Jennifer Aniston's Best Screen Performances
Jennifer Aniston rose to fame as America's sweetheart Rachel Green on “Friends,” but since then the popular actress has proven to be far more than one-sixth of the world's best-known group of friends. In the past decade, she has played everything from an abusive and sex-crazed boss to an aging small-town queen and a grieving mother addicted to painkillers. Aniston has shown that she can excel not only in comedies (rom-coms, dark comedies, antics), but also in drama, as evidenced by her acclaimed role in the movie "Cake" and her current award-nominated performance on "The Morning Show. . "
Aniston started her career by appearing in terrible movies - "Leprechaun," anyone? –- and forgettable TV shows like “Molloy”, “Ferris Bueller” and “Muddling Through”. When "Friends" was a huge hit, she could easily have played her role for the rest of her career. Instead, Aniston has continually challenged herself by choosing incredibly different roles than the one she first made her famous for. Here are some of Jennifer Aniston's best on-screen performances, starting with the one she put her on the map nearly 30 years ago.
Friends
In 1994, the world discovered Aniston when she began her iconic role as Rachel Green on NBC's "Friends." In the pilot, Rachel had just run out of her wedding to Barry, meeting her high school friend Monica at the now legendary Central Perk cafe. The entire cast of “Friends” became mega-famous - and mega-rich - because of the show, but it was Rachel from Aniston who received the most attention (her hairstyle became known as “The Rachel,” after all). . And while Aniston will probably always be best known for "Friends" given the cultural impact of the show and the fact that it recurs almost constantly, it's mind-boggling to think that the role was almost recast at the last minute due to another TV show Aniston starred in. at the time (according to USA Today). Fortunately, that show quickly failed and the rest is television history.
Rachel grew exponentially over the years, starting as a spoiled, unambitious princess who couldn't do anything for herself and ending up as a successful businesswoman with a thriving career in fashion and a beautiful daughter. Whether Rachel was freaking out over Joey's (Matt LeBlanc) soap opera buddies or hiding her Pottery Barn purchases from Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), Aniston never had a problem making us laugh, or had trouble making us cry in her moments. dramatic (like Ross's breakup). For her portrayal of Rachel, Aniston was Recognized by many award-giving entities. She received two Golden Globe nominations (won once in 2003), five Emmy Award nominations (won once in 2002), and nine Screen Actors Guild nominations (once won as part of the ensemble "Friends"), among others.
Office space
All of the “Friends” actors were very good at efficiently using their downtime. For Aniston, that meant starring in a host of movies, including "She's the One" in 1996, "Picture Perfect" in 1997, and "The Object of My Affection" in 1998. But none of these unsatisfying movies really capitalized on their immense quality. star, and it wasn't until Mike Judge's “Office Space” that Aniston appeared in a really good movie. In the 1999 film, Aniston played Joanna, a disgruntled waitress who dates one of the main characters, Peter (Ron Livingston).
Although the role was small, Aniston was praised for her role in the black comedy. “Jennifer Aniston has a prominent role as a waitress at a restaurant chain with hers of her own work problems. She doesn't have a lot of screen time, but by playing this personable and slightly insecure young woman, she makes it her best film performance to date. " wrote San Francisco Chronicle critic Mick LaSalle.
The good girl
While “The Good Girl” did become unforgettable at the box office, it is still one of Aniston's best and certainly worth checking out if you haven't seen it yet. In the 2002 dark comedy / drama, Aniston plays Justine Last, a depressed Texas woman who is dissatisfied with her life, which includes working at a discount retail store and living with her husband, Phil (John C. Reilly). She begins a friendship with a mysterious young co-worker, the writer Holden (Jake Gyllenhaal), which eventually turns into an affair. As a result, Justine's life falls apart due to Holden's instability, the shady friend of her husband, Bubba (Tim Blake Nelson), and a surprise pregnancy.
Critics were deeply impressed by Aniston's performance, which proved it could be darker than the fluffy comedies he frequently starred in. "Jennifer Aniston has finally decisively broken with her image of 'Friends' in an independent film of satirical fire and emotional turmoil." wrote the famous film critic Roger Ebert, who gave the film four stars and declared that "it will no longer be possible to consider it in the same way." Aniston was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, a Satellite Award, and an Online Film Critics Society Award for her performance.
Bruce Almighty
Aniston returned to her comedy roots with 2003's "Bruce Almighty," a Jim Carrey vehicle that was a box office success (the film made nearly $ 500 million worldwide). Aniston appears in the film as Grace Connelly, the girlfriend of Bruce Nolan de Carrey, a television reporter who, after becoming angry with God for his misfortunes, becomes God Himself for a week. Grace eventually breaks up with Bruce due to his oversized ego. Aniston and Carrey have compelling chemistry, and while it's a typical "girlfriend" role, it's still one of Aniston's best of that kind.
The film received mixed reviews from critics, with much of the attention focused on Carrey and Morgan Freeman (who played God). However, Aniston was also featured in various reviews. “Aniston, as a sweet kindergarten teacher and fiancée, proves again (after 'The Good Girl') that she really will have a film career, despite petty musings from those who think she should have stayed in the movie. TV". Roger Ebert wrote in his review. “She can play comedy, which is not easy, and she can keep up with Carrey without simply mirroring his insanity; she that is one of those gifts like being able to sing a song while she types the words in another ”. Other reviewers were less positive, mainly due to the way the paper was written. For example, a BBC critic called Aniston "excellent" but "underused" and Slant said she was "just a decorative distraction."
Friends with money
After “Friends” ended, Aniston continued to expand her film career, with starring roles in films such as “Derailed” and “Rumor Has It…”, but her next big performance didn't come until “Friends With Money,” a small film that It went largely under the radar despite its charm. In the movie, Aniston plays Olivia, a teacher-turned-cleaner who struggles with both money and relationships, a stark contrast to the rest of her social circle, all married and wealthy. But despite having money, Olivia's friends Franny (Joan Cusack), Christine (Catherine Keener) and Jane (Frances McDormand) have problems of their own, and this is truly a movie about female friendship as much as it is about class and materialism. .
Olivia's friends (and the audience) feel sorry for her, but Aniston plays the wayward marijuana so well that you can't help but love her either. Writing for the Seattle Times, film critic Moira Macdonald said: “Aniston, dressed in stained sweatpants and sweaters with holes so casually that you hardly notice them (a minor actress and director would go out of her way to show them to us), shrugs at her celebrity personality and brings a sad girl - sweetie from next door to Olivia. And Wesley Morris, a critic for the Boston Globe, proclaimed that Aniston delivers "the most laid-back movie performance of her life" in the movie.
Marley and Me
From "Beethoven" to "Beverly Hills Chihuahua," nothing cheers audiences' hearts like a good pet movie. "Marley & Me" tops the list when it comes to these types of films, and is one of Jennifer Aniston's biggest films to date (it grossed more than a quarter of a billion dollars worldwide). Aniston plays Jenny Grogan in the 2008 film, which is based on a memory of the same name. At the beginning of the film, Jenny and her new husband, John (Owen Wilson), embark on a move and decide to adopt a dog, an adorable but misbehaving yellow lab they call Marley. The film is about the joys and struggles of having a pet throughout a dog's life, tracing Marley's Impact from arrival to departure.
22 dogs have been reported to play "the world's worst dog" Marley over the course of the film, but the same human actors portray their characters as they age over the span of 15 years. While not all critics loved the film, many praised the chemistry between the actors and the dog, as well as between Aniston and Wilson (see The Hollywood Reporter, for example). In his three-star review, Roger Ebert wrote, “When Marley is not on screen, Wilson and Aniston show why they are talented comedians. They have a relationship that is not too comedic, not too sentimental, mostly intelligent and realistic. However, we have to warn you: tissues will be needed.
The switch
"The Switch" received mixed reviews, but we think it was a great outing for Aniston, who appears as Kassie Larson, a single woman who decides to have a baby through a sperm donor. Although Kassie originally vetoed her best friend Wally Mars (Jason Bateman) from being her donor, an accident leads him to exchange her sperm for donor sperm. Yes, it's all very disgusting, but it's also a decently cute rom-com with strong performances from Aniston, Bateman, and a supporting cast that includes Patrick. Wilson, Jeff Goldblum, and Juliette Lewis.
Minnesota Star Tribune Film critic Tom Horgen wrote that "Aniston and Bateman find a fun chemistry together, and the film's fascinating setting unfolds with wit and charm." In the San Francisco Chronicle, Mike LaSalle wrote that “Jennifer Aniston brings certain things to the movies: a relaxed but spontaneous comedic ability. An attention to the other actors that is unusual in her approach. A shaky quality of humanity that is making a pleasant transition from youth to middle age, backed up by another quality: the glowing sanity of someone old enough to know her place in the universe and the importance of other people. "
Some felt that the role and film lacked depth, and others felt that the content got too close to Aniston's tabloid “single girl” personality (see Whiteboard Review, for example). But overall, if there was any recurring criticism of Aniston, it was that she was playing with the guy. "Aniston has played Aniston for so long that she seems incapable of doing anything else." Marc Savlov wrote in The Austin Chronicle. "She is a genre unto herself." But again, why is that a bad thing?
