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Plenty of aspiring artists spend their whole lives trying to perfect one discipline.
Steve Martin has, arguably, conquered at least six.
The rest is history.
But he never stopped pushing himself or trying new things.
He has primarily worked in comedy, but hes no stranger to dramas and thrillers.
Hes done a lot, and a lot of it very well.
(martin),Apple TV+s new documentaryabout the comedian, weve ranked all of his film performances.
Yet even without all that, looking at Martins filmography reveals a Renaissance man.
His movie career is a reflection of the ambition and adventurousness that hes exhibited across his career.
37.Mixed Nuts(1994)
37.
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band(1978)
36.
(George Burns is the narrator!)
35.Looney Tunes: Back in Action(2003)
35.
Bill Murray is funny inSpace Jambecause hes oddly zen about the whole playing-basketball-with-Michael-Jordan-and-Bugs-Bunny thing.
But Martin thinks hes Daffy Duck here.
You cant outDaffy Duck Daffy Duck.
Bilko(1996)
34.
The year 1996 has never felt further away.
33.The Out-of-Towners(1999)
33.
He and Hawn just plod through a series of calamities without much wit or invention.
32.Inspector Clouseau in thePink Panthermovies (2006, 2009)
32.
He basically just does a French accent and trips over some things.
31.Tom Baker in theCheaper by the Dozenmovies (2003, 2005)
31.
So inoffensive as to barely register at all, thesefilms are over before you even quite realize they started.
These are the punch in of movies that add Eugene Levy for the sequel to shake things up.
(This is exactly what they did, in fact.)
The movies were, of course, both huge hits.
30.Bringing Down the House(2003)
30.
It hasnt aged well, but thats not Martins fault.
29.The Big Year(2011)
29.
28.My Blue Heaven(1990)
28.
Martin has a hard time playing characters who arent demographically and ethnically exactly like Steve Martin.
He is so steeped in irony and mockery that he always just looks like Steve Martin doing a sketch.
As is, Martin doesnt bring any menace to the role.
He just does a funny accent and wears a fancy suit and just looks like Steve Martin playing dress-up.
27.Housesitter(1992)
27.
Martin spends the entirety ofHousesitterreacting to Hawns crazy antics, and they have a palpable, vanilla chemistry.
Its not our favorite of this comic geniuss cinematic guises.
26.The Lonely Guy(1984)
26.
Martin didnt just want to be the edgy comic anymore; he wanted to be a star.
25.A Simple Twist of Fate(1994)
25.
Martin has never hidden his literary ambitions, adapting classic works for his screenplays.
24.Novocaine(2001)
24.
Still, well watch Martin in this rather than another wacky studio comedy any day.
23.Joe Goulds Secret(2000)
23.
He fits in well as a literary bigwig, but hes gone before you quite realize hes there.
22.Billy Lynns Long Halftime Walk(2016)
22.
21.The Man With Two Brains(1983)
21.
20.The Muppet Movie(1979)
20.
But its pretty funny to see him snark up the place, especially playing off that unflappable frog.
19.Baby Mama(2008)
19.
Its not surprising that Martin would become pals with Tina Fey.
Both smart, cutting comedic writers and performers, they worked together onSaturday Night Liveand30 Rock.
18.Pennies From Heaven(1981)
18.
He blamed the audience for not being ready for him to play a dramatic role.
Its still worth a revisit.
17.George Banks in theFather of the Bridemovies (1991, 1995)
17.
Are these movies pretty disposable?
But, hey, at leastthey helped Brad Paisley meet his future wife.
16.Dead Men Dont Wear Plaid(1982)
16.
15.Three Amigos(1986)
15.
14.Roxanne(1987)
14.
(The National Society of Film Critics gave Martin its Best Actor prize.
The Writers Guild awarded him Best Adapted Screenplay.)
Thats our gentle way of suggesting thatRoxanne… doesnt entirely hold up.
13.Leap of Faith(1992)
13.
Of all the different roles Martin has tackled, Jonas Nightengale might be the most compelling outlier.
12.Its Complicated(2009)
12.
But then you remember,oh right,Hollywood tends not to make those about characters over age 35.
11.Shopgirl(2005)
11.
10.Dirty Rotten Scoundrels(1988)
10.
Every time we cant pull a movie title from our fading memory bank, we think of this scene.
9.Little Shop of Horrors(1986)
9.
They made it count.
8.The Jerk(1979)
8.
Movies were social; stand-up was antisocial … ## 7.All of Me(1984)
7.
Its sort of a shame he and Tomlin never hooked up again: Theyre perfect together.
6.Bowfinger(1999)
6.
This is basically MartinsBroadway Danny Rose, with more laughs than pathos.
5.The Spanish Prisoner(1997)
5.
Martin hasnt played a ton of villains in his career maybe he was waiting for one this razor-sharp.
4.Parenthood(1989)
4.
Steve Martin didnt become a father until his late 60s, a decision he insists he doesnt regret.
But his finest father role is as Gil, the anxious, perfectionist patriarch at the center ofParenthood.
3.Planes, Trains & Automobiles(1987)
3.
Not that Martin isnt incredibly funny as well seriously, the guy just wants a fucking automobile.
2.Grand Canyon(1991)
2.
(I thought it was ludicrous, Silverlater saidof Martins performance.
I dont want to be caricatured.)
Story(1991)
1.
On December 20, he was inFather of the Bride, one of his biggest hits.
A week later, he was inGrand Canyon, delivering one of his best dramatic performances.
And that was all afterL.A.
Story, which had come out around Valentines Day of that year.
Its pretentious, filled with contradictory impulses, overly proud of itself, but also deeply insecure.
And, oh yeah, its really funny.
Written by Martin and directed by Mick Jackson, the film features the finest encapsulation of Martins overlapping ambitions.
Storymay not be his most beloved film, but its the one that feels closest to his heart.
(He and Tennant were married at the time.)
This one is ours.
