Danny DeVito is known for a variety of things: his long, impressive career, his gift for comedic roles, and his small stature. Despite being in his 70s now, his career is still going as strong as ever, reaching a whole new generation with his bouncy, likable, and happy demeanor.
However, with a career as long as Danny DeVito’s, there is bound to be both higher and lower moments. Some of the highs are incredibly impressive, but as the list below is going to show, there have also been some pretty dire roles across his filmography. IMDb ranks his five best and five worst roles here.
BEST: Big Fish (8.0)
One of Tim Burton’s finest works is his Ewan McGregor-starring drama Big Fish. Released back in 2003, the film is the charming story of Edward Bloom’s early life as a salesman touring the USA.
DeVito doesn’t have a major part to play in the film, but he does make a brief appearance as Amos Calloway, which was well-received.
WORST: The Van (4.6)
Starting off with a lowly 4.6 average doesn’t suggest big things for Danny DeVito’s five worst films, unfortunately. Released just a few years after his breakout hit, this was an early work for DeVito, but it certainly wasn’t a good one. It was a poorly received comedy that calls itself a ‘vansploitation’ - a term for comedies that focused on ... vans.
BEST: L.A. Confidential (8.2)
Danny DeVito ed the likes of Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce for the 1997 neo-noir crime drama L.A. Confidential. It takes a very different approach to many of the more comedic works that you may associate with DeVito, with gritty realism at its heart.
He plays Sid Hudgens, a magazine publisher who is looking for tips on celebrity arrests, but ends up enwrapped in a rather sinister story that doesn’t end well for him.
WORST: Junior (4.6)
Junior is taken from a period of Arnold Schwarzenegger comedies that really didn’t hit the spot. This is the first role featured on this list that sees DeVito take on a major role, but not in a good way.
The ‘comedy’ was negatively received across the board, despite Emma Thompson and Schwarzenegger receiving Golden Globe nominations.
BEST: The Simpsons (8.7)
Typically, an actor who has had a role in The Simpsons wouldn’t make it onto such list, simply because almost every actor in the world has appeared on the show at some point or another.
Danny DeVito's character is a bit more significant than most of the one-off cameos, though, as he plays Herb Powell, Homer’s half-brother, and he appears in three episodes.
WORST: Look Who’s Talking Now (4.4)
Another horrific comedy from the dire part of Danny DeVito’s career in the mid-90s was Look Who’s Talking Now. It was the sequel to Look Who’s Talking from a few years earlier and managed to outdo the original with even worse critical response.
This probably wasn’t helped by the fact that DeVito voices a dog, whose life is the primary focus of the film.
BEST: One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest (8.7)
Arguably one of the greatest films ever made, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is clearly one of the finest roles DeVito ever landed, and it was long before he became a household name.
In the film, he plays the bouncy yet lovable Martini. He is known for his innocence and hilarity, which perfectly foreshadows the many roles DeVito would claim in his future career. In fact, the entire film is chock full of incredible future stars.
WORST: Christmas In Love (4.2)
Just from the name, you can tell Christmas In Love isn’t going to be ed as one of Danny DeVito’s finest works. The 2004 comedy is, of course, a Christmas film, and places him amongst a cast he is way too talented to be a part of.
Obviously, the film was a disaster and received terrible reviews.
BEST: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia (8.8)
Despite being a TV show he is still working on to this day, Danny DeVito’s role on It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia is one of his most loved off all time. He wasn’t present in season one, but since ing the cast in the second season, he helped propel the sit-com to new heights.
He plays Frank Reynolds, the father of Dennis and Dee, and a man surrounded by unnecessary squalor that he chooses to remain a part of, despite his known wealth. This probably comes down to the fact that he has questionable morals in comparison to the other characters in the show.
WORST: Going Ape! (3.9)
Has there ever been a good film with an exclamation mark in the title? This 1981 comedy used real orangutans as part of its cast, turning it into an animal-rights nightmare.
Danny DeVito's dreadful performance in an already terrible film resulted in a deserved Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor.