Posterized: Ryan Reynolds
Friday, July 10, 2015 at 7:30PM Contrary to what the P&A budget for Minions will have you believe, there are other movies opening this weekend. It's a big weekend in the top markets for LGBT releases. And nationwide a horror movie (The Gallows) and a new sci-fi body swap thriller Self/Less starring Ben Kingsley & Ryan Reynolds are also opening. I read a headline yesterday lamenting
WTF happened to Ryan Reynolds's career?"
Ryan Reynolds in his first real year of stardom (2002) and now (2015). Images from Buying the Cow and Self/Less
And I thought: Well... nothing. It's always been this way!
He first won semi-stardom in 2002 frequently displaying his then amazing body (it wasn't the norm for male stars to look like cartoon superheroes OUT of costume just 12 years ago) in the popular college comedy Van Wilder and the lesser seen romantic comedy Buying the Cow. Since then it's been a constant annual barrage of mainstream comedies, mainstream action and franchise pics, and mainsteam horror. Some of his movies were barely screened or went straight to DVD but even those were populist ventures. Either Reynolds or his management just haven't had ambitions outside the multiplex. This has only very recently begun to change with experiments like Buried (good) and The Voices (terrible) which fit comfortably into populist genres but still were plainly too weird --even in screenplay stages -- for mass appeal. He's been perpetually "on the verge" but has never achieved anything beyond the B list. Okay, the B+ list.
So how many of his 24 pictures (excluding voice work and cameos) have you seen since his 2002 breakthrough? The posters are after the jump...
The In-Laws, Foolproof, and Blade Trinity
Amityville Horror, Waiting, Just Friends
Smoking Aces, The Nines and Definitely Maybe
Fireflies in the Garden (barely released. Strange as it had multiple famous actors), Chaos Theory, and Adventureland
X-Men Origins Wolverine, The Proposal (his biggest hit - but it was Sandra Bullock's biggest year ever) and Paperman
Buried, Green Lantern, The Change-Up
Safe House, RIPD, The Voices
The Captive, Woman in Gold and Self/Less
Next up is the action comedy Deadpool, which will be his fifth superhero-related picture -- though none have been successful enough for him to reprise his role until now. And for a long while it looked like that spinoff (from X-Men Origins: Wolverine) wasn't going to happen. Deadpool's social media team and Ryan Reynolds himself seem to have a great sense of humor about the forthcoming picture which might help it open bigger than his usual films unless a superhero backlash or superhero fatigue settles in before then. He's already posed for a Burt Reynold style photoshoot and just retweeted a fan made spoof of the Hunger Games teaser poster starring him instead.
SO HOW MANY OF HIS PICTURES HAVE YOU SEEN? I've only seen 8 but I remember some of them coming out and steering well clear for reasons of genre (Amityville Horror), reviews (RIPD) or disinterest (Just Friends -- remember that whole craze of putting pretty actors in fat suits in comedies in the Aughts?) and others I'm scratching my head trying to place, as in: Is that really a movie that exists?
Do you think his career will ever change -- he turns 40 next year (not that that stops male actors) -- or will he just keep on keeping on as he always has mixing nobody saw them failures with occassional modest hits?
Reader Comments (43)
I could never take him seriously as anything. I just think of him as a dork that had one of the most beautiful women ever and traded down for a bimbo.
Just Friends was the biggest suprise to me. Thoroughly enjoyed the hell out of it.
I have only seen one: Adventureland. It's an all-around solid flick, including his performance. The rest of his filmography doesn't interest me, although I heard from a friend that Buried is a good one as long as you're not claustrophobic.
Just Friends will always be an underrated classic to me. The fat suit is gone after 5 minutes and the remaining film is a laugh riot.
Anna Farris as Samantha James is utterly fantastic. One of my favorite broad, outlandish comedic performances in recent years (prepare the pitchforks).
Seriously Anna Faris is SO FUNNY in Just Friends, you're really missing something not seeing it. The rest of the movie's sweet, if generic.
"Next up is the action comedy Deadpool, which will be his fifth superhero-related picture -- though none have been successful enough for him to reprise the roles."
Until now you mean, right Nat -- he was Deadpool in the Wolverine movie.
The Amityville Horror remake is fantastically terrible but he is one of the hottest things ever put on screen in it. Anyway I've seen way too many of his terrible movies (I never made it all the way thru RIPD, it was unwatchable) just because of those damn abs. I am weak.
I've seen 7, can only recommend two things about his filmography (Adventureland and Anna Faris in Just Friends) and didn't know most of these existed. I guess I'm with the majority here.
5.
Blade: Trinity
Adventureland
Wolverine
The Proposal
Green Lantern
I liked him in Adventureland.
Zero movies.
Zero interest.
I just came here to talk about Anna Faris in Just Friends. I still go "ooh, big speech!" when someone is about to make an extended point. It's surprisingly hilarious in general but omg, Anna needs some sort of award for that role.
You have "The Captive" written where "Waiting" should be ;)
I remember really wanting to see "Definitely, Maybe" when it came out and never got around to it. Was it any good?
The only one I think I've seen is "Adventureland"! It was a test screen in New York City and it didn't come out until a year after (and bombed). It was right after "Twilight" so I thought they'd have Kristen Stewart all over the advertising, but they didn't.
I've seen 10.
I'd never seen him in anything until I saw Just Friends, which is just hilarious.
I like the way he is so generous and present for his female co-stars. He gives them what they need for their character in the scene, and you can see that he likes and respects them, and likes working with them.
I like his sense of humor and what he chooses to be serious about in a scene. I've seen him in 3 movies in the last month: Foolproof on late night tv (not very good); Self/Less today (like Limitless with Bradley Cooper, with the same kind of flaws and thrills); and Woman in Gold (interesting and worth seeing).
8 total that I'm 100% certain of:
Amityville Horror
Waiting
Smokin' Aces
Wolverine
The Proposal
Buried
Safe House
Woman in Gold
And I cannot tell you for sure if I've seen DEFINITELY, MAYBE. I remember the opening and the ending, but nothing else? And yet I'm sure I watched it with my ex and her roommate.
I've seen five and a half because I never finished Green Lantern. And technically Deadpool is the first character he's reprising since that's who he was supposedly playing in that Wolverine movie.
Just Friends really is funny. The poster for Buried is just brilliant (A+) work. And he, as an actor, is so blah to me. (He and Katie Holmes made a perfectly dull married pair in Woman in Gold.)
7, although I swore it was going to be more. Wow. I'm surprised. I guess he's one of those actors that appears everywhere and his movies are "big" movies, but I avoid them, so it feels like I've just seen him in a lot, but I haven't. He and Orlando Bloom should be friends.
The best is probably... gosh, SAFE HOUSE? I liked that one. Then ADVENTURELAND, although I distinctly remember not liking him in it. His GREEN LANTERN was terrible, his AMITYVILLE was boring. DEFINITELY MAYBE is passable fluff and THE PROPOSAL was entertaining.
Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.
I stumbled upon Ryan Reynolds filming a scene for Safe House in Paris. I was quite confused when I saw the movie to learn it's actually set in Cape Town, and only during the last 30 seconds do we see the Paris scene. So ultimately I spoiled the movie for myself 9 months before seeing it.
Jakey, I really liked Definitely Maybe. Nothing earth shattering but it's one my favorite modern romantic movies.
He's always been in the same category as Paul Rudd for me: can't headline their own movie but enjoyable to watch when trying to steal someone else's.
Every actor/star has flops and hits on their resume.
Ryan Reynolds comes across like a hunkier version of Steve Guttenberg.
He's also charmless and not a good actor.
I've seen 6...
Waiting..
Just Friends
Definitely, Maybe (my favorite)
The Proposal
Buried
The Change-Up
I have a guilty habit of watching bad Lifetime movies when I'm hungover. Yeah, yeah, I know. Anyway, there's this amazingly awesome one about eating disorders called "A Secret Between Friends" with Wonder Woman herself, Lynda Carter, as the mom, and Ryan Reynolds is in it and his hair is worth the price of admission alone.
Seriously, youtube it. It's SO fantastically bad.
8, but nothing since The Proposal. I'll agree with everyone else who is praising Just Friends. It's one of my favorite comedies. Anna Faris is amazing in that movie, and there are a lot of other little bits in it that work really well (Julie Haggerty is her usual wonderful self).
Five of these, six overall:
Waiting
The Nines (Has anyone else here seen this one? It's actually a pretty good trip, even if it's not a masterwork.)
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The Proposal
Green Lantern
And Turbo.
I've Seen 9:
- Blade Trinity
- Amityville Horror
- Smokin Aces
- Definitely, Maybe
- Fireflies in the Garden
- Adventureland
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine
- The Proposal
- Safe House
The only ones worth seeing out of that bunch are Definitely, Maybe (really sweet, well acted and better than it has any right to be given that it's basically How I Met Your Mother: The Movie), Adventureland (an underrated gem), and The Proposal (silly fun).
His career has always been so bizarre to me and I've never been sure of what I think of him as an actor, especially when it comes to dramas.
I've seen 6. I plan to watch Woman in Gold and the one directed by Egoyan. I like the guy. He knows he's not a great actor and he doesn't try to prove otherwise.
One!
I sat through The Proposal during an airplane ride.
I've seen:
Definitely, Maybe (watched on a plane, was okay)
The Proposal (a lot of fun, but thanks to Sandy)
The Change-Up (one of the worst movies I've ever seen)
The Voices (really liked it, but because Gemma/Anna/Jackie were so great)
Woman in Gold (really liked it, but because Helen/Tatiana/Daniel were so great, + Vienna!)
I can't stand this guy. He and Blake Lively are the #1 on my "celebrities I irrationally hate" list.
I've seen nine- I like him but he seems to light to carry a movie perhaps his real future in in tv
Thought he was excellent in "Buried." And I liked him in "Woman in Gold." I think he has great potential but has wasted his career on big money roles.
He's got zero charisma, charm, acting ability, or presence, and isn't even fun as a celebrity. I have never understood his appeal outside the aesthetic, and even there he's not beautiful in the way Gosling or Hemsworth is beautiful. I have seen three (Woman in Gold, Green Lantern, and The Proposal), and would be happy with no more.
The first time I saw him onscreen was in the Kirsten Dunst movie, "Dick".
Six total, but it will very likely be seven when Deadpool comes out because I thought he was great in the role in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. My favorite is easily Definitely Maybe, which is really sweet and has surprisingly great turns from Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fisher, and Rachel Weisz as the love interests. And he's also much more tolerable than usual in it. I am embarrassed to admit that I kinda fell in love with him in Van Wilder. I also saw Green Lantern just for that body, and MAN was it terrible.
I have only seen The Proposal of his films. I liked Sandra in it but not the film or him. I think he has a PR team that makes him seem bigger star than he is (his marriages have also helped) but the audiences see him the way they see Jay Courtney (well, not that bad but still).
Seven. For the most part, a thoroughly forgettable filmography, but I wanted to put in a good word for The Nines. Such a strange yet thoroughly entertaining picture with solid performances by Reynolds, Hope Davis and a pre-stardom Melissa McCarthy. It's a shame John August hasn't directed anything else because he showed such promise in this little gem of a film.
5.
He is honestly one of the worst actors to ever emerge from our generation of actors and that people still keep trying to make him happen because he has a decent body? WTF?
When there are POC actors who everyone laments over not getting enough chances but we'll let basic, terrible actors like him straight up steal movies from better more talented people because he satisfies whatever basic list of beauty we have for our male actors (i.e. white with a nice chest and arms), then you're not really very serious about your demand for diversity in casting tbh.
Pass.
I haven't seen a single one of these. Every time I look at him, I fall asleep.
I was really surprised to find that I've only seen three, especially since I rather like Reynolds. Admitted he isn't the greatest actor, but from reading some people's comments you'd think he was even worse. He's no John C. Reilly; he's no Adam Sandler!
@ Jaragon:
TV is his pre-buffed past (Two Guys...).
I've only seen 5, and yet his movies always seem to be showing on Basic Cable.
The Amityville Horror (they have a great story, and threw out every part of the true (?) story but a house in Amityville. Genius, people.)
Definitely, Maybe
The Proposal
Safe House
and maybe half each of Green Lantern and R I P D, so that equals 5.
I've seen more than 10 films with Ryan Raynold and I liked them all. And I really don't get those who writes here negative comments.
Ryan Raynolds is talentiv actor with great of sense of humor. 👍
Good luck Ryan and I look forward to seeing you in a new movies!