This Is the Best Ryan Reynolds Movie According to Rotten Tomatoes

For the most part, Ryan Reynolds is known for his work in the comedy genre and superhero films, not to mention the combination of the two that is the Deadpool franchise. But his highest rated movie on Rotten Tomatoes? It’s a drama.

His second-highest rated is comedic, but it mostly functions as a drama, while the third is a thriller. You have to go down to the fourth spot on the list to find the Merc with a Mouth. What’s No. 1? Mississippi Grind, which paired him with Captain Marvel‘s Ben Mendelsohn and was helmed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden, who also directed – you guessed it – Captain Marvel.

What Is Mississippi Grind About & Why Do Critics Consider It Reynolds’ Best?

Mississippi Grind follows Mendelsohn’s Gerry, a gambling addict who meets Reynolds’ Curtis, a younger gambler who seems to be heading down the same path. After a heavy night of drinking and bad luck, Gerry finds himself almost broke, and now the loan shark to whom he owes money is forcing him to pay up. With Curtis, an itinerant, about to leave town, Gerry comes up with a plan: The two travel down to Mississippi, hitting gambling spots along the way until they hit a well-known, big-time New Orleans poker game.

They have an in to that game, as Curtis knows the man hosting, but they still need $25,000 for the buy-in. Gerry believes Curtis to be his good-luck charm, while Curtis believes Gerry to be a gambling hobbyist, not an addict. Both are proven wrong in time.

Yet, when all is said and done, one of the two men finds that they’ve grown as a person. The other, not so much, but at least they both made a friend along the way. It’s an insightful film with two dynamite lead performances from a duo with great chemistry.

There have been quite a few excellent gambling movies, but what separates Mississippi Grind from something like 21 or Maverick is its continuous functioning as a character study. In that sense, it’s a wonderful companion piece to Molly’s Game, The Hustler, or The Gambler with James Caan. What it is even more so is the ultimate counterpart to Rounders. Like that ’90s classic, Mississippi Grind is about developing and shattering bonds as much as it is about succumbing to addiction.

What Is Reynolds’ Top 10?

What joined Mississippi Grind towards the top of the cinematic heap? The silver and bronze medals are attached to fellow smaller films Adventureland and Buried, respectively. Deservedly so, as both of those movies are about as solid as Mississippi Grind and are equal displays of Reynolds’ oft-underutilized range.

As mentioned, fourth place is held by Deadpool with 85%, but Deadpool 2 isn’t far behind with 84%. Sixth went to the surprise critical and commercial hit Free Guy, while seventh place goes back to Deadpool for box office juggernaut Deadpool & Wolverine. The Croods: A New Age comes in eighth (Reynolds was also in the first film, at #11), ninth is the woefully underappreciated The Voices (which features what is arguably Reynolds’ best work to date), while the tenth spot went to the similarly underappreciated charmer Definitely, Maybe.

Another “Fresh” movie, though one that missed the Top 10, is Apple TV+’s holiday musical Spirited, which is a modern take on A Christmas Carol that actually manages to alter the formula of Charles Dickens’ frequently adapted source material. There’s also Detective Pikachu, which surprisingly hasn’t received a sequel yet, the Alien-like Life (a film that has already generated something of a cult following), and The Adam Project, from Free Guy and Deadpool & Wolverine director Shawn Levy.

[RELATED: Deadpool & Wolverine Considered Having Mephisto as Its Major Villain]

What Are Reynolds’ Lowest-Rated Movies?

Out of 44 ranked movies, 26 have a “Rotten” score. The lowest rated is R.I.P.D., and justifiably so. Just above that is National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, though that film undoubtedly did quite a bit for Reynolds’ career.

There are a few other fan-favorites in there to go alongside Van Wilder, such as Waiting…, Criminal, Smokin’ Aces, Just Friends, and IF. Then there are the “Rotten” highlights that found some level of commercial success. These include the 2005 remake of The Amityville Horror, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Proposal, and Safe House.

As for the box office bombs, there is Green Lantern and 2011’s unpleasant comedy The Change-Up. In short, not every Reynolds movie is an out-and-out winner, but he’s a scene-stealer in just about all of them. And, while he’s funny, he’s also shown time and time again that he’s capable of much more when given the opportunity to do so.