Sandra Bullocks 5 Best Movies (& 5 Worst) According To Rotten Tomatoes

Sandra Bullock burst onto the Hollywood scene in the 1990s as a darling starlet often referred to as “America’s Sweetheart.” Bullock’s meteoric rise to fame was largely propelled by her girl-next-door type roles in popular rom-coms before she transitioned into more serious roles later in her career. As of 2010, Bullock was the highest-paid actress in the world, largely due to her commercial saleability and commanding screen presence.

An Academy Award winner and owner of her own production company, Sandra Bullock has proven herself to be a multi-dimensional and well-loved actress, but her films haven’t always hit the ball out of the park. Here are her five best (and five worst) films of her career, ranked according to Rotten Tomatoes.

10 Worst: In Love And War (1996) – 11%

Based on the real-life diaries of Agnes Von Kurowsky, In Love And War captured the passionate love affair between a WWII nurse and a grandiose young soldier who is injured in the line of duty and later blossoms into the literary icon Ernest Hemingway. Focused on Hemingway’s wartime years, critics believed the syrupy romance drama failed to capture the vitality of Hemingway and felt artificially constructed. Sandra Bullock starred alongside Chris O’Donnell.

Even the steady hand of respected Academy Award-winning director Richard Attenborough couldn’t offer the film any life and was often regarded as his worst film.

9 Best: Infamous (2006) – 73%

Starring Sandra Bullock as famed American author Harper Lee, this major biopic examined the genesis of Truman Capote’s (Toby Jones) infamous nonfiction novel In Cold Blood, and the friendships he formed with convicted murders Perry Smith (Daniel Craig) and Dick Hickock (Lee Pace) leading up to the penning of it. The film managed to be both chilling and moving as director Douglas McGrath captured Capote’s revealing but risky emotional attachment to Perry.

Though the film was hindered due to drawing numerous comparisons to Capote, a similar biopic from the year prior, Sandra Bullock’s performance was undeniably understated.

8 Worst: Two If By Sea (1995) – 11%

A classic romantic-comedy-drama about a woman who is on the verge of breaking up with her petty thief boyfriend but ends up in a predicament when the duo steals an expensive painting and hide out in a posh New England vacation home. Things get complicated when the neighbor believes the couple is friends of the owners and attempts to indoctrinate them into the community, all whilst local detectives try to track them down.

Sandra Bullock played the grating and obnoxious girlfriend well enough, but there was zero chemistry between her and costar Denis Leary and she lacked the likability and charm that viewers in the 1990s came to associate with her.

7 Best: Crash (2004) – 74%

Intersectional issues of race and gender collide for a group of Los Angeles strangers in the Academy Awards Best Picture winner Crash, written and directed by Academy Award-winner Paul Haggis. The tense and powerful drama seamlessly wove the stories of its main characters together into a narrative that was thought-provoking in its examination of individual prejudice and the resultant effects on morality. Sandra Bullock played Jean Cabot, a racist woman whose SUV is carjacked by two African American men.

The film was bolstered by a noteworthy cast that included Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, Michael Peña, and Jennifer Esposito.

6 Worst: Premonition (2007) – 8%

A weak take on similarly themed (but far more complex) twisted déjà vu classics like Memento, the Sandra Bullock-helmed Premonition never managed to produce enough suspense or psychological believability to make the narrative worthwhile. The film was conceptually interesting, following a woman who is told her husband has died in a car accident, only to find him alive in her bed the next morning. Realizing she is having premonitions of his death, she sets out to piece the puzzle together and stop the car crash before it can happen.

Unfortunately, Premonition’s poor execution made for a mediocre thriller that should have – by all accounts – been much better than it was, though Bullock’s performance was decent in the substantial lead role.

5 Best: While You Were Sleeping (1995) – 79%

Sandra Bullock’s endearing girl-next-door charm was on full display in While You Were Sleeping, a mid-90’s rom-com about a woman who saves a handsome stranger from a near-death train accident and then pretends to be his fiancee while he’s comatose, only to develop a budding relationship with his brother. The offbeat film worked due to the strong chemistry between Sandra Bullock and co-star Bill Pullman, who were both lovable characters, and the quirkiness of the narrative.

While You Were Sleeping helped to cement Sandra Bullock as a Hollywood darling, garnering her critical praise and a Golden Globe nomination.

4 Worst: All About Steve (2009) – 6%

Best known as the critically panned film that won Sandra Bullock a Razzie for worst actress (for which she surprisingly showed up to accept the award) in the same year she won her Oscar for The Blind Side, All About Steve was a failed screwball comedy with a messy script that some called insufferable. Bullock played one of the oddest comedic characters in Mary, a love-struck crossword creator who travels cross country to convince a CNN cameraman (Bradley Cooper) that she is the one for him.

All About Steve misfired at every turn, and there was nothing about the rom-com that felt compellingly romantic, charming, or at all fun.

3 Best: The Prince Of Egypt (1998) – 80%

Released shortly before the turn of the century, DreamWorks’ hand-drawn animated film following the Book of Exodus and the friendship-turned-rivalry between brothers Moses and Rameses has become something of a cult classic. The epic and visually stunning tale captured audiences’ emotions, and notably had one of the most star-studded voice casts of all time led by Michelle Pfeiffer, Ralph Fiennes, Helen Mirren, Patrick Stewart, Steve Martin, and Sandra Bullock.

The film was bolstered by a spectacular soundtrack that included the Academy Award-winning song, “When You Believe” by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, and has stood the test of time.

2 Worst: Speed 2 – Cruise Control (1997) – 4%

A frantic action sequel to the popular 1994 thriller Speed, Speed 2 – Cruise Control was best known for both Keanu Reeves’ refusal to reprise his lead role and for its over-the-top, formulaic writing. Speed 2 failed to capture all the energy and excitement of its predecessor, despite having a budget four times the size and a cast of big names in William Dafoe, Sandra Bullock, and Jason Patric. Bullock reprised her role as Annie, a woman enjoying a cruise with her boyfriend (Patric) who suddenly finds herself in danger when the ship is overtaken by a terrorist bent on crashing it.

Critics and audiences alike didn’t find much to enjoy in the film’s canned dialogue and plot, and it was ranked one of the biggest box office bombs of all time.

1 Best: Gravity (2013) – 96%

Anchored by terrific performances from Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, Alfonso Cuarón’s tense sci-fi thriller about two astronauts who find themselves in a life and death situation when a routine spacewalk goes horribly wrong took audiences on an emotional roller-coaster. Visually breathtaking and expansive, Gravity surprised viewers with its fascinating space backdrop and nuanced character work and the film quickly rose to critical acclaim.

Bullock’s emotionally resonant, complex performance was widely touted as the best of her storied career, and she was nominated for Best Actress at the 86th Academy Awards for her work.

About The Author