The movies Adam Driver thinks everyone should watch
With his distinctive face, signature deep voice and vast range as an actor, it’s no surprise that Adam Driver has become the global superstar that we know him as today. His first major screen appearance was in 2012 as the loveable Adam Sackler in Lena Dunham’s hit series Girls. Just over a decade later, Driver has worked with the likes of Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott, portrayed the villainous Kylo Ren in the new Star Wars trilogy, and will round 2023 off with a lead role in Michael Mann’s Ferrari biopic.
However, you need more than impeccable acting chops to get to where Driver is. It takes a true cinephile to pick such consistently interesting roles and seek out such talented and singular filmmakers. It’s unsurprising, then, that a look at Driver’s recommended list of movies reveals a man who cherishes cinema just as much looking at a screen as he does acting on it.
Over the years, Driver has cited certain movies or performances that have profoundly resonated with him. Looking at his own filmography, some of these choices make sense – they can even be considered influential on his work. Other choices simply illustrate the tastes of a man who wants to kick back and escape into another world entirely. Either way, for fans of Driver or just cinema in general, it’s a collection of films worth paying attention to.
The most notable on his list is the incredible family drama, 1979’s Kramer vs. Kramer. Starring Dustin Hoffman as an advertising executive and Meryl Streep as his wife, Robert Brenton’s film paints a searing and candid portrait of a family in crisis that examines the fallout of a marriage breakdown. When Streep’s Joanna, depressed and bored with being a stay-at-home mother, decides to leave Hoffman’s Ted and their son Billy, Ted is forced to learn how to be a more attentive father.
Once Joanna returns, however, and demands custody of Billy, a hideous legal battle ensues, which shines a light on gender roles and father’s rights and ultimately leaves you questioning whether anyone has emerged as a victor. On top of being one of the best movies of the 1970s, the parallels with Driver’s own work are clear – his 2019 film, Marriage Story, co-starring Scarlett Johansson and directed by Noah Baumbach, wears the influences of Kramer vs. Kramer on its sleeve.
Elsewhere on his list are several films by the independent maestro John Cassavetes, whose raw and messy depictions of life have gone on to inspire everyone from Scorsese to Ben Wishaw. Not unlike Kramer vs. Kramer, Cassavetes’ 1968 film Faces follows a young couple following the husband’s announcement that he wants a divorce.
1977’s Opening Night, on the other hand, explores the fractured psyche of a stage actor brilliantly portrayed by the director’s wife, Gena Rowlands, after a traumatising incident with a fan. More certified classics, like David Lynch’s Eraserhead and Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Goodfellas make the list, as well as Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicles Total Recall and Predator – which might explain Driver’s recent appearance in the action sci-fi thriller 65.
Adam Driver’s favourite movies:
- Kramer vs. Kramer (Robert Benton, 1979)
- Ordinary People (Robert Redford, 1980)
- Fight Club (David Fincher, 1999)
- Total Recall (Paul Verhoeven, 1990)
- Predator (John McTiernan, 1987)
- Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Mike Nichols, 1966)
- Lethal Weapon (Richard Donner, 1987)
- Down By Law (Jim Jarmusch, 1986)
- Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
- Italianamerican (Martin Scorsese, 1974)
- The Miracle Worker (Arthur Penn, 1962)
- Midnight Cowboy (John Schlesinger, 1969)
- The Red Shoes (Michael Powell, 1948)
- To Be or Not to Be (Ernst Lubitsch, 1942)
- Age of Consent (Michael Powell, 1969)
- The Hidden Fortress (Akira Kurosawa, 1958)
- Faces (John Cassavetes, 1968)
- Opening Night (John Cassavetes, 1977)
- Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (Martin Scorsese, 1974)
- The French Connection (William Friedkin, 1971)
- The 400 Blows (Francois Truffaut, 1959)
- The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, 1978)
- Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch, 2003)
- You Can Count on Me (Kenneth Lonergan, 2000)
- Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)
- Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
- The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982)
- Arsenic and Old Lace (Frank Capra, 1944)
- Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
- Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995)
