Ron Howard names the greatest movie of his career: “It’s right at the top”
Despite having almost 30 features under his belt as a director since making his debut on 1977’s Grand Theft Auto, there’s no such thing as a Ron Howard movie. Whether that’s a good or bad thing remains debatable, but what can’t be argued is that he’s one of Hollywood’s safest and most versatile pair of hands.
Every nameworthy auteur has a certain set of tropes and techniques they incorporate into most if not all, of their work: Quentin Tarantino has rapid-fire dialogue and foot stuff, Steven Spielberg has characters gazing in awe at something off-camera, Christopher Nolan manipulates time and favours a dead spouse, Wes Anderson loves himself some symmetry, and on it goes.
However, Howard doesn’t have any of that. There’s nothing that immediately jumps out to let audiences know they’re watching one of his films, but he’s clearly been doing something right after becoming one of the highest-grossing directors in cinema history. Few genres are left that he hasn’t dabbled in at least once, but which entry in his back catalogue does he think deserves to be called the best?
Is it A Beautiful Mind, which won him Academy Awards for ‘Best Picture’ and ‘Best Director’? Nope. What about his repeated forays into light-hearted comedy, biographical drama, or Tom Hanks uncovering a ludicrous conspiracy that repeatedly raised the ire of powerful religious organisations? Nope, none of them either.
It makes perfect sense for Ron Howard’s favourite Ron Howard movie to feature Ron Howard’s favourite Ron Howard scene, and while he outlined the launch sequence as the single finest self-contained several minutes of footage he’s ever captured on camera, Apollo 13 as a whole came in for even more praise. Or self-aggrandisement, depending on how cynical anyone feels a filmmaker touting their own achievements comes across.
“It’s right at the top,” he answered when the Library of Congress demanded to know which one of his films he holds dearest. “When you combine both the opportunity to understand what that era was like, to meeting so many of the men who went to the moon and many of the individuals who factored into that process. They understood the spirit of problem-solving and the national effort supported by policymakers and government leaders.”
Describing it as “one of those experiences that none of us will ever, ever forget,” Howard was beyond thrilled with how “the movie was so well-received, embraced, nominated, and won awards in various categories at various awards programmes.” That said, one of its most egregious omissions was his own after he was left off the ‘Best Director’ shortlist at the Oscars, especially in the year Babe‘s Chris Noonan made the cut.
According to Howard, Apollo 13 has “endured in a way that continues to make us all feel great about it.” It might not be everyone’s favourite of his flicks, but nothing has managed to dislodge it from the top of his personal pile in the last 30 years, and it’ll take something special to knock it from its perch.
