Hugh Grant has been stealing our hearts for decades, and that’s why we want to review his best movies on the big screen . Since James Ivory’s ‘Maurice’ put him on the film map in the late 1980s, the British actor has built a legacy of iconic roles that have shone especially in the romantic comedy genre and the best love movies, but that have spread to Oscar-winning films, family adventures and suspenseful thrillers.
In fact, Grant is so versatile that he has even conquered streaming with the successful ‘The Undoing’, one of the best HBO series and one of the best suspense series that had us on our toes in 2021. He stars in it alongside Nicole Kidman, and helps us see a different side of the actor. No spoilers! But let’s leave the series aside for today. Time to sift through Grant’s filmography for the best. But we are not going to decide it, that would be very complicated: what we collect here are his films with the best score on IMDb , the largest cinephile database on the Internet, and whose decisions we must attribute to fans around the world.
And, well, in his final selection there are some of lime and others of sand, and also some of the best comedies in the history of cinema. For example, we will not see in this list some of his most remembered films, such as ‘ Bridget Jones’s Diary ‘, where he played a rogue boss addicted to sex and lies, and also ‘ Florence Foster Jenkins ‘, for which he was nominated to Golden Globe. But that there are some omissions does not mean that those that are do not deserve their position. Missing more! And it is that in this ranking we can find other classics of his filmography such as ‘ Four Weddings and a Funeral ‘, one of his most celebrated roles in one of the great romantic comedies in film history, ‘ Sense and Sensibility‘, where he became one of Jane Austen’s knights in an adaptation signed by Ang Lee, and also, of course, ‘ Paddington 2 ‘, a favorite of the public and where Grant showed more than ever his versatility as a villain.
Accept once and for all that Grant is much more than “the actor your mother liked so much” and check with these films why he is also a great and charismatic actor . Which one do you prefer?
Florence Foster Jenkins (Stephen Frears, 2016)
Nominated for two Oscars, this film by Stephen Frears tells the true story of Florence Foster Jenkins (played here by Meryl Streep ), a woman who, by inheriting her father’s fortune, was able to fulfill her dream of studying to be a soprano. But, well… Singing wasn’t really his thing. Hugh Grant co-stars in the film as her manager and husband of convenience. It is one of the 100 best biopics in film history.
IMDb rating: 6.8
Private Passions of a Woman (James Lapine, 1991)
Before proving in ‘Sense and Sensibility’ that he had what it takes to be an Austen boy, Hugh Grant did just as well in period cinema with this film by James Lapine . The story follows Baroness Dudevant (known by her pseudonym, George Sand, and played by Judy Davis ), who lives in Paris with her two children, dresses in menswear and writes, while interacting with personalities of the stature of the composer Franz Liszt, the painter Eugène Delacroix and the writer Alfred de Musset. But the one who will touch her heart will be the composer and pianist Frédéric Chopin, played by Grant.
IMDb rating: 6.9
A Big Boy (Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz, 2002)
Winner of the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, this film by Paul and Chris Weitz gave Hugh Grant another charismatic role to show off. And he complied. He plays Will Lightman, a single man in his late 40s who lives off the copyright to a song his father wrote and exhibits a tremendous fear of commitment. But his life will change when he becomes best friends with Marcus, a 12-year-old boy whom he meets on one of his dates.
IMDb rating: 7.1
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Mike Newell, 1994)
A group of singles discover at a wedding that everyone around them has walked down the aisle. During the ceremony, Charles ( Hugh Grant ) meets Carrie ( Andie Macdowell ), but will have to wait for the next wedding to find out more about her. An iconic romantic comedy that continues to be among the best in the genre. Funny, emotional and charming.
IMDb rating: 7’2
Notting Hill (Roger Michell, 1999)
Anna Scott ( Julia Roberts ) is the Hollywood star of the moment. William ( Hugh Grant ) is the owner of a small travel bookstore in the London neighborhood of Notting Hill. History writes itself, and it is one that we never get tired of seeing. We all love and admire this romantic comedy, but there are other underrated ‘romcoms’ that you should revisit.
IMDb rating: 7’1
Ice Moons (Roman Polanski, 1992)
A married couple celebrates their anniversary on an elegant cruise ship where they meet a couple made up of the uninhibited Mimi ( Emmanuelle Seigner ) and the paralyzed Oscar ( Peter Coyote ). The sexual tension rises faster than the Titanic’s boilers, and Hugh Grant does his best to deal with it. Directed by Roman Polanski .
IMDb rating: 7’2
