The overdue Oscar label reduces a vibrant career to fickle awards metrics.
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Amy Adams was doing a Minnesota dinner-theater production ofBrigadoonwhen she auditioned to play a dotty cheerleader inDrop Dead Gorgeous.
The role was small, and the movie famously went nowhere at the time.
For women in Hollywood, that archetype can be tough to escape ask Meg Ryan.
WithNightbitchopening in theaters, were ranking Adamss major work thus far.
Also, no one-off TV appearances orDr.
Vegas, which lasted all of five episodes and presumably only exists in some padlocked CBS vault.
Her best roles tend to flit between genres, finding candor and nuance in the grayest areas.
and stare at Henry Cavills cheekbones.
Its a serviceable Adams performance, determined and matter-of-fact.
33.Leap Year(2010)
33.
32.Hillbilly Elegy(2020)
32.
Even when you ignore the baggage of J.D.
As Vances troubled mother, Adams shrieks a lot, which is not her specialty.
Shes constantly going from zero to 1,000 in a way that turns analready fraught adaptationinto clueless melodrama.
31.Standing Still(2005)
31.
Adams has one of the groups more grounded characters, but that also means shes a bit bland.
30.Serving Sara(2002)
30.
Adams isnt in much of Reginald Hudlins crass rom-com flop, and for that she can count herself lucky.
29.Dear Evan Hansen(2021)
29.
The Adams Family thats the name of her fan group, right?
Those were dark days.
Fortunately, Adams is affecting as a grieving suburban mother grasping for clues about her teenage sons suicide.
Shes the only person who makes you want to believe that Ben Plattcould reasonably be 17.
28.Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby(2006)
28.
Can a girl with glasses be sexy?
Thats the question governing AdamssTalladega Nightscharacter, and the answer is only if she puts her hair down.
27.The Muppets(2011)
27.
AdamssMuppetsperformance suffers from recent history.
Its a real girl, leave him situation, even for a kids movie.
26.Nocturnal Animals(2016)
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25.On the Road(2012)
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24.Psycho Beach Party(2000)
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Adamss role, however minor, foreshadows the star power she would later unleash.
Whenever shes onscreen,Psycho Beach Partygets a punch-up.
23.The Office(200506)
23.
Adams is the hot girl in Hot Girl, the season-one finale (directed by Amy Heckerling!)
that introduces her as Jims love interest.
22.Big Eyes(2015)
22.
Oh, what Tim Burton could have made with Amy Adams in the 90s.
21.The Wedding Date(2005)
21.
However objectionable her self-absorbed homewrecker may be, Adams is a hoot.
20.Trouble With the Curve(2012)
20.
Hes old, hes crotchety, hes Clint Eastwood.
As his daughter, Adams is appropriately frustrated with the strife her ailing old man inflicts upon her life.
19.Vice(2018)
19.
Adam McKays baggy Dick Cheney satire is the closest Adams has come to doing Shakespeare.
Adams is the outlier in a film obsessed with its own supposed cleverness.
Her clasped hands say as much about Lynnes determination as any of McKays self-satisfied dialogue.
18.The Woman in the Window(2021)
18.
What if Amy Adams is good inThe Woman in the Window?
Much of the blame for this COVID-era laughingstock seems to lie with Disney.
Adams isnt any less earnest, but shes compelling as a boozy agoraphobe who witnesses her neighbors murder.
17.Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day(2008)
17.
Circa 2008, even Adamss vamps were perky.
16.Drop Dead Gorgeous(1999)
16.
Adams entersDrop Dead Gorgeouslike a fidgety firework.
15.Charlie Wilsons War(2007)
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14.Julie & Julia(2009)
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Adams is a natural fit for Nora Ephrons gabby dialogue.
13.Sunshine Cleaning(2008)
13.
12.Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian(2009)
12.
Here comes Adamss Katharine Hepburn moment.
She channels a breed of incandescent movie-star charisma that has since become endangered.Bringing Up Babyremake when?
11.Her(2013)
11.
10.Catch Me If you’ve got the option to(2002)
10.
Adams enters the movie in tears, her girlishness embellished by the awkward braces on her adult teeth.
Soon enough, she and Leo are hooking up like ravenous teenagers.
She lateracknowledgedthatCatch Me If You Cankicked off her naivete phase.
Even thoughEnchantedwas a ways away, the through-line from one to the other is clear.
9.Doubt(2008)
9.
What Adams is conveying is callowness, an implacable belief that faith will carry her through any trial.
Over the course of John Patrick Shanleys film, her innocence slips away.
Adamss dulcet voice thickens, and her eyes grow heavier.
Without overplaying her hand, Adams understands that James is a proxy for the audience processingDoubts thorny ideas.
8.American Hustle(2013)
8.
Shes shrewd, lawless, sexy, and capable of conjuring her English-aristocrat alter ego without missing a beat.
Instead of howling, she hisses.
7.Nightbitch(2024)
7.
Adams is a great choice for the fed-up mom at the center ofNightbitch, referred to simply as Mother.
But even if the movie is missing its canine teeth, watching Adams teeter between woman-on-the-verge extremes is great.
You just wish the movie around her worked better.
6.The Fighter(2010)
6.
With one swift punch,The Fighterput Adamss wide-eyed era to bed.
Still, Charlene is an Adams creature through and through.
She makes us trust that Charlene is the smartest heavyweight in any room (or ring).
5.Sharp Objects(2018)
5.
4.Enchanted(2007) andDisenchanted(2022)
4.
Adamss first lead role in a studio movie demanded her entire comedic arsenal.
As a result, the fairy-tale princess seems to float when she walks, perfectly matching her singsongy exuberance.
3.Arrival(2016)
3.
One striking thing aboutArrivalis how quiet Adams is in it.
Turns out one of our talkiest actresses is also great in stillness.
2.Junebug(2005)
2.
Adamss Ashley Johnsten is the last major character introduced inJunebug.
Ashley is no squabbler.
This one is her best.
1.The Master(2012)
1.
The timbre of Adamss voice remains delicate.
She doesnt need to underline Peggys inner monster to get the point across.
