Mark Wahlberg’s five greatest movies, according to Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg might as well change his name to ‘Mark-mite’ given how divisive a figure he’s become.
On the one hand, he’s been nominated for pretty much every major acting award under the sun and has worked with some of the finest performers and directors on the planet, and on the other, he’s made some absolute dross. There are few actors working today with quite as varied an output as Boston’s favourite son, and this trend doesn’t look like it’s going to stop any time soon.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what everyone else thinks, but all that matters is what you think of yourself, and that goes for Marky Mark. In an interview with Cigar Aficionado (of all places), Wahlberg was asked which of his films he was most proud of, to which he responded, “Different movies for different things, but I always defer to the true stories. The Perfect Storm, The Fighter, Lone Survivor, Father Stu, Invincible.”
Most of Wahlberg’s picks are hard to disagree with, such as the hard-hitting sports biopic The Fighter, which finds him playing his real-life friend, boxer Micky Ward, starring opposite Christian Bale as a fellow fighter/Ward’s brother-in-law in a story that explores the trials and tribulations of making it big in the ring.
Both Bale and Melissa Leo won their respective ‘Supporting Actor’ trophies at the Oscars, though Wahlberg wasn’t even nominated: ouch!
Keeping with the sports theme, Invincible lands him in a genuine Cinderella story as Vincent Papale, who, at the age of 30, went from a substitute teacher and bartender to a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles NFL team. It’s a tale that was made for the big screen, and Wahlberg does a fine job in bringing this remarkable feat to life.
Changing gears, Lone Survivor lets Wahlberg indulge in one of his favourite hobbies, mucking around with guns as he plays Marcus Lutteral, a Navy Seal who was part of a strike force sent to take down a Taliban leader. The film received some criticism for its overuse of action, but on the whole, people were very happy with it, and the actor even won a Critics’ Choice award for his efforts.
However, The Perfect Storm is a little harder to justify: an account of a real-life tragedy on the high seas in which our hero plays a crew member aboard a fishing trawler caught in a catastrophic weather event, the film is marvellously produced and directed and full of moments that tug at the heartstrings, but some critics put it in the ‘style over substance’ category. Still, given how well it holds up visually over a quarter of a century later, it’s hard to knock it too badly.
We’ve saved the best for last, or should that be the worst, as Father Stu from 2022 tells the story of the titular character, a former boxer who gains a new lease on life when he becomes a priest, garnering very mixed reviews, with many critics pointing out how much it deviates from the real-life events and Wahlberg’s poor performance. Still, he absolutely loves it, so whatever helps him get some sleep at night, we can’t knock it too badly.
