Throughout her decades-long career, Charlize Theron has grown from a ing player to an Oscar-winning superstar. She is one of the biggest names in Hollywood and the type of actor who can effortlessly move between intimate dramas and huge action blockbusters.
With so much versatility and intensity, it's not surprising that Theron has been a part of some truly beloved projects. She managed to nab good roles in stellar films early in her career and now finds herself headlining huge hits. But that's not to say all of her films are success stories. Talking a look at her IMDb page, there is a healthy mix of good and bad.
Best: Monster (2003) - 7.3
Theron won her first Oscar for her astonishing a transformative performance in the true-crime story, Monster. Theron is unrecognizable as Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute who became a prolific serial killer in the late '80s and early '90s.
Theron's performance goes far beyond the physical. She inhabits the role so completely that it's easy to forget you are watching an actor at work. Monster is a disturbing yet compelling drama which was an early sign of writer-director Patty Jenkins' talents.
Worst: Mighty Joe Young (1998) - 5.6
After making an impression in ing roles and playing the love interest, Theron finally got her first leading role in a Hollywood film. Unfortunately, it was this rather forgettable Disney adventure.
In Mighty Joe Young, Theron plays Jill, a woman who grew up with a young gorilla named Joe. Now grown, Joe has become an impossibly massive beast whom others seek out for their own fortune. The film plays like a kid-friendly update of King Kong which sadly doesn't make for a very interesting adventure.
Best: The Cider House Rules (1999) - 7.4
Theron scored a key role in the prestigious Oscar-winning film The Cider House Rules. Set in the 1940s, Tobey Maguire plays Homer Wells, a young man who was raised in an orphanage by a kingly doctor (Michael Caine). Now a grown man, Homer seeks to see more of the world.
Theron plays Candy Kendall, a young woman who helps the Homer explore while the two eventually fall in love with each other. Audiences were taken with the emotional story as well as the fantastic performances from the talented cast.
Worst: Waking Up in Reno (2002) - 5.5
Movies like The Long Shot have proven that Theron can be excellent in comedies, but Waking Up in Reno is not a good showcase for those skills. Theron is ed by Billy Bob Thornton, Natasha Richardson, and Patrick Swayze as two couples who go on a road trip to Reno together.
Despite the charming cast, audiences just didn't think the quirky road trip comedy delivered the laughs. The sitcom humor and unengaging storyline failed to live up to the talent on screen.
Best: The Devil's Advocate (1997) - 7.5
Theron teamed with Keanu Reeves for the first time in this memorable thriller. Reeves plays Kevin Lomax, a skilled lawyer who, after winning a difficult case, is recruited by a big city lawyer named John Milton (Al Pacino). But soon Kevin begins to suspect there is something darker about his new boss.
While the real reason to watch is Pacino's wild and fun performance, Theron grounds the film as Kevin's wife who struggles with their new life. The Devil's Advocate is a movie that gets crazier as it goes on until reaching its thrilling climax.
Worst: Æon Flux (2005) - 5.5
Many consider Theron to be one of the top action stars in Hollywood these days, but Æon Flux was an early failure that tried to introduce Theron as a badass action hero. The sci-fi film finds Theron playing a deadly assassin looking to overthrow the corrupt government in the last city on Earth.
The stylish look of the film and Theron's action skills couldn't save Æon Flux from bombing at the box office and with critics. The overblown story crowded out any interesting ideas that it might have introduced and in the end, it felt like just another sci-fi film that was style over substance.
Best: Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) - 7.8
Lending her famous vocals to the animation world, Theron ed Laika Animation's epic adventure film, Kubo and the Two Strings. The story follows a young boy in search of an ancient weapon owned by his late father that can be used to defeat the evil Moon King. Theron has another great badass role as a monkey who s the young boy on his quest.
The movie is beautiful to look at and has some truly spellbinding action sequences. But aside from the visual spectacle, the story is really fun and moving.
Worst: The Astronaut's Wife (1999) - 5.4
The star power of Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp should have made The Astronaut's Wife a much more enticing film. Alas, this sci-fi thriller wastes a promising premise with a pretty by-the-numbers approach.
Theron plays Jillian, the wife of Spencer (Depp), an astronaut who returns from a space mission. But when he begins acting differently, Jill suspects something happened to him in space and he may not be her husband after all. Theron does what she can with the material but there is surprisingly little fun to be had.
Best: Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - 8.1
After decades of waiting, fans of the Mad Max franchise were finally gifted with the fourth entry, Mad Max: Fury Road. As it turns out, the movie was well worth the wait. It follows Max (Tom Hardy) as he teams up with a warrior named Furiosa (Theron) who is rescuing the imprisoned wives of a warlord.
George Miller delivered one of the most epic and wild action movies ever made that is high-octane fun from beginning to end. And despite the title, Theron's Furiosa is the real star of the film, cementing her status as an action movie icon.
Worst: The Last Face (2016) - 4.9
Sean Penn has had a pretty interesting career as a director, but his most recent effort was a big miss. The Last Face stars Theron and Javier Bardem as two aid workers in Africa. As they witness the horrific injustice of the land, they deal with their own rocky relationship.
To make a movie about African atrocities serving as the backdrop for a love story between aid workers was a gross miscalculation. Penn is very unsubtle with his messaging and the love story is a complete bore. Even Theron and Bardem can't make their chemistry work.
