Morgan Freeman has an extremely beefy filmography with a lot of variation. He’s done everything from break out of prison to aid the Dark Knight to creating the entire universe. He also has one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood, often lending his dulcet tones to documentaries as a narrator.
As both an incredible dramatic and comedic actor, a lot of his movies are a great watch. But any actor with such a robust career will have put their name on a few flops. We’re looking at Freeman’s best and worst movies according to IMDb.
Worst: Evan Almighty (5.4)
A lot of us have a soft spot for Carrey’s Bruce Almighty, which introduced the world to Morgan-Freeman-As-God. It’s still one of his most recognizable roles, even if the movie doesn’t rank among the greatest of his filmography. He reprised the role in the spin-off sequel Evan Almighty, starring Steve Carell. Carell’s character Evan appears for a memorable goof in the first film, but wasn’t a central character.
Unfortunately, Evan Almighty doesn’t stand up to its predecessor. It flopped abysmally at the box office and didn’t make back its budget. This was particularly bad, considering it was at the time the most expensive comedy film ever produced. This is one sequel you can skip.
Best: Lucky Number Slevin (7.7)
Lucky Number Slevin is a neo-noir crime thriller packed to the gills with ridiculous twists and stylish action. Josh Harnett plays Slevin who gets embroiled in a crime war between two mob bosses after being mistaken for his friend Nick. He’s kidnapped two separate times by the two mobsters: The Boss (played by Freeman) and The Rabbi demanding that he pay Nick’s gambling debt. However, The Boss offers Slevin an alternative. If he kills The Rabbi’s son all will be forgiven. Plus the police and an assassin are watching Slevin’s every move. It’s not the most intellectual film, but it’s certainly good fun.
Worst: Edison (5.3)
This 2005 crime thriller was universally panned by critics. It follows the investigation of a young journalist (Justin Timberlake) as he uncovers a nest of conspiracies in the police force of his city. The cops of the elite F.R.A.T unit are corrupt and function above the law. He’s forced to join forces with several other journalists and investigators, including Freeman, in order to take them down. This one’s so bad that even co-star Kevin Spacey called it out as a terrible movie.
Best: Unforgiven (8.2)
Freeman stars alongside Clint Eastwood in his last classic Western. It portrays William Munny, a former outlaw and killer who’s since retired and turned to farming. But One Last Job comes around, as they tend to do, and Munny decides to go after the bounty to give his children a better life. Freeman plays Munny’s companion Ned Logan, who is another aging outlaw. The movie won four Academy Awards and was the third ever Western to win Best Picture.
Worst: The Big Bounce (4.9)
A comedy heist film adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, The Big Bounce was a massive critical and commercial failure. Owen Wilson plays a small-time thief who’s given a handyman position by his Judge (Freeman) after getting out of jail. He falls for a woman named Nancy who convinces him to break into a millionaire’s house and steal from his safe. But it turns out that his wife, who’s been sleeping with the Judge, killed the millionaire and paid Nancy to help frame Wilson. It made back only a fraction of it’s budget and was considered very light on both laughs and substance.
Best: Million Dollar Baby (8.1)
Clint Eastwood and Hillary Swank’s Million Dollar Baby has received numerous awards and accolades. Swank plays the underdog boxer that Eastwood’s character helps to the top. Freeman plays Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris, Eastwood’s assistant at the gym, who also helps train her.
It’s won four Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actress. Roger Ebert even referred to it as a masterpiece. The short story collection it was based on, Rope Burns by F. X. Toole, have been republished under the name of the movie as a credit to its success.
Worst: The Poison Rose (4.5)
A recent movie inspired by classic noir films, The Poison Rose stars John Travolta and Brendan Fraser alongside Freeman. Travolta plays an ex-football player turned private investigator. He takes on a missing persons case and uncovers a web of crimes, all seemingly converging on his long lost daughter. Unfortunately, it was universally panned, with critics called it an uninspired neo-noir wannabe. It leans too heavily on the genre’s cliches to generate any real feeling or suspense, and it is probably best left out of your queue.
Best: Se7en (8.6)
A classic from renowned thriller director David Fincher, Morgan Freeman plays the veteran detective to Brad Pitt’s passionate rookie. The two are called on to hunt down a serial killer using the biblical seven deadly sins as both motives and aesthetics for his murders. Long before we started to get tired of the endless grimdark tone of movies and television shows, Fincher was being praised for his darkest film yet. It was highly acclaimed, not only for its stellar performances, but also for its horrific gore effects and tense, involving plot.
Worst: Just Getting Started (4.4)
This 2017 flick was an unfortunate box office bomb. It stars Morgan Freeman as retired mob-affiliated defense lawyer Duke who now manages a luxury resort in California. Tommy Lee Jones plays former FBI agent Leo, and the two enter into a rivalry to be top dog. This is interrupted when the mafia tries to have Duke killed, and the two have to team up to prevent his assassination. The movie was a plodding, unfunny mess that dragged itself to a lazy and boring climax, and is probably one of the worst thing Freeman has ever starred in.
The Shawshank Redemption (9.3)
The Shawshank Redemption is an immensely popular Stephen King adaptation that many people are surprised to learn comes from the horror author’s body of work. Starring Morgan Freeman alongside Tim Robbins, the two men are sentenced to life in Shawshank prison and become close friends over the years. Frank Darabont’s adaptation of King’s novella earned multiple awards nominations and widespread critical acclaim. Despite this, the film didn’t do well commercially during its initial run, but has since cemented itself as an essential film from Freeman’s career.
