands out, and it ends in a hopeful tone, while the first 'If These Walls Could Talk,' which was the one I was in, ended so tragically." As for Heche's top-rated movie, it also came out during her incredible run between 1996 and 1997. And just like she was in the other movies mentioned before it, Heche was in pretty good company.
To no one's surprise, Donnie Brasco is Anne Heche's highest rated film
With an 88% Tomatometer rating and 89% audience score, Mike Newell's 1997 Oscar-nominated mob drama "Donnie Brasco" — starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp — is a movie in Anne Heche's filmography that firmly stands above the rest. In it, Heche plays the wife of Depp's character, Joseph D. Pistone, who is struggling to deal with his life as an undercover cop. "You said it was going to be three months, it's going on two years," she famously says in one scene.
In 2017, Heche told Larry King that working on "Donnie Brasco" as Pistone's wife was an experience she'd never forget. "Heaven," she said, appearing on "Larry King Now" via Ora TV. "So amazing to get that opportunity," Heche continued. "It was a great movie and I feel very lucky to be a part of it."
Heche, 53, passed away on August 12 following a week-long stay in the ICU due to injuries sustained in an August 5 car crash in Los Angeles. She had been in a coma and placed on a ventilator after reportedly suffering an anoxic brain injury, according to Deadline. Heche was driving her blue Mini Cooper around Los Angeles' Mar Vista neighborhood when she somehow lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a two-story home. The accident was initially investigated as a misdemeanor DUI, but the case was later updated to a felony after a victim came forward and reported injuries (per KTLA).