13 Best Ryan Reynolds Movies 5

Ryan Reynolds has remained one of Hollywood’s most popular actors for nearly 20 years. He’s developed a likable public persona, become a master marketer and entrepreneur, made close friends with the kind of Hollywood talent many people would sell a necessary organ for — and he’s married to Blake Lively.

Yet, that popularity often comes with the question of the quality of his filmography. And yes, it has its share of misses. But in watching every Ryan Reynolds movie from Coming Soon (2000) to IF (2004), I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe: Reynolds as an amnesiac god married to Melissa Mcarthy and posing as a TV writer; I watched him play a beloved school teacher with terminal cancer in an ABC family movie; I saw him switch places with Jason Bateman after peeing in a magic fountain; witnessed him as a novelist grieving the death of his mother played by Julia Roberts, all under the eye of his abusive father played by Willem Dafoe.

But I digress, because I discovered that even his not-best movies are made immensely more watchable simply by his presence. And that’s the thing when it really comes down to it. He’s not an actor who could be described as a chameleon — though he’s shown more layers across his career than he often gets credit for, and one of his best performances was in the so-so movie The Captive (2014), which was released to DirecTV. But he’s a welcome presence even at the lowest points in his filmography. And at the highest points, he’s an agile improviser and a force that will keep you on your toes. And that’s true, regardless of whether he’s gleefully decapitating villains or struggling to escape the coffin he’s been buried in underground. Ryan Reynolds is an immensely watchable actor, even if the reason why isn’t always quantifiable.

With the release of his passion project, Deadpool & Wolverine, I take a look back at his best movies and offer the ranking below.