Few actors have the range that Rachel McAdams has. Who else could play Regina George, leader of the Plastics, and hard-drinking True Detective cop Ani Bezzerides? Over the years, McAdams has appeared in romantic dramas, romantic comedies, action adventures, political thrillers, sci-fi blockbusters, foggy mystery tales, Oscar-winning masterpieces — she’s even got a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After making her big-screen debut in The Hot Chick and bringing tears to viewers’ eyes in The Notebook a couple of years later, McAdams was hailed as Hollywood’s new “it girl.” So, here are Rachel McAdams’ 10 Best Movies, According To Rotten Tomatoes.
Red Eye (79%)
Wes Craven directed this psychological thriller as a response to widespread post-9/11 fears. It’s set on an airplane and has an absurdly convoluted terrorist plot. Cillian Murphy plays one of the terrorists, who corners Rachel McAdams’ hotel manager character on a plane and forces her to give his fellow terrorists access to the Presidential suite in her hotel, which will provide the perfect vantage point to assassinate a politician on a yacht…and they’ve kidnapped her family as leverage. A few of those steps probably didn’t need to be there. Despite the terrorists’ unnecessarily complex plan, Red Eye is a compelling thriller that never loses the audience’s attention.
TIE: Disobedience (84%)
This nuanced romantic drama didn’t get a particularly wide theatrical release in 2018, which is a shame, because it’s a powerful movie with a positive pro-LGBTQ+ message. Disobedience is about a woman (Rachel Weisz) returning to the Orthodox Jewish community she grew up in after being shunned years earlier for being attracted to another girl (McAdams). The movie is about faith and sexuality and the complicated ideological relationship shared by the two. The muted palette used by cinematographer Danny Cohen received particular praise from critics, but it’s the lead performances of McAdams and Weisz that make the movie as strong as it is.
TIE: Mean Girls (84%)
Tina Fey wrote the script for Mean Girls, the quintessential teen comedy based on a non-fiction book about the power structures in high school called Queen Bees and Wannabes. Lindsay Lohan stars as Cady, a new student who just moved back to America after spending her childhood in Africa. She compares her classmates and the groups they’re in to the animal kingdom.
Rachel McAdams plays the villain, Regina George, leader of “the Plastics” and the meanest of the titular mean girls. Regina is an all-time great movie villain, acting as the comedic alternative of a character like Darth Vader or Hannibal Lecter.
TIE: State of Play (84%)
This compelling political thriller was based on a six-part British miniseries with the same title and inspired by the paranoid post-Watergate cinema of the ‘70s. Following the mysterious death of the mistress of a Congressman played by Ben Affleck, a journalist played by Russell Crowe launches an investigation to get to the bottom of it. Rachel McAdams heads up a strong supporting cast that also includes Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels, and Jason Bateman. Kevin Macdonald enlisted a trio of Hollywood’s finest thriller writers to craft State of Play’s script: Matthew Michael Carnahan (Lions for Lambs and The Kingdom), Tony Gilroy (the first four Bourne movies), and Billy Ray (Captain Phillips).
Game Night (85%)
Rachel McAdams starred alongside Jason Bateman in Game Night, a dark comedy from the directors of the 2015 Vacation reboot. McAdams and Bateman play a couple who host a weekly game night, and one week, Bateman’s brother stops by and he’s arranged a murder-mystery party. But then, actual thugs break in and take him away. Everyone thinks it’s part of the game, but that part’s actually real. With its cold color-grading, unconventional camera angles, and hilarious handling of dark subject matter, Game Night serves as a brilliant parody of David Fincher’s style of directing thrillers. The Hollywood comedy has been in a slump for the past few years, but Game Night marks an all-too-rare gem.
A Most Wanted Man (87%)
This spy thriller adapted from the novel of the same name by the great John le Carré is notable for featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman’s final screen appearance. Rachel McAdams, Willem Dafoe, and Robin Wright co-star in A Most Wanted Man, which tells the story of a Chechen Muslim who illegally immigrates to Hamburg before getting swept up in the ongoing War on Terror. As always, le Carré’s work formed the basis for an espionage-themed romp that’s as thought-provoking and smart as it is thrilling. Hoffman’s untimely passing was a tragedy for film buffs, but at least he left us with a doozy of a final onscreen appearance.
Doctor Strange (89%)
Scott Derrickson’s Doctor Strange was a more-or-less generic superhero origin story, checking off all the origin story clichés (a tragic accident, a one-dimensional love interest, a mentor’s death in the 11th hour etc.), but it has enough dazzling visual effects and trippy interdimensional sequences to make up for it.
Rachel McAdams wasn’t given much to work with as Christine Palmer, the love interest. As far as banal MCU romantic foils go, Christine is just one degree more interesting than Jane Foster. Hopefully, in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, set to hit theaters in 2021, McAdams will be given more to do.
TIE: The Little Prince (93%)
This animated adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s children’s book of the same name, The Little Prince was a French production, but the voice actors recorded their lines in English. Such big stars as Jeff Bridges, Ricky Gervais, Paul Rudd, Marion Cotillard, James Franco, Benicio del Toro, Paul Giamatti, and of course, Rachel McAdams provided their voices for the film, so it’s inexplicable how it managed to slip under the mainstream radar. It only grossed around $97 million at the worldwide box office on its estimated budget of approximately $77.5 million, so it barely scraped a profit. The film has an interesting combination of computer animation and stop-motion animation that struck a chord with critics.
TIE: Midnight in Paris (93%)
Woody Allen’s later works have sort of a negative reputation. Not only has the public’s perception of Allen soured, but his newer films just aren’t considered as inspired as his earlier works like Annie Hall and Manhattan. However, Midnight in Paris is up there with his finest movies. Owen Wilson stars as a sort of West Coast proxy for Allen, a screenwriter working on his first novel. He travels to Paris with his fiancée, played with hilarious pretension by Rachel McAdams, and finds that at midnight, he’s transported back to the 1920s to rub shoulders with Hemingway, Picasso, and the Fitzgeralds.
Spotlight (97%)
This harrowing dramatization of the Boston Globe’s Pulitzer Prize-winning investigation into the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal acts as both a sobering reminder of what the Church covered up and a sincere tribute to the vital work done by journalists. Rachel McAdams joins Spotlight’s star-studded ensemble cast that also includes Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Stanley Tucci, and John Slattery, each playing a real-life reporter who played a key role in the investigation. It’s no wonder that this tear-jerking look at a disgraceful social issue was given the Academy Award for Best Picture.
