Mark Ruffalo is a pretty common household name nowadays, becoming recognizable thanks to many of his works that have gained a lot of popularity. Ruffalo has also worked a lot with many other popular and well-known names, either featuring as a supporting actor in the film or starring amongst them. His work is so diverse that he’s one of the few people who have been nominated for at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award over his career.
Ruffalo’s upcoming film, The Adam Project, is set to premiere on Netflix in March. This family-friendly time travel movie sees Ruffalo starring with others like Ryan Reynolds, Jennifer Garner, and Zoe Saldana. While we wait to see what these famous figures can do on-screen together, along with his continuing appearance as Bruce Banner (or the Hulk) in MCU projects, take a look at some of Ruffalo’s best movies over the last few decades.
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7 Shutter Island
Paramount Pictures
The Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island is a neo-noir psychological thriller which harkens back to Hitchockian films of old. Based on a novel of the same name, US Marshall Edward Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule are investigating the disappearance of an inmate on Shutter Island. They only find one clue in the form of a cryptic note and now are stuck on the island for a few days due to a bad storm. The staff aren’t very cooperative, making it harder for the investigation to take place. As strange things begin happening in their confinement, they must unravel the real truth that brought them there.
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY
Ruffalo plays Aule in this film, the sidekick and co-star. It’s a hard role to fill, as there are many twists he must hide in his acting until the right moment, but Ruffalo executes them well. You could never guess what comes next with his acting here, with the plot slowly unraveling around him as he holds firm until the final reveal.
6 Infinitely Polar Bear
Sony Pictures Classics
Infinitely Polar Bear follows the story of Cameron Stuart, a man diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was fired and hospitalized following a psychotic break, and his wife struggles to make enough money to support herself and their two children. During Cameron’s rehabilitation, he gets his own apartment, shortly after which his wife asks him to watch their children. She intends to travel away to get her M.B.A. to better support her family and he reluctantly agrees. Now he and his children must overcome their familial and psychological obstacles in order to learn how to live together.
In this film, Ruffalo plays the lead beautifully, keeping the comedy-drama grounded with his complex performance, not letting it get too out of hand but not making the entire experience severely underwhelming, either. Though it does seem to take some of its themes a little lighter than they should be, it’s still a stellar performance on Ruffalo’s end. He even received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor from this performance.
5 Zodiac
The movie Zodiac is based on the non-fiction books published about the Zodiac Killer. The San Francisco Chronicle receives encrypted letters from the killer, who calls himself ‘Zodiac.’ He threatens to kill a dozen people if they don’t publish these letters. Political cartoonist Robert Graysmith doesn’t believe the killer is being truthful, but no one believes him, so he is excluded from the investigation. As the Zodiac killer continues to kill people even after his letters are published, Graysmith delves deeper into the mystery, trying to unravel what he can.
Inspector Dave Toschi is brought to life on the big screen by Ruffalo, one of the police inspectors assigned to the case. The Zodiac Killer was never caught, remaining one of the most infamous unsolved crimes of all time. Still, as this movie chronicles the events of the era, Ruffalo is great at immortalizing the inspector, acting just like the police would for any crime but also showing us the fear behind the thought of a serial killer on the loose that is threatening them all. Director David Fincher creates a sense of gloom surrounding Ruffalo’s realistic performance which compliments it nicely.
4 The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Walt Disney Studios
The MCU has quickly created a lengthy legacy of superhero movies over the last decade and a half. Starting with the first Iron Man movie back in 2008, the Marvel Comics have been brought to life on the big screen. From separate, individual hero-focused movies to large team=ups full of many recognizable characters, the overarching thread that connects them all seems unlikely to be cut any time soon, as the MCU even begins to branch out into TV shows for Disney+.
Ruffalo has played the role of Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, ever since the first Avengers. After replacing Edward Norton, who played the same character in the widely forgotten movie The Incredible Hulk (and Eric Bana in the weird 2003 version), the popularity of the MCU helped boost Ruffalo to become a more well-known name. Over the course of five full movies and three cameos, Ruffalo has given us a display of his broad range of emotions, perfectly balancing out the shy but wickedly smart Bruce Banner with the angry, rage-fueled Hulk. His expertise will keep bringing us the Hulk for a while too, as it is confirmed he will be in the Disney+ series She Hulk.
3 The Kids Are All Right
Focus Features
The Kids Are All Right follows the Allgood family, with moms Nicole and Jules, and kids Laser and Joni. Each mom had the kids by using the same sperm donor, and as they come of age, they begin to wonder who their biological father is. They find out from the sperm bank and soon meet their dad Paul Hatfield, who ends up becoming a prominent figure in their life for a while. As the moms discover this, tensions rise among the family, and they must reconcile or risk their family falling apart.
Ruffalo plays Paul in this movie, a motorcycle-driving, organic-co-op owning sperm donor who brings the family problems. He brings the right amount of comic surprise that you might expect from a man just discovering he has kids, while also playing the little moments well that drive the drama side of the story. As the movie focuses on the concept of marriage and family he helps test the limits of those and gives the character his own flair no other actor could bring. Ruffalo received two best supporting actor nominations for his performance, one from the BAFTAs and the other from the Academy Awards.
2 You Can Count on Me
Paramount Classics
The movie You Can Count on Me is about two siblings, Sammy and Terry Prescott, who lost their parents at a young age. Though they were separate from one another for a while, Terry comes back into Sammy’s life desperate for money after getting in and out of trouble after being in jail for three months. She welcomes him in even as a single mother, and he starts to become a bad influence on her son. While they butt heads and continue to have their own personal problems, they slowly help each other learn and come to a better point in their lives.
Terry Prescott is brought to life by Ruffalo in this movie. As the bad boy who is down on his luck, he knows how to be a bad influence for his sister’s son and how to get on her last nerve, while simultaneously knowing he has his own issues he’s ignoring and really should take care of. This kind of character growth is hard to master, but Ruffalo brings it to the screen perfectly, managing to be likable and cool but also immature and obnoxious simultaneously, and the story wouldn’t be the same without him.
1 Spotlight
Open Road Films
Spotlight is based on a true story that happened in Boston. The film highlights one of the biggest cases of the Boston Globe’s ‘Spotlight’ team, an investigative journalist unit for the paper. They investigated and eventually brought to light a widespread and systemic child sex abuse problem in the Boston area, all done by numerous Roman Catholic priests. It exposed a large problem being covered up in the area, and won The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
Ruffalo immortalizes one of the Spotlight team writers on the big screen, Michael Rezendes. As such an important moment in history, you have to be precise to bring a real person to the screen, especially when they are still alive. Ruffalo brings just what the role needs, however, as you can tell the situation stresses him out more and more as the film progresses before it finally breaks in a big outburst of emotion that is still masterfully controlled. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, which was rightfully deserved.
