The 25 most underrated movies of the 2000s

In 2000, Robert Zemeckis had two movies come out. One was “Cast Away,” which made a big splash and is pretty good. While Zemeckis was waiting for Tom Hanks to grow out his beard and lose the necessary weight, though, he knocked out the adult thriller “What Lies Beneath.” It’s a solid, watchable story bolstered by good performances from Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer. Also, a spooky bathtub.

The Coen Brothers had major success with “Fargo,” which they followed up with “The Big Lebowski.” That movie is now such a cult classic it isn’t even a cult movie anymore in any real way. Following that, though, they then went and made “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” Once again not gunning for obvious mainstream success, the film is a retelling of “The Odyssey” (loosely) but set in the American South of the 1930s. It’s a very good movie, though, and began a rewarding partnership between the Coens and George Clooney.

“Josie and the Pųssycats” is perhaps the most 2001 movie there is, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. While it’s a silly comedy based on an Archie comic, it’s also very funny, and pretty sharp about consumerism and the realities of the music industry. Come for the time capsule, stay for the quality.

There is one good “Jurassic Park” movie, and that’s the first one. The second-best one, though, is “Jurassic Park III.” It’s pretty good, and underrated as it is not talked about as much as, well, basically any other “Jurassic Park” movie. Plus, it’s blissfully 92 minutes long. No bloat in this “Jurassic” movie!

A lot of Tony Scott movies are overly frenetic, but “Spy Game” is more grounded than most of Scott’s works. That benefits this cat-and-mouse spy thriller. It also helps that the film stars Brad Pitt and one of the kings of movies of this ilk, Robert Redford. “Spy Game” isn’t as good as the canonical ‘70s political thrillers, but it is a good approximation of all that.

The “Adam Sandler is actually a good actor” train left the station with “Punch-Drunk Love.” It’s probably the one Paul Thomas Anderson movie that has fallen under the radar since his first film, “Hard Eight” aka “Sydney,” but it’s quality work as is generally the case with PTA. Sandler’s character is basically a serious consideration of his comedic persona at the time. A guy with major anger issues isn’t as fun when he’s not over-the-top. Also, it’s a love story.

George Clooney got to make his directorial debut, and to date this is probably the best movie he’s directed. It also has a script from Charlie Kaufman that isn’t fully obtuse and self-indulgent. Based on a fake story based on a true story, Sam Rockwell stars (and excels) as Chuck Barris. Barris was a real game show host and producer, but this film is based on his fictional memoir that asserted he was also a CIA operative. Alas, after this Clooney basically only directed down-the-middle movies that are largely unremarkable.

Christopher Guest’s “Best in Show” is rightfully venerated, and his “For Your Consideration” is rightfully considered, you know, pretty good. “A Mighty Wind” should be getting almost as much love as “Best in Show,” though. This highly-improvised mockumentary about reuniting folk musicians has the usual Guest players in it, including everybody’s favorite duo of Eugene Levy and the late, great Catherine O’Hara.

This movie basically ended Joe Dante’s directorial career and basically put “Looney Tunes” back on the shelf for years. As such, you might think it is a fiasco. However, we think “Back in Action” is pretty good. Not great, but definitely watchable, and definitely fun. Plus, now that everybody is in on Brendan Fraser nostalgia, it should be in line for reconsideration.

We are surprised as anybody that Todd Phillips’ spoofy riff on a ‘70s cop show is actually quite good. It’s funny, it’s breezy, and Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson have their chemistry going. Casting Stiller and Wilson together is no guarantee of success, as anybody who saw “Zoolander 2” can tell you. However, it makes “Starsky & Hutch” work. Seriously.

It’s easy for a remake of a classic movie that isn’t quite as good to fall by the wayside. Jonathan Demme’s remake of “The Manchurian Candidate” isn’t on the same level as the 1962 original. That’s no condemnation, though. The original is one of the best paranoia thrillers of the era. This is a solid, enjoyable political thriller. We mean, Denzel Washington and Meryl Streep are in it. That goes a long way.

When “The Aviator” didn’t win Martin Scorsese his Oscar and “The Departed” did two years later, the former lost status in Scorsese’s acclaimed filmography. While a biopic of Howard Hughes isn’t as easy a sell as a run-of-the-mill crime drama done incredibly well, “The Aviator” is just as good of a movie as “The Departed.” It looks great, and while some think Cate Blanchett’s Oscar-winning portrayal of Katharine Hepburn is too schlocky, we like it.

When it comes to Wes Craven, people think of “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” or perhaps “Scream.” You’re getting down the line when you get to “Red Eye.” The airplane-centric horror movie isn’t as indelible as either of those franchises, and it does actually take a second to get in gear. By the end, though, both Cillian Murphy and Rachel McAdams are great once the movie lets loose.

Bizarrely, “Jarhead” served as a jumping-off point for a direct-to-video franchise of over-the-top action movies. Why is that bizarre? Because while “Jarhead” is a war movie, it’s a contemplative drama directed by Sam Mendes. It’s about Marines in the Gulf War that focuses on how they stay sane during down times, especially with the constant tension. It’s sort of the prototype for “The Hurt Locker.”

Spike Lee has had a more-eclectic career than many might think. You might consider him politically minded, and he is, but “Inside Man” is a straightforward crime thriller. Denzel Washington plays an investigator piecing together a bank heist on Wall Street, but everything feels a bit off. It’s twisty without being too twist heavy.

Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston play a couple breaking up in a mid-2000s movie. It’s probably a paint-by-numbers comedy, right? Actually, it’s more of a dramedy, and it’s decidedly more complex than you might expect. Credit is due to the stars, especially since Vaughn has a Story By credit on it, but also credit is due to Peyton Reed, the director who would go on to helm the Ant-Man movies.

Once Christopher Nolan was a household name, his movies became almost uniformly cinematic events. We say “almost,” because “The Prestige” exists. It came out just after “Batman Begins,” which may play a role in it. However, it’s a very good film. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale play maniacally-competitive magicians who will stop at nothing to one-up one another.

Small-scale thrillers don’t necessarily stand the test of time, unless the movie wins Oscars. “Notes on a Scandal” is small in scope and also very British. It’s also a tense, well-constructed thriller about mind games at a school in London. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett lead the cast, which goes a long way toward its quality. Both actors got Oscar nominations.

Some joke that James Mangold turns basically all his movies into Westerns. Well, “3:10 to Yuma” is just a straight-up Western. It’s also in the running for the best Western of the new millennium. The film, based on an Elmore Leonard short story, is about a down-on-his-luck rancher who agrees to a dangerous, perhaps lethal, job of escorting a notorious outlaw to the prison train. Christian Bale plays the rancher, and Russell Crowe plays the outlaw in one of his best performances.

“Walk Hard” has gotten into the cult favorite talk, but it still deserves more love to get to the level of ratedness it deserves. A parody of music biopics, “Walk Hard” is a great comedy. It’s funny, but it also hits the parody points of such biopics extremely well. Also, crucially, the songs in “Walk Hard” are both funny and well-done.

By 2008, the popularity of turning television shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s into movies had faded, but we did still get a “Get Smart” movie. The show, of course, focused on a bumbling secret agent, Maxwell Smart, and his girl Friday, Agent 99. TV's “Get Smart” was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and it excelled because of Don Adams and Barbara Feldon in the lead roles. “Get Smart,” the movie, doesn’t quite live up to the sitcom, but Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway were cast well as Smart and 99. Alan Arkin was great casting for Chief as well.

Stoner comedies that are ambitious, and action-comedies where the action works just as well as the comedy, are both rare. “Pineapple Express” works on all fronts. It’s funny, but it’s not lazy in terms of plot or character development. The action is good as action, but it is also often funny. Sure, people quickly grew tired of James Franco, but he and Seth Rogen are a fun pair in this film.

How many stop-motion animated movies have really grabbed general audiences? There’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and…that’s about it. Ray Harryhausen movies featured stop-motion animation, but were largely live-action with animated elements. “Coraline” is directed by Henry Selick, who also directed “Nightmare Before Christmas.” It’s also a better movie than that one. Sorry, everybody who ever shopped at a Hot Topic.

Much like “The Break-Up,” “I Love You, Man” has more substance to it than you might think. It’s an adult comedy, and not just because it is raunchy. It handles adult friendship and adult romantic relationships with more complexity and nuance than a lot of comedies of this ilk. Perhaps that’s not surprising, as Jason Segal seems to like doing that sort of thing, or at least trying to.

With a title like “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” you’re either going to bring a lot of people in, or drive a lot of people away. The box office for this film indicates it was the latter, even if it did turn a profit on a modest budget. War comedies are also often a tough sell, and in 2009 people had plenty of actual war news over the prior several years. All that said, “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” based on a true story, is a bizarre, funny, dark, satirical slice of moviemaking that really worked for us. Now that all these years have passed, perhaps it’s a good time to give these goat-staring men a shot.