It may be hard to believe, but George Clooney has been acting since the late 1970s, and throughout his 40-plus years in Hollywood he has starred in some incredible films.
Clooney’s earliest work was as an extra in various projects, but he would eventually go on to appear in B-movies such as Return to Horror High, Combat Academy, and Return of the Killer Tomatoes.
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He eventually wound up getting a role on Roseanne, and then later made turned a breakout performance as Dr. Doug Ross on ER.
ER was the catalyst for Clooney’s illustrious career, which has seen him deliver numerous award-winning performances.
Scroll down for our list of the 10 best George Clooney films, and be sure to leave us a comment with your favorite!
Gravity
Released: 2013 / Directed by: Alfonso Cuarรณn
Also Starring: Sandra Bullock and Ed Harris.
Gravity is tense, jarring scifiย thriller about two U.S. astronauts (Clooney and Bullock) who become stranded in outer space after their shuttle is damaged.
Clooneyย serves up a stoicย performance, and works in perfect unisonย with Bullock to deliver this intense film carried on the weight of two powerful stars.
Three Kings
Released: 1999 / Directed by:ย David O. Russell
Also Starring:ย Mark Wahlberg,ย Ice Cube, Spike Jonze,ย Nora Dunn, Jamie Kennedy,ย Mykelti Williamson, Cliff Curtis andย Saรฏd Taghmaoui.
Clooney playsย Major Archie Gates, “a career U.S. Army Special Forces officer close to retirement” in this black comedy about wartime.
The film has become somewhat notoriousย more for its behind-the-scenes antics, as Clooneyย infamously butted-heads withย Russell. Their contentiousness with one another even came to blows once.
Good Night, And Good Luck
Released: 2005 / Directed by:ย George Clooney
Also Starring:ย David Strathairn,ย Patricia Clarkson,ย Jeff Daniels, Robert Downey, Jr., Frank Langella,ย Tate Donovan, andย Alex Borstein.
Clooneyย not only appeared in, but also directed this historical drama about the “conflict between veteran radio and television journalist Edward R. Murrowย (Strathairn) and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.”
The film specifically focuses on Murrow’s issues with “the anti-Communist Senator’s actions with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.”
Clooneyย received Best Director award nominations for the film at both theย Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
Out of Sight
Released: 1998 / Directed by:ย Steven Soderbergh
Also Starring:ย Jennifer Lopez,ย Ving Rhames,ย Don Cheadle,ย Dennis Farina and Albert Brooks.
Before the two joined forces for Ocean’s 11, Clooney andย Soderberghย teamed-upย for Out of Sight, a fun and funnyย neo-noirย crime film.
The film was adaptedย from the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, and went on to be nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar.
Up in the Air
Released: 2009 / Directed by:ย Jason Reitman
Also Starring:ย Vera Farmiga,ย Anna Kendrick, Danny McBride,ย Jason Bateman,ย Melanie Lynskey,ย Zach Galifianakis,ย J. K. Simmons, andย Sam Elliott.
Up In The Air is a dramedy that leans heavy on the drama, but creativelyย uses comedy to keep things from feeling to heavy.
Clooneyย brilliantly plays Ryan Bingham, aย corporate “downsizer” who slowly begins to feel the weight that his lifestyle is taking on him.
“In one sense, it’s a movie about a man who fires people for a living. In another sense, it’s a movie about a man who collects air miles excessively,” Reitmanย once noted of the film. “In another sense, it’s about a man who meets a woman who’s so similar to him that even though they both believe in the idea of living solo, they begin to fall in love.”
Michael Clayton
Released: 2007 / Directed by:ย Tony Gilroy
Also Starring: Tom Wilkinson,ย Tilda Swinton,ย Sydney Pollack,ย Michael O’Keefe,ย Merritt Wever, andย Denis O’Hare.
Michael Clayton is a deeply complex legal thriller in which Clooney stars in the title-role as aย “fixer” for law firmย Kenner, Bach, and Ledeen.
After uncovering somethingย he can’t turn a blind-eye to, Clayton sets off on a mission to set things right.
Ocean’s Eleven
Released: 2001 / Directed by:Steven Soderbergh
Also Starring: Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcรญa,ย Julia Roberts,ย Don Cheadle,ย Bernie Mac,ย Scott Caan,ย Casey Affleck,ย Carl Reiner,ย Elliott Gould,ย Eddie Jemison, andย Shaobo Qin.
Ocean’s Eleven is a comedic heist film that few people realize is actually a remake of an old Rat Pack movie of the same name.
In the updated version, Clooneyย played the sly and dashing Danny Ocean, a recently-released convict who has at least one more score to settle.
The film debuted in 2001, and quickly became a massive success. It went on to spawn two sequels (Ocean’s Twelve and Ocean’s Thirteen), as well asย a franchiseย reboot (2018s Ocean’s Eight).
The Descendants
Released: 2011 / Directed by: Alexander Payne
Also Starring:ย Shailene Woodley,ย Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer and Matthew Lillard.
In this family drama film, Clooney playsย Matthew “Matt” King, a man who is navigating the complicated watersย of life with his two daughters while his adulterous wife is comatose from a boating accident.
The film earned Clooneyย many awards nominations, with the star taking home the Golden Globe forย Best Actor โ Drama.
Hail, Caesar!
Released: 2016 / Directed by:ย Joel and Ethan Coen
Also Starring:ย Josh Brolin,ย Alden Ehrenreich,ย Ralph Fiennes,ย Jonah Hill,ย Scarlett Johansson,ย Frances McDormand,ย Tilda Swinton, andย Channing Tatum.
Hail, Caesar! is a ficticiousย comedy film that follows the real-life movie studioย “fixer”ย Eddie Mannix (Brolin)ย as he tries to keep the antics and eccentricitiesย of his film stars under wraps.
In the film, Clooneyย playsย Baird Whitlock, “a Robert Taylor-type film star” who is kidnapped and winds up with a bit ofย Stockholm syndrome due to hisย impressionable personality.
The Ides of March
Released: 2011 / Directed by: George Clooney
Also Starring:ย Ryan Gosling, Evan Rachel Wood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti,ย Marisa Tomeiย andย Jeffrey Wright.
The final film on out list of George Clooney’sย 10 best movies is another film that he directed, The Ides of March.
The film was adapted from the playย Farragut North, which was written byย Beau Willimon, who created the U.S. version of House of Cardsย for Netflix.
In The Ides of March, Clooneyย plays Mike Morris, the fictionalย Governor of Pennsylvania โ and presidential candidate โ who holds “integrity and dignity” at a much lower threshold than his outward persona would suggest.