5 Best Brad Pitt Movies Ranked Ahead of Heart of the Beast

Brad Pitt has become one of the best actors of our generation throughout his career. The star has won multiple high-profile awards, including two Oscars (one of which as a producer), starred in a number of major blockbusters, and more.

His next film, Heart of the Beast, is set to release in theaters this week. The movie follows Pitt as a retired Special Forces veteran navigating a 58-mile trek through the wilderness after his seaplane crashes. He must not only find his way back, but also do it with his dog, a traumatized combat German Shepherd.

In celebration of Pitt’s latest movie, we’re taking a look at some of his best roles. Obviously, there’s a ton of them, so this list is much more subjective than someone else’s might be. Still, it’s hard to argue any of these are not among Pitt’s best.

5 best Brad Pitt movies ranked

5) Moneyball

Pitt is at his best when he’s playing a laid back, confident jerk, and boy, does he get to do it a lot here. 2011’s Moneyball is based on the 2003 book that chronicles MLB’s Oakland Athletics and their 2002 season, in which general manager Billy Beane attempted to assemble a team with a significantly lower payroll than some other teams in baseball.

What makes Moneyball so special, aside from the obvious underdog story, is how Pitt plays the role of Beane. He can be a confident jerk, but when alone, the film portrays the man with a lingering level of self-doubt as to what he’s doing. It’s a nuisance performance we don’t often get to see in sports movies, and it’s what makes this one rise above many of them.

4) Ad Astra

I doubt many have heard of this movie, which is a true shame, as it is one of Pitt’s best and most complete performances. Pitt takes on the role of astronaut Roy McBride, tasked with venturing into space to search for his lost father, who is believed to be responsible for a surge of antimatter making its way to Earth. While there are some big scenes that Pitt gets to act in, a lot of the movie is him reflecting on his own life and failures as he wonders what it might be like to reconnect with his father.

Unfortunately for Pitt, Ad Astra also released around the same time as another stellar movie of his, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. As a result, James Gray’s sci-fi drama didn’t get the love it deserved. If you haven’t seen it, though, it’s a must-watch, especially for its incredibly grounded take on sci-fi, Pitt’s performance, and more.

3) The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

While it’s tough to call Jesse James a “villain,” he by all accounts is one, especially in Andrew Dominik’s 2007 movie. It’s Pitt’s first time really leaning into a much darker role, and he succeeds incredibly here. Much like something like Ad Astra, Pitt’s performance hinges largely on his ability to convey James’ quiet-yet-terrifying nature, as well as his friendship with Ford.

This is another one that might have slipped under many people’s radar, but should be crossed off the watchlist as fast as possible if so. It’s a performance that really makes you look at Pitt differently, especially by the end of the movie.

2) Fight Club

Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a list if Fight Club wasn’t on it. David Fincher’s 1999 adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel is divisive as they come all these years later. What’s undeniable, though, is Pitt’s all-time performance as the mysterious “soap salesman” Tyler Durden.

For many, this role would go on to really define what Pitt is in their head, and perhaps rightfully so. Pitt plays Durden so perfectly that it’s hard to differentiate the two between the end of the movie. Pitt’s bravado and brazen attitude are perfect opposite Edward Norton’s more anxious nature. This is the movie that sent Pitt to unprecedented levels of superstardom, and rightfully so.

1) Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

By 2019, Pitt was known as a legend in the acting world, but many wondered if his best years were behind him. Perhaps it’s fitting, then, that he got the role of Cliff Booth, an aging stuntman who may be past his prime, in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Like Tyler Durden, it’s hard to see where Brad begins and Cliff ends, and that’s all credited to Pitt’s effortlessly cool performance.

While Tarantino’s movie about a revisionist 1969 features a number of all-time performances, none ever reach the heights of Pitt. He plays off Leonardo DiCaprio perfectly, has a ton of hilarious moments that break up the tension of the movie, and is just a bona fide badass throughout it all. It’s no wonder he won his first acting Oscar for the role, and is ready to return to it later this year.

Source: Comingsoon.net