Categories: Movies

Favorite Movies Starring Angelina Jolie

This article, about the best movies starring Angelina Jolie, is not any kind of attempt to decide which of all her movies are the greatest ever, but is about the best ones I have seen, and is only my personal opinion. That being said, I pretty much enjoy watching her act in just about anything she does.

My personal favorite 5 Angelina Jolie movies are:

Beyond Borders (2003) – with Clive Owen. Jolie plays Sarah Jordan, who leads a life of luxury and privilege, and after listening to Owen’s Nick Callahan speak passionately about relief efforts in Ethiopia, feels compelled to do something to help those less fortunate. Five years pass, and Sarah and Nick end up meeting again in Cambodia. He is skeptical at first, but it is revealed that she has a special gift for nurturing the suffering, and he comes to respect her. From then on, it becomes more of a love story, but with those two it is worth watching. It comes across as very honest and believable. Beyond Borders is a movie that unflinchingly displays the gritty side of humanitarian aid, that most of us don’t ever hear a thing about when we are urged to help out with our donations.

The Bone Collector (1999) – with Denzel Washington and Queen Latifah. I like this movie because it’s so rare to see Jolie playing a character who is like Amelia Donaghy, a rookie cop who is swept up in Washington’s character’s investigation into a serial killer’s clues. She’s nervous, awkward, scared, and nothing like some of the assassins with machine gun-types she plays in later movies. Washington sees the potential in her, though, and coaches her along, and that is nice to see. Plus, it’s a genuine nail-biting thriller of a flick until the end, and this serial killer is a real creep and I was rooting for her to get this guy.

Girl, Interrupted (1999) – with Winona Ryder. Jolie is Lisa, a sociopath in the psychiatric hospital that Ryder is a patient in, and the girls become friends. Jolie is so good in her role as a sociopath that she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Lisa is just so unbelievably and outrageously without a conscience sometimes, but she ends up getting so sick emotionally that I felt sorry for her. Jolie manages to make a pretty unlikeable character vulnerable and likeable, which is a true feat of acting.

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003) – with Gerard Butler. I didn’t see the first Lara Croft film, so I can’t compare them, but in this movie Jolie gets to be over-the-top amazing in everything her character does. She’s like a female James Bond. There’s action and adventure galore, she gets some great lines, and looks magnificent at all times. This movie is just really cool. Who cares if it isn’t realistic?

Mr. and Mrs. Smith (2006) – with Brad Pitt. Jolie is Jane, Pitt is John, and they fall in love and get married and lead a typical, ordinary suburban life. Except, both of them are really secret spies and are ordered to assassinate each other when their superiors find out. Then the fun really starts and, like the former movie, it is filled with action and adventure. It’s another totally unrealistic movie, but the whole point is to escape the drudgery of reality for 120 minutes. Jolie is really not nice when she is angry at someone in this movie. It’s also neat to see how she has all kinds of hidden spy gadgetry in her nice, normal looking kitchen before Pitt is aware of who he is married to.