One of the few remaining bona fide movie megastars whose reputation precedes them and whose stardom is reminiscent of the glory days of extravagant movie personas,Kevin Costneris one of the most influential actors in Hollywood. Since his acting debut in ‘81, the man has relentlessly worked in front of and behind the camera, enthralling fans for years. In fact, he recently directed and acted in the first part of a four-part Western epic,Horizon: An American Saga - ChapterI, one of the2024 movie flops that could become cult hitsin the future.
He has been prolific in every decade of his career, with some ofKevin Costner’s best movies being from the 1990s, and some of his most iconic roles being from the ’80s. The 2000s are the perfect demonstration of his star power, though. Despite having only a couple of strong movies in that decade, nothing could stop his flow. His career can clearly take a hit and keep going, proven byKevin Costner beingin over 50 movies. He has taken weaker box-office performances in his stead and kept going as a top-tier entertainer, actor, director, and producer.
Rumor Has It…
Cast
Rumor Has It… stars Jennifer Aniston as Sarah Huttinger, a woman who discovers her family might have been the inspiration for the book and film The Graduate. Directed by Rob Reiner, the film follows Sarah as she navigates her complicated family history and her current relationship with her fiancé, played by Mark Ruffalo. Kevin Costner and Shirley MacLaine co-star in this romantic comedy-drama.
There were perhaps moreso bad they’re good movies in the 2000sthan in any other decade of cinema. Some of the wildest premises would make their way from the ideation session to the big screen during the 2000s, and the world is simultaneously better and worse off for it. Unfortunately, despite having one of the wildest concepts for a comedy movie that, at the hands of a more skilled director, could have become a campy over-the-top classic,Rumor Has It…falls flat on its face and somehow keeps falling until the final credits.
Attaching a hilarious idea to a classic movie likeThe Graduate(1967) can create a revisionist comedy. Unfortunately,Rumor Has It…explores a much more taboo concept thanThe Graduate, and goes a problematic distance with it. Not only does Jennifer Aniston’s character cheat on her fiancé, played by Mark Ruffalo, but she does so with a man, played by Kevin Costner, who sheused to think was her fatheruntil a few moments before she commits the act of infidelity. Even as a product of its time,Rumor Has It…runs on ground that’s too slippery to sustain it.
The New Daughter
The New Daughter is a horror-thriller film directed by Luiso Berdejo. Kevin Costner stars as John James, a single father who relocates to rural South Carolina with his daughter Louisa and son Sam. As Louisa begins to exhibit increasingly strange behavior, John uncovers a series of haunting and mysterious events that suggest the presence of an ancient and malevolent force.
Another product of its time,The New Daughteris a broken family-themed drama about a single father grappling with the challenges of parenting adolescent children. Unfortunately, it’s also a creature feature that symbolically uses the sexual awakening of Costner’s character’s daughter as a premise for horror. The horror aspect ofThe New Daughterturns the premise of a compelling drama into a ridiculous and forgettable movie that feels too much like a product of its time.
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Kevin Costner looks disinterested in the whole movie, and while the detached style of acting works for the first half of the film, it looks lazy and boring by the time the third act begins. The final twenty minutes ofThe New Daughter, in which the well-designed creatures finally make them seen, is a relatively action-packed set piece thatteases a much better entertainer, but much too late into the movie. It also doesn’t help that almost all the exposition occurs through poorly explored Google searches by Costner’s character, including what being a bad father entails.
Swing Vote
A teenager ahead of her time sets off a series of events that leads her alcoholic and irresponsible father to hold the outcome of the US presidential election in his hands. Everything depends on this man’s vote.
A political satire that plays too safe and never offers potent commentary about the corruptness of the politicians in America, featuring an apathetic and apolitical Kevin Costner,Swing Votetries so hard to talk about social responsibility that it fails to explore the flaws in the American voting and political systems. Costner’s character goes through a predictable arc that ends ina neutral observation which lacks any bite.
Madeline Carroll’s performance as Costner’s daughter is undeniably the best part ofSwing Vote. She introduces a touch of sincerity that grounds the ludicrous premise and makes the movie believable. As do the delightfully caricaturish performances by Kelsey Grammar, Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane, and Dennis Hopper, who play fictional political figures inSwing Vote.
3000 Miles to Graceland
3000 Miles to Graceland is a crime thriller film that follows a group of ex-cons who plan to rob a casino during a Elvis Presley impersonator convention. Led by Murphy (Kevin Costner) and Hanson (Kurt Russell), the group’s heist goes awry, and they must evade the authorities and other criminals to get away with the loot.
A heist movie with an Elvis impersonator bombing at the box office just months beforeOcean’s Eleven(2001) changed heist movies forever is just one of those bizarre movie history moments that come up at trivia nights. Unfortunately, Kevin Costner’s ridiculous get-up isn’t the worst part about his character in3000 Miles to Graceland —it’sone of Costner’s worst performancesin a career that has a dearth of bad acting.
3000 Miles to Gracelandis just about good enough to make it onto a list of Kevin Costner’s best action movies.
3000 Miles to Gracelandisn’t all bad. For one, it’s not boring. The action set pieces are thrilling, especially the shootout scene featuring Kevin Costner and Ice-T set to music by Spineshank. There are some fun exchanges between Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner, and3000 Milesto Gracelandis just about good enough to make it onto a list ofKevin Costner’s best action movies.
Dragonfly
Dragonfly is a supernatural thriller directed by Tom Shadyac, starring Kevin Costner as Dr. Joe Darrow, a grieving doctor who begins to experience eerie occurrences and messages from his deceased wife. As he unravels the mystery, he encounters a series of patients with near-death experiences, leading him on a spiritual journey that challenges his understanding of life and death.
Kevin Costner’s sci-fi movie inspired byThe Sixth Senseis often considered the worst movie of his career, with critics giving it a meager 7% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the movie’s not nearly bad enough to deserve that reputation. It’s dull and doesn’t live up to its potential, but Costner himself is brilliant in it, and the movie has a refreshingly unique premise.
Unfortunately, the execution ofDragonflyisn’t nearly as good as the premise deserves. The movie is carried by Costner’s patient and composed performance as a grieving doctor, but even he can’t save it. For a movie with an emotional setup starring such a talented actor,Dragonflyis too caught up in creating sci-fi lore and committing to the supernatural. This preoccupationdraws focus away from the emotionally potent narrativeand leaves behind a hollow shell of a movie that should have been much better than it is.
Mr. Brooks
Mr. Brooks is a psychological thriller directed by Bruce A. Evans. Released in 2007, the film explores the dual life of a successful businessman who struggles to keep his homicidal alter ego, driven by a compulsion for murder and chaos, under control.
With a chilling premise of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde-like situation, Bruce A. Evans’ psychological murder thriller is a sort of underrated gem lost in obscurity over the years. While it’sa little tonally inconsistent and focuses on the boring characters morethan the psychosis of Kevin Costner’s character, who an even more psychotic William Hurt leads on a serial killing rampage, the subplots focused on the murders are well done.
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Mr. Brooksis underrated, but it also doesn’t live up to its potential. The violence is presented with music video-style cuts and needle drops that take away from the seriousness and the psychological weight of the moments. The number of side stories thatMr. Brookstries to tell, from Demi Moore’s character’s divorce, which distracts her from the case, to Dane Cook’s character being a fan but not adding anything meaningful to most of his scenes, betrays a lack of faith in the material on the director’s part.
The Upside of Anger
After her husband runs off with his secretary, Terry Wolfmeyer is left alone to look after her four daughters. Depressed, she starts drinking with her new friend, neighbor and former baseball player Denny. As they grow closer, and her daughters come to depend on him, Terry begins to question their relationship.
This sweet dramedy from 2005 features a criminally underappreciated performance by Joan Allen, who portrays bitterness shorn of grace. There’s nothing elegant or pretty about the way she clashes with her family members, and the dramatic tension created between the characters in various states of distress provides the perfect emotional backdrop forThe Upside of Angerto unfold.
While there are some side plots that neither goes anywhere meaningful nor really contribute to the main story,The Upside of Angercan seem to meander purposelessly more than it needs to or should. But, things come together well enough with the chemistry between Kevin Costner and Joan Allen treating audiences to a romance worth remembering, andthe story moving forward in a hopeful direction. The way every family member learns to love each other, especially Joan’s character again, is heartwarming.
The Guardian
The Guardian is an action-drama film directed by Andrew Davis. It stars Kevin Costner as a veteran rescue swimmer who trains new recruits after a tragic incident. Ashton Kutcher plays a young, brash recruit who joins the elite Coast Guard unit. The film explores themes of mentorship, sacrifice, and resilience within the perilous world of sea rescues.
Top Gun: MaverickbeforeTop Gun: Maverick,The Guardianfollows a Coast Guard veteran, played by Kevin Costner, who’s closer to his retirement age than he’d like to admit, as he takes on a new group of recruits to train them. Among them is Ashton Kutcher’s character, who’s the best swimmer from high school and wants to be the best in his group in the Coast Guard as well, an ambition that could endanger everyone else involved.
The training arc is a brilliantly enthusiastic montage of action and teaching.
The training arc is a brilliantly enthusiastic montage of action and teaching, a perfect setup for the climax where the lessons come to the rescue as Kutcher’s character grows into a better person for the sake of his teammates. Costner’s star persona makes his character believable because his super heroics at that age appear charming and effortless due to the grandeur of his screen presence.
Thirteen Days
Thirteen Days is a drama film that recounts the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a 13-day political and military standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union. The film focuses on the decisions made by President John F. Kennedy, played by Bruce Greenwood, and his brother Robert Kennedy, played by Steven Culp, as they navigate the crisis and search for a peaceful resolution.
Based on the Cuban Missile Crisis,Thirteen Daysis one ofthe best political thrillers of all time. The approach of a docu-drama to such a narrative could easily become boring, but instead, Roger Donaldson deliversa tense movie where every military maneuver feels like a move on a chess board, and viewers will get invested in watching history unfold before their eyes. Solid performances across the board add a polish to the film that elevates it above its contemporaries in the same genre.
Kevin Costner delivers a compelling performance as the main character of the movie, the personal advisor to John F. Kennedy. While historical accuracy is obviously not a prerequisite or even an expectation of a Hollywood movie, it is particularly jarring to see the movie centered around Costner’s character when he didn’t play that significant a role in the actual Crisis. Nonetheless, the suspense that brings to life the extent to which the world was pushed to the brink of nuclear apocalypse in 1962, makesThirteen Daysa great movie.
Open Range
Open Range is a Western film directed by and starring Kevin Costner. Released in 2003, the movie features Robert Duvall as Boss Spearman and Kevin Costner as Charley Waite, two cattle herders driving their herd across the American frontier. They become entangled in a violent conflict with a corrupt rancher, played by Michael Gambon. The film explores themes of justice, friendship, and redemption amidst the rugged landscapes of the West.
15 years before the first episode ofYellowstoneaired, Kevin Costner directed and starred in a Western, his best movie of the 2000s. The masterful direction ofOpen Rangeand his charming performance as the protagonist establish beyond a doubt that he’s at his strongest in recent times, at least when working in the Western genre. Costner’s character goes through a particularly testing time as his circumstances tempt him to fall back into old habits he had once shaken off.
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Costner’s comfort with the genre is apparent from his creative choices that don’t follow many of the customs of the Western established since the ’60s, often considered the greatest decade for the genre. His vision forOpen Rangeinvolves including moments that don’t add to the tension but flesh out the characters and round out the world as being lived-in. Scenes likethe protagonist saving a dog after complaining about the rainfor hours don’t often make it into Western movies, but Costner enjoys the fluff, too.
