The 10 Best Edward Norton Movies (As Actor), According To IMDb

Edward Norton is hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation. After making his memorable debut in Primal Fear, in which he beat out thousands of young actors for the role, he’s become one of the most sought-after actors to date.

Norton Jr. is next poised to star in Motherless Brooklyn, which he also wrote and directed. While Norton is winning critics over with his performance as a detective with Tourette’s Syndrome, we thought it’s high time we assess his most well-received movies to date. Here are the 10 Best Edward Norton Jr. movies, according to IMDb.

10 The Painted Veil (7.5/10)

Norton flexes his British accent in the exotic period drama The Painted Veil, in which he portrays dedicated doctor Walter Fane, who is out to cure a Chinese hamlet of a cholera outbreak.

The film, based on a W. Somerset Maugham novel, is adored by both casual fans and cinema critics alike. Director John Curran adapts the novel about a noble doctor’s attempt to save a people unlike his own, yet struggles to keep his own family together. Naomi Watts plays Walter’s adulterous wife, Kitty Fane, who forces Walter to grapple with their marriage.

9 25th Hour (7.6/10)

If you know anything about Norton, you know what a monumental impact Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing made on the young aspiring actor. So when he got the chance to light up a Spike Lee joint 13 years later, he jumped on it.

In 25th Hour, Norton plays Monty Brogan, an NYC drug-dealer who undergoes a major period of reflection before turning himself in for a prison sentence. With one final night to celebrate his two best friends, girlfriend, and loyal father, Brogan grapples with deep-seated regret and remorse.

8 The Illusionist (7/6/10)

Released less than two months before Christopher Nolan’s rivaling magic show The Prestige, fans still feel quite strongly about Norton’s sleeve-pulling trickery in The Illusionist.

In the period film, Norton plays a high-profile magician named Eisenheim during the late 19th century. When he pulls a volunteer from the audience to perform one of his tricks, he recognizes the woman from his childhood. Now the Duchess von Teschen, Sofie (Jessica Biel) is set to marry the Crown Prince but Eisenheim as other ideas, and desperately uses his magic to win her heart.

7 Primal Fear (7.7/10)

Debut screen performances are not supposed to be this good. Then again, I guess that’s what you get when you beat out roughly 2,100 other actors to win the part.

In Primal Fear, Norton plays Aaron Stampler, a soft and sweet altar boy accused of killing a pastor. Richard Gere is the lawyer assigned to defend him. With all the evidence pointed at Aaron, nobody can believe that such a nice and innocent boy could commit such a heinous crime. As Aaron’s lawyer works to get him exonerated, a jaw-dropping conclusion occurs.

6 Birdman (7.7/10)

Following Primal Fear and American History X, Norton earned his third Oscar nomination for his performance in Birdman. While Norton lost out to JK Simmons in Whiplash, Birdman went on to win Best Picture.

Filmed to appear as one long continuous shot, the film follows disgraced actor, Riggan Thomson (Michael Keaton), who is desperate to redeem himself by writing, directing, and starring in his new play. Norton pokes fun at his off-screen reputation as Mike, a difficult actor who is full of himself on the surface, but insecure deep down.

5 Moonrise Kingdom (7.8/10)

Norton’s first collaboration with quirky auteur Wes Anderson still ranks as his most beloved movie among critics. Do you think Moonrise Kingdom is Norton’s best movie?

The romantic-comedy focuses on young lovebirds, Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward), who elope from their difficult lives at home to be alone in the wilderness together. Norton plays Scout Master Ward, who is desperate to find Sam after he runs away on his watch. Known for his intense dramatic roles, the film marks the first outright comedy Norton made since Death to Smoochy in 2002.

4 Isle Of Dogs (7.9/10)

Believe it or not, three of the top 10 rated Norton movies, according to IMDB, come by way of Wes Anderson films. Go figure.

In their most recent collaboration, Isle of Dogs, Norton voiced Rex, one of five pooches out to help a little boy find his lost dog. When an outbreak of Dog Flu hits Japan, every mutt in the country is quarantined on “trash island.” Once Rex and his four friends arrive on the island, they meet a lonely boy desperate to rescue his favorite pet.

3 The Grand Budapest Hotel (8.1/10)

For his quirky comedic ensemble The Grand Budapest Hotel, writer/director won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. With phenomenal actors like Norton reciting the lines, we can see why.

The film centers on the fictional hotel situated somewhere in Europe, and the offbeat concierge, Gustav H (Ralph Fiennes). Norton plays a mustachioed lawman, Henckels, who is out to get to the bottom of a recent murder in the hotel. The film marks the second collaboration between Norton and Anderson, and hopefully, it won’t be the last.

2 American History X (8.5/10)

American History X is one of the most powerful and provocative films ever made. One of the reasons why is the searing tour-de-force turn by Edward Norton as a reformed white supremacist gang-leader.

Norton is absolutely terrifying as Derek Vineyard, a Nazi-tattoo wearing organizer of hate. But after a stint in jail and support from his African-American high-school teacher, he begins to see the light. When he comes home, he finds his little brother has taken up his mantle as a skinhead hate-monger. Derek tries desperately to educate his brother before it’s too late.

1 Fight Club (8.8/10)

For as memorable as the year 1999 was at the movies, few generational voices resounded as loudly as that in David Fincher’s Fight Club.

In what amounts to a visceral psychological prank, Fight Club follows the fractious personality of insomnia-riddled office drone (Norton). With a profound sense of unease with his life, The Narrator projects an idealized version onto himself in the form of Tyler Durden. Tyler is everything the narrator is not, and the underground fights they arrange becomes a mere metaphor for his intense internal struggle.