Bruce Dern movies: 15 greatest films ranked worst to best
Zach Laws Chris Beachum
Tour our photo gallery including 'Nebraska,' 'Coming Home,' 'The Great Gatsby,' 'The King of Marvin Gardens' and more.
https://www.goldderby.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/cropped-gd_favicon-1.png?w=32
GoldDerby
15. FAMILY PLOT (1976)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Screenplay by Ernest Lehman, based on the novel ‘The Rainbird Pattern’ by Victor Canning. Starring Bruce Dern, Barbara Harris, William Devane, Karen Black.

Dern had a brief role in Alfred Hitchcock’s “Marnie” (1964) early in his career, playing a sailor who traumatized Tippi Hedren during childhood. He took on a leading part in the legendary director’s final film, the pitch-black comedy “Family Plot.” It centers on two couples: one a phony psychic (Barbara Harris) and her cabbie boyfriend (Dern), the other a pair of professional kidnappers (William Devane and Karen Black). They run afoul of each other while searching for a missing heir. While it’s far from one of the best efforts from the Master of Suspense, it’s still a fitting swan song for one of cinema’s leading pioneers.

14. THEY SHOOT HORSES, DON’T THEY? (1969)

Directed by Sydney Pollack. Screenplay by Robert E. Thompson and James Poe, based on the novel by Horace McCoy. Starring Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Gig Young, Bonnie Bedelia, Red Buttons, Michael Conrad, Bruce Dern.

Sydney Pollack’s bleak, allegorical period drama provided Dern with one of his best early roles. Set in Depression-era Los Angeles, “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” centers on a disparate group of strangers participating in a grueling all-night dance marathon, desperately trying to win the large cash prize. Jane Fonda headlines the ensemble cast as a suicidal contestant, while Dern costars as a poor farmer dancing with his pregnant wife (Bonnie Bedelia). The film earned nine Oscar nominations, including Best Director and Best Actress, winning for Gig Young’s supporting performance as the emcee who pushes the participants for his own gain. (It hold the record for the most bids earned by a film that did not compete in Best Picture.)

13. THE ‘BURBS (1989)

Directed by Joe Dante. Written by Dana Olsen. Starring Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman, Wendy Schaal, Henry Gibson, Brother Theodore, Dick Miller.

Dismissed in its time, “The ‘Burbs” has gained cult status over the years from adoring fans, which is appropriate given its ghoulish premise. Tom Hanks stars as Ray Peterson, a stressed-out family man taking a vacation at home. His much-needed rest is disrupted when he begins to suspect the new neighbors might be Satanic murderers. Dern steals the show as Ray’s fellow suburbanite, Lt. Mark Rumsfeld, a military veteran with a gung-ho attitude and an overactive imagination, both of which often get the best of him. It’s a hilariously over-the-top supporting turn that fits right in with Joe Dante’s typically cartoonish vision.

12. AFTER DARK, MY SWEET (1990)

Directed by James Foley. Screenplay by James Foley and Robert Redlin, based on the novel by Jim Thompson. Starring Jason Patric, Rachel Ward, Bruce Dern, George Dickerson, Rocky Giordani, Mike Hagerty, Corey Carrier.

James Foley’s “After Dark, My Sweet” had the misfortune of coming out the same year as “The Grifters,” another neo-noir based on the works of hardboiled author Jim Thompson. It’s a hidden gem of a movie waiting to be rediscovered, filled with terrific performances and gritty, pulpy atmosphere. Jason Patrick stars as a former boxer fresh out of the mental hospital who falls in with a sultry widow (Rachel Ward) trying to settle her late husband’s estate. Her Uncle Bud (a scenery-chewing Dern) convinces them to kidnap a rich kid, and when the plot goes horribly awry, they’re sent spiraling into mayhem.

11. THE COWBOYS (1972)

Directed by Mark Rydell. Screenplay by Irving Ravetch and Harriet Frank, Jr., based on the novel by William Dale Jennings. Starring John Wayne, Roscoe Lee Browne, Bruce Dern, Colleen Dewhurst.

In “The Cowboys,” Dern got to do the impossible: kill John Wayne. And not just kill him, but shoot him in the back while he’s unarmed. It’s the kind of sneering, snickering bad guy you love to hate, especially when he knocks off our beloved Duke. The film centers on an aging rancher (Wayne) forced to hire some local schoolchildren to assist in a long-distance cattle drive. Dern costars as Asa “Long Hair” Watts, leader of a mysterious and dangerous group of cattle rustlers trailing them. According to legend, Wayne informed Dern that if he shot him, audiences would hate him for it, to which Dern responded, “Yeah, but they’ll sure love me in Berkeley.”

10. THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015)

Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demian Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern.

Some stunning 70mm shots of a snow-strewn landscape aside, “The Hateful Eight” might just as comfortably exist on the stage as it does on the screen. That’s not necessarily a knock: after all, there’s few people who can make dialogue feel cinematic quite like Quentin Tarantino. The set-up: eight strangers in post-Civil War Wyoming — an ex-slave turned bounty hunter (Samuel L. Jackson), another bounty hunter (Kurt Russell), his prisoner (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a newly-minted sheriff (Walton Goggins), a mysterious Mexican (Demian Bicher), a former Confederate general (Dern), a British hangman (Tim Roth), and a gunslinger (Michael Madsen) — converge on a remote cabin in the dead of winter. Violence ensues. Dern also teamed up with Tarantino for a bit role in “Django Unchained” and the upcoming “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”

9. MONSTER (2003)

Written and directed by Patty Jenkins. Starring Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Lee Tergesen, Annie Corley, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Marco St. John, Marc Macaulay, Scott Wilson, Kane Hodder, Brett Rice.

Most of the praise for “Monster” goes to Charlize Theron’s transformative, Oscar-winning performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who was executed in 2002 for the murder of six johns. But there’s fantastic supporting turns in Patty Jenkins’s film as well, including Christina Ricci as Wuornos’s lesbian lover and Dern as her only male friend, a haunted Vietnam veteran. The scenes between Theron and Dern stand in stark contrast to the ways in which Wuornos was hurt and abused by men her entire life, driving her to taking revenge in the most brutal way possible.

8. SILENT RUNNING (1972)

Directed by Douglas Trumbull. Written by Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino, and Steven Bochco. Starring Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, Jesse Vint.

Special effects maestro Douglas Trumbull’s directorial debut feels more prescient with each passing year, which isn’t a good thing. “Silent Running” takes place in the not-too-distant future, where life on Earth has ceased to exist. Dern plays a botanist trying to keep the last existing vegetation alive in a space station greenhouse with the help of some robots. When he’s ordered to destroy the plants to make room for cargo, he rebels against the hierarchy to save nature. The film rises and falls on Dern’s capable shoulders, who’s often the only human onscreen. Deric Washburn, Michael Cimino and Steven Bochco penned the screenplay.

7. DRIVE, HE SAID (1971)

Directed by Jack Nicholson. Written by Jeremy Larner and Jack Nicholson. Starring William Tepper, Karen Black, Bruce Dern, Robert Towne, Henry Jaglom, Michael Margotta.

Dern steals the show in the directorial debut of his good friend, Jack Nicholson, which utilizes his obsession with basketball to great effect. “Drive, He Said” tries to capture the countercultural battles of the 1970s, seen through the prism of a college basketball player (William Tepper). He’s got a lot of problems, from his radicalized roommate (Michael Margotta) who fears being drafted after dropping out, to his pregnant faculty member girlfriend (Karen Black), all of which makes it difficult for him to concentrate on the game. Dern plays his fiercely competitive coach, whose devotion to winning edges on fanaticism. The role brought him a Supporting Actor victory at the National Society of Film Critics.

6. SMILE (1975)

Directed by Michael Ritchie. Screenplay by Jerry Belson. Starring Bruce Dern, Barbara Feldon, Michael Kidd, Geoffrey Lewis, Eric Shea, Melanie Griffith.

While it got lost in the shuffle during its original release, “Smile” has grown in esteem over the years as its pitch-perfect satire grows more biting with time. Set in Santa Rosa, California, it revolves around the ins-and-outs of the Young American Miss Pageant, the town’s biggest yearly event. Dern is howlingly funny as Big Bob Freelander, a sleazy used car salesman who serves as the pageant’s main judge. Director Michael Ritchie skewers small town obsessions with local events with an achingly accurate specificity that predates the mockumentaries of Christopher Guest. At the same time, he peels back the ugly nature of judging people on their looks, making us laugh and cringe in equal measure.

5. THE GREAT GATSBY (1974)

Directed by Jack Clayton. Screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola, based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Starring Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Sam Waterston, Karen Black, Scott Wilson.

This glossy adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel never quite lives up to its source material, but it comes close thanks to immaculate period detail (particularly the Oscar-winning costumes) and strong performances from its supporting cast. Robert Redford is Jay Gatsby, a Roaring ’20’s millionaire who obsesses over his lost love, Daisy (Mia Farrow), who’s married to the merciless Tom Buchanan (Dern). Sam Waterston is Nick Carraway, the young Midwesterner who falls into Gatsby’s orbit, and Karen Black is Myrtle Wilson, Tom’s mistress. Both Dern and Waterston earned Supporting Actor Golden Globe nominations, with Black winning the Supporting Actress prize, though all three were snubbed at the Academy Awards.

4. THE KING OF MARVIN GARDENS (1974)

Directed by Bob Rafelson. Written by Jacob Brackman and Bob Rafelson. Starring Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, Ellen Burstyn, Julia Anne Robinson, Scatman Crothers, Charles Lavine.

The success of Bob Rafelson’s oddball character study comes from a brilliant bit of casting against type, times two: the typically marginalized Dern gets to play extravagant to a moody Jack Nicholson, tamping down his usual exuberance. “The King of Marvin Gardens” centers on a melancholy late night DJ (Nicholson) who gets dragged into a get rich quick scheme by his swindler brother (Dern), taking them towards tragedy in Atlantic City. Ellen Burstyn costars as Dern’s former beauty queen girlfriend, now sinking into depression and rage. Dismissed as obtuse and emotionally distant in its time, it’s since been rediscovered as a low-key masterpiece from Hollywood’s second golden age.

3. BLACK SUNDAY (1977)

Directed by John Frankenheimer. Screenplay by Ernest Lehman, Kenneth Ross, and Ivan Moffat, based on the novel by Thomas Harris. Starring Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver, Bekim Fehmiu.

John Frankenheimer’s “Black Sunday” is a first-rate potboiler that edges towards greatness thanks to a terrifying performance by Dern. He plays Michael Lander, a psychologically-scarred veteran damaged from years as a POW and a failed return home. Desperate to commit suicide, he links up with the mysterious leader (Marthe Keller) of the Palestinian terrorist group Black September, and together they conspire to blow up the Goodyear blimp flying above the Super Bowl stadium where over 800,000 people will be in attendance… including the US President. It’s up to a Mossad agent (Robert Shaw) and an FBI gumshoe (Fritz Weaver) to stop them before it’s too late.

2. COMING HOME (1978)

Directed by Hal Ashby. Screenplay by Waldo Salt and Robert C. Jones, story by Nancy Dowd. Starring Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern, Penelope Milford, Robert Carradine, Robert Ginty.

Although it was Jon Voight and Jane Fonda who won lead acting Oscars, it’s Dern who breaks our hearts in “Coming Home,” Hal Ashby’s deeply moving war drama. He plays Captain Bob Hyde, a US marine who’s deployed to Vietnam, leaving his wife (Fonda) behind. She volunteers at the local VA, where she falls in love with a veteran (Voight) who came home paralyzed, leaving him angry, resentful, and hurt. Then her husband comes home, and that’s when the movie stops being about a romance and starts examining the tragic effects of combat. Wounded and suffering from PTSD, Hyde lashes out at the world for making him believe what he did was right, leading to a devastating finale. The role brought Dern his first Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor.

1. NEBRASKA (2013)

Directed by Alexander Payne. Written by Bob Nelson. Starring Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacey Keach, Bob Odenkirk.

Although he’s had his fair share of leading roles, Dern has made a career out of colorful supporting performances that liven up a film from the margins. He’s front-and-center in Alexander Payne’s “Nebraska,” a late-career masterwork that provides him with the role of a lifetime. He plays Woody Grant, an aging, alcoholic Missouri man who travels to Nebraska with his estranged son (Will Forte) to collect a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes prize. Though it’s a fools errand, it nevertheless succeeds in bringing the two closer together. Dern plays the character with a level of restraint that’s fitting for this stark black-and-white drama, and at 77-years-old, he proves he can still carry a film with the best of them. The role brought him Best Actor nominations at the Oscars, Golden Globes, SAG, BAFTA and Critics Choices awards, plus a victory at the Cannes Film Festival.