Sandra Bullock was a household name in the 90s and 00s, but after a comparatively low-key run in the 2010s, she's headlining major blockbusters once again. Sandra Bullock became an A-list name in Hollywood with her breakout performance in the 1994 movie Speed, which helped her win some of the greatest cinematic accolades. She remains beloved by fans, who have cheered her on to several major accolades, including one Oscar win for Best Actress and another nomination in the same category.
In recent years, Bullock has continued to build on her impressive resume with a variety of movie roles. She has gone with horror in the Netflix thriller Bird Box and with comedy in the 2022 movie The Lost City. She added a more dramatic role in The Unforgivable as a woman who just got out of prison and sets out to regain the life she lost and even tried to relaunch a franchise with a gender-swapped Ocean's Eight. Sandra Bullock movies ranked show why she is one of Hollywood's most beloved and recognizable actresses and, as her string of box-office wins show, someone audiences have no problem paying to see.
12 Minions (2015)
- Available to stream on Fubo and DirecTV.
Out of all the Sandra Bullock movies in her filmography, none have been as successful financially as Minions. Bullock voices Scarlet Overkill, the biggest villain in the world and someone the Minions really want to serve. However, she is as evil as they come and uses the Minions to get what she wants before she discards them. At the time of its release, Minions was the second-highest-grossing animated movie of all time and made $1.15 billion worldwide (via The Numbers), proving how much kids and families loved the little Minions. The movie also had seven Annie nominations, the top awards organization for animated movies.
11 The Lost City (2022)
- Stream now on Amazon Prime, Paramount+, and MGM+.
The actress proved in 2022 that Sandra Bullock movies could still be box office successes with The Lost City. This movie saw Bullock star as a romance writer who ends up abducted by a man (Daniel Radcliffe) who wants her to find the treasure she wrote about in her books. Things get worse when her cover model (Channing Tatum) decides to save her to prove he is more than just a hot guy. What could have been a silly comedy action film turned into one of the year's better movies, making $182 million on a $68 million budget (via The Numbers).
10 The Heat (2013)
- Stream now on HBOMax.
Released in 2013, The Heat looked like a generic Melissa McCarthy comedy movie, but what resulted was a sleeper hit that left audiences laughing. Like in many Sandra Bullock movies, she played it straight as an FBI Special Agent named Sarah Ashburn who teams up with McCarthy's Boston Detective Shannon Mullins to take down a mobster. The movie ended up as a box office success, making $229 million against a budget of $43 million (via The Numbers). While its critics' reviews were average, audiences seemed to love the dynamic, and it picked up a lot of people's choice awards, with Bullock and McCarthy winning Teen Choice Awards.
9 Ocean’s Eight (2018)
- Available to rent on multiple platforms.
In the movie Ocean's Eight, Debbie Ocean, Danny Ocean's sister, leads a group of women as they plot a complex burglary during the yearly Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Deborah "Debbie" Ocean, played by Sandra Bullock, is an experienced con artist and thief who begins planning the heist as soon as she is granted parole - a story almost identical to Clooney's Danny. Unlike many Sandra Bullock movies, this one only received mostly average reviews, but the audience seemed to enjoy the gender-swapped story, with it picking up nominations at the Teen Choice Awards and People's Choice Awards.
8 A Time to Kill (1996)
- Available to rent on multiple platforms.
Based on the John Grisham novel, the movie A Time to Kill features a fearless young attorney from Mississippi and his partner, who defend a man suspected of killing two people who sexually assaulted his ten-year-old daughter, prompting horrific retaliation and vengeance from the Ku Klux Klan. In one of the earlier Sandra Bullock movies, she plays Ellen Roark, a law student who aids the dad who killed his daughter's assaulter in getting a fair trial. Critics praised Bullock's performance, and she went on to win the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress in a Suspense Film.
7 Miss Congeniality (2000)
- Available to rent on multiple platforms.
When a terrorist threatens to bomb the Miss United States pageant, the FBI asks an agent to go undercover as a contestant in the movie Miss Congeniality. It is Bullock who plays that agent, as someone who has no use for dresses or pageants in general and has to learn how to fit in if she wants to crack the case. Critics lauded Bullock's performance in the movie. The movie earned $212 million against a $45 million budget (via Box Office Mojo) and spawned a sequel. Bullock pickup up a Golden Globes nomination for her performance. While Miss Congeniality isn't the best Sandra Bullock movie, it's arguably the one that secured her place as a global megastar.
6 The Proposal (2009)
- Stream now on Hulu and Peacock .
A Canadian executive of a significant New York City publishing house discovers that she will be deported from the United States after her application for a visa renewal was turned down in the movie The Proposal. They first disliked one another but eventually grew to like one another. Margaret Tate, the forceful editor-in-chief at a prominent book publisher in New York City who faces deportation, is portrayed by Sandra Bullock, one of her most likable Sandra Bullock movie roles. Bullock earned yet another Golden Globes nomination for her performance, and seeing her flex her comedic talents alongside Ryan Reynolds made for a winning combination.
5 Crash (2005)
- Stream now on Showtime.
One of the most acclaimed Sandra Bullock movies where she was only part of an ensemble cast, Crash ended up as a controversial movie that won the industry's highest honor. Paul Haggis directed a movie about racism in Los Angeles that had an all-star cast including Bullock, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Terrence Howard, Thandiwe Newton, and Ryan Philippe. Bullock played Jean Cabot, the wife of the District Attorney. She is outwardly racist toward minorities around her, and it is one of Bullock's most unlikeable roles. Crash won the Oscar for Best Picture despite average reviews and complaints about its heavy-handedness.
4 While You Were Sleeping (1995)
- Stream now on Disney+.
In the movie While You Were Sleeping, a lonely token collector for the Chicago Transit Authority saves her longtime crush from a speeding train, but the man ends up in a coma. Things become tricky once Lucy (Sandra Bullock) makes a careless remark that leads Peter's family to believe she is his fiancé. Sandra Bullock's endearing performance has been hailed by critics, and certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Bullock also picked up a Golden Globes nomination for Best Actress. On top of that, the American Film Institute ranked it as one of its 100 Years ... 100 ions picks (via AFI).
3 The Blind Side (2009)
- Available to rent on multiple platforms.
Sandra Bullock finally won the big one thanks to her role in the 2009 inspirational sports movie The Blind Side. One of the best Sandra Bullock movies, it was based on the true story of Michael Oher, a young man whose adoptive parents helped him achieve his highest dream — making it to the NFL and becoming a football star. The movie saw Oher overcome poverty and climb out of his desperate situation thanks to the love of his adoptive parents, who Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw portrayed. Bullock went on to win the Oscar for Best Actress for the role, while also winning a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award.
