The 10 Best Spike Jonze Movies, Ranked According To IMDb

Getting his big break by working with the celebrated surrealist writer Charlie Kaufman, director Spike Jonze, who is currently the creative director of Vice Media, has built a filmography of movies that both confuse audiences and amaze them—but there are two totally different sides to Jonze’s career.

There are the movies that make him seem like an artistic surreal visionary, but then there are the movies that see him putting together the most death-defying stunts in the Jackass series, with him even taking part in some of them. From movies that are about writing the very movie audiences are watching to misunderstood children’s movies and hopelessly romantic sci-fi flicks, Jonze’s movies are completely unique.

10 Bad Grandpa (2013) – 6.5

Bad Grandpa is a spin-off of the Jackass movies, as Irving Zisman is a character that was used in many skits in the franchise. Not only did Spike Jonze write and produce the movie, but he even briefly acts in it, too. Jonze reprises his role of Gloria, as he played the promiscuous grandmother for a couple of the Jackass clips.

Bad Grandpa plays out similarly to Jackass, as it follows a group of people pulling the most unbelievable stunts, but it also has an actual narrative. Though the movie is far from the highest scored movie on IMDb, it remains one of the funniest hidden camera movies, as it’s such a niche genre and not for everybody.

9 Jackass: The Movie (2002) – 6.6

It might be strange to imagine Spike Jonze, an romantic indie movie director, being so heavily involved in a film full of ridiculous stunts, but, as the franchise is so embedded in skate culture, it only makes sense that Jonze, a skater himself, is a major part of the movies. Not only did the director produce Jackass, but he wrote the movie, and he even had a hand in creating the series.

The first movie in the series is essentially a feature length episode of the show, as it doesn’t particularly use the film format to do anything spectacular like the sequels would go on to do. But, it still remains one of the most entertaining movies of the 2000s.

8 Where The Wild Things Are (2009) – 6.7

Adapting Where The Wild Things Are, which was originally a children’s picture book with very few words, seemed like an unusual choice for the director at the time. Not only was there very little to adapt, but all of Jonze’s previous movies had very much been for mature audiences only.

The fact that there wasn’t much of a story to begin with is clear, as much of the movie’s runtime follows the beasts aimlessly wandering around. But, the movie has become something of a cult hit, as its sweet soundtrack from Karen O and the beautiful imagery are impossible to not find charming.

7 Jackass Number Two (2006) – 7.0

With the sequel, the performers knew they had to up the ante, so that’s exactly what happened, as the movie features more bullfighting, more vulgar pranks, and way more pain. It’s also the first introduction the audience had to Jonze’s Gloria, as the character goes streaking through the streets.

Unlike the first film in the series, Jackass Number Two uses the movie format to its advantage. The finale sees the whole crew perform a musical routine complete with a 20 foot high slide, a house on fire, ending with Johnny Knoxville literally getting knocked out of the frame by a wrecking ball.

6 Jackass 3D (2010) – 7.0

It’s strange to think that the Jackass movie make up a pretty untouchable trilogy, even if it isn’t compared to the likes of the Dark Knight trilogy of the Godfather movies. But, unlike those two trilogies, the third entry in the Jackass series is better than both of its predecessors.

Nobody ever thought they needed a 3D Jackass movie, as the series had always been shot on camcorders for the most part, but the novelty shockingly enhanced the stunts tenfold. And there’s even more singing and dancing.

5 Adaptation (2002) – 7.7

Following the surreal Being John Malkovich, Adaptation is Jonze’s second collaboration with writer Charlie Kaufman, and its just as bizarre as one would expect. It’s partly being an adaptation of the non-fiction book The Orchid Thief, but, at the same time, it’s about Charlie Kaufman, who is a literal character in the movie, trying to write the very screenplay of the movie that audiences are watching.

Though some critics thought it was too meta and surreal for its own good after the lightning in a bottle that was Being John Malkovich, most thought it was a victory lap for the duo.

4 Being John Malkovich (1999) – 7.7

Being John Malkovich is one of the reasons why 1999 was the greatest year in film. After they were put in touch with each other by Francis Ford Coppola of all people, absurd writer Charlie Kaufman and director Spike Jonze was a match made in heaven.

Being John Malkovich is a wild fantasy movie in which a former puppeteer finds a portal that takes him in to the mind of real-life actor John Malkovich. Though on paper the plot sounds like forced randomness, and though Malkovich was horrified when he first read it, the movie is a shockingly introspective drama about love and mortality, and its surreal nature is a total mind warp.

3 Beastie Boys Story (2020) – 7.8

Beastie Boys Story is the latest project that Jonze worked on and the first time he directed a movie for a streaming service, as the documentary is an AppleTV+ original.

It’s almost poetic that the documentary was directed by Jonze, as one of the first jobs Jonze had was directing the music video for “Sabotage” in 1994, which has become one of the most iconic videos of that decade. It’s an adaptation of Beastie Boys Book, which tells the band’s story from the very beginning, and most of the movie is the two surviving members, Ad-Rock and Mike D, telling the story to an audience in King’s Theatre in Brooklyn.

2 I’m Here (2010) – 7.8

Though it’s a short film, I’m Here is a precious 30-minute movie about a future where robots and humans live alongside each other. Voiced by Andrew Garfield, Sheldon is a robot who hopelessly falls in love with another robot, and it follows the lengths he goes to in order to keep her in his life. Given its futuristic setting, it’s one of the weirdest but most beautiful tragedies ever made, and it paved the way for what Jonze would work on in the 2010s.

1 Her (2013) – 8.0

Finally getting the courage to make the movie after being influenced by directing I’m Here, Jonze returned with the best, most fascinating movie of his career. Her follows Theodore Twombly, who falls in love with what is essentially an enhanced version of Siri, and it ingeniously comments on the modern day relationship people have with technology while at the same time being a tragic tale of heartbreak. The movie looks beautiful, creatively captures LA in a distant future, and it features one of Phoenix’s greatest performances.