10 Best Johnny Depp Movies Of All Time According To IMDb
He’s one of the strangest and quirkiest actors of the past forty years. Johnny Depp is also known for taking on some of the strangest and quirkiest roles of the last forty years as well. Depp takes what’s on the page of a script and then goes full tilt interpreting the character. The result is generally a memorable character at the least. At best, a memorable film to go along with the character.
His personal image might have taken a dip these past few years, but thanks to roles in the Fantastic Beasts films, and several other high-profile projects, his career hasn’t. Here are 10 Best Johnny Depp Movies Of All Time According To IMDB.
10 Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl - 8
Wanna feel old? Cap’n Jack’s maiden voyage was over 15 years ago. When Disney decided to make a movie out of its long beloved Pirates ride, Pirates Of The Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl was the result. The movie on paper was nothing more than a good ol’ pirate movie, harkening back to the swashbuckling adventure films of yesteryear.
That might have been ok. But Depp took the role of Captain Jack Sparrow and made him something wholly unique (at least for a Disney movie). The result was an Academy Award-nominated performance and the start of a franchise.
9 Edward Scissorhands - 7.9
By 1990, Depp was tired of the “teen idol” label that Hollywood tried to saddle him with, due to his role on 21 Jump Street. So, he leaped at the chance to take on roles that turned the label on its ear. John Waters’ Cry Baby was one movie that satirized his status.
But strangely enough, Edward Scissorhands cemented it; but for a different audience. In his first collaboration with Tim Burton, Depp’s tortured soul captured the hearts of plenty of fans in this gothic love story.
8 Ed Wood - 7.8
The Burton-Depp friendship has always yielded positive results. Sometimes their movies are more mainstream, sometimes, they’re Ed Wood. Movie buffs knew who the schlock master was before Depp played him.
But after, a lot more people knew about one of the worst directors that ever lived. Despite his lack of talents, Wood never gave up on any of his dreams. Depp’s wild-eyed enthusiasm helped create a charismatic look at the director.
7 What’s Eating Gilbert Grape - 7.8
When Depp sets his mind to a dramatic role, he’s one of the best actors in the game. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is a prime example. There are no quirks, no makeup to hide behind. Just a young actor portraying a young man with a tremendous burden - caring for his family in small town America.
Dad walked out on them, leaving Gilbert to care for a sister, a brother with a disability, and their overweight mother. Then the guy has to deal with the possibility of happiness when Becky walks into their lives. It’s the kind of performance that elevates an otherwise mundane film.
6 Donnie Brasco- 7.7
In what a lot of people in the industry would say was Depp’s first real “grown-up” role, he picked a doozy - playing the real-life FBI Agent, Joe Pistone, aka Donnie Brasco.
The movie has Depp at the top of the game, which he needed to be acting across from Al Pacino, who took on the role of Lefty, the aging mobster who fell for the act, let Donnie in and eventually got taken down by the FBI.
5 Finding Neverland - 7.7
In another true-life tale, Depp plays J.M. Barrie, the whimsical creator of Peter Pan. In Finding Neverland, the story is all about Barrie’s friendship with Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and her four sons. It all inspired the playwright to dream up the story of the boy who would never grow up.
Despite all of the rumors that persist about them, Barrie continues to spend time with the family. The movie was an Awards darling, being nominated for four of them, including another Best Actor for Depp.
4 Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas - 7.6
The long strange trip of Hunter S. Thomson and his gonzo book, Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas is told with Monty Python alum, Terry Gilliam at the helm and Depp as the counterculture iconoclast, Thompson. To get ready for the role, Depp hung out and befriended Thompson.
With little to no storyline, the film itself bombed in theaters, but Depp’s portrayal of the legendary journalist-author and the completely banana drug binge that Duke and Gonzo go on have since made the film a cult classic and led to a friendship between Thompson and Depp until Hunter’s death.
3 Blow - 7.6
With the exception J.M. Barries, most of Johnny Depp’s biographical roles are outlaws and renegades. George Jung is at the top of that list. In Blow, he takes on the role of the guy who helped bring cocaine into America and he does it with the swagger of a rock star.
Driven by the desire to never be destitute, Jung risks it all for the good life. Despite the glamorization, all Depp’s Jung longed for by the end was more time with his daughter.
2 Sweeney Todd - 7.3
Not only did Depp get to up the gore factor, but he also got to show off his singing chops for him and Tim Burton’s adaptation of Sweeney Todd.
Not only was the Burton-Depp combo the perfect combination to bring the blood and guts to the big screen. The meat pies and barber blades helped net Depp a Golden Globe for Best Actor.
1 Sleepy Hollow 7.3
When a series of beheadings begin to occur in Sleepy Hollow, New York, Manhattan dispatches its constable - Ichabod Crane to assist with the care. Depp as the gangly-described Crane in Sleepy Hollow is actually the comic relief in an otherwise ode to the Hammer Horror films of the sixties.
He famously channeled Angela Lansbury for the role, which combined with Tim Burton’s style is actually Depp’s first action role, several years before Pirates.