What is Meryl Streep’s worst movie?
With every decade, new actors will emerge and prove themselves to be exactly what Hollywood needs at that moment in time. The greatest are those who endure through the coming years, adapting to new trends and jumping headfirst into ambitious projects that might’ve once been out of their comfort zone. For Meryl Streep, success came thick and fast during the late 1970s and early ‘80s, but she refused to let this fizzle out.
By working within different genres, Streep asserted herself as a multi-faceted talent. One of her earliest roles was in Kramer vs Kramer, playing a wife struggling through a complicated divorce, which earned the star her first Oscar. That role came shortly after she appeared in The Deer Hunter, for which she earned her first Academy Award nomination – even though the role was initially written to be a small, rather unimportant character. Clearly, Streep can turn anything into gold.
She continued to dominate Hollywood in the ‘80s with roles in movies like Sophie’s Choice, Silkwood, Ironweed and Out of Africa. She swept up more nominations from the Academy Awards, winning several in the process, and asserted herself a master of everything from heart wrenching dramas to romantic comedies. Many more unforgettable parts came in the ‘90s, but by the ‘00s, she really wasn’t afraid to push the boat out and try out less dramatic roles.
Later, Streep found yet more acclaim after starring in Mamma Mia!, the beloved musical comedy that allowed her to demonstrate her singing ability. Streep also appeared in The Devil Wears Prada as the eponymous Devil, also known as Miranda Priestly, a terrifyingly hilarious villain who spouts iconic lines such as “Florals for spring? Groundbreaking”.
However, the actor hasn’t had a flawless run. Streep has certainly starred in several movies that proved to be failures, with her incredible acting skills not even saving the day. But what is her worst movie? Looking at Streep’s worst-rated movies on Rotten Tomatoes, both Lions for Lambs and Evening are the lowest-scoring with just 27%. The films were both released in 2007 – clearly not the greatest year for her.
Lions for Lambs was directed by Robert Redford, the legendary Hollywood actor, but critics were not impressed. Labelled as too sanctimonious and a waste of a good cast, the movie failed to return adequate profits at the box office. Redford starred in the movie alongside Streep, who was joined by other big names like Tom Cruise and Andrew Garfield. Unfortunately, the movie just didn’t have enough power to see it through to awards season.
Evening, on the other hand, was a much quieter affair, directed by Lajos Koltai. However, it was perhaps a little too quiet – critics just thought it was boring. While Streep gave a good performance, there’s little going on to make the film memorable.
There isn’t one film that we can call her worst because, at the end of the day, the question of whether a movie is good or bad is rather subjective. Yet, we can’t avoid mentioning several titles that stick out like sore thumbs in Streep’s filmography. The House of the Spirits, released in 1993, is arguably one of her worst, despite the actor starring along a stacked cast, including Glenn Close, Jeremy Irons and Winona Ryder. The film was a failure both critically and commercially and was generally regarded as a bit of a mess, with Streep playing a character from Chile, which seemed like an odd choice.
Another questionable movie Streep has lent herself to is The Ant Bully, an animated children’s film that clearly tried to follow in the footsteps of several much more successful kids movies. Like The House of the Spirits, it also featured lots of stars, but it completely bombed and remains totally forgettable. Then there’s Don’t Look Up, a more recent release from Adam McKay. Streep appeared alongside actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Timothee Chalamet and Mark Rylance in the divisive movie, but its attempts at satire and comedy fell flat, resulting in an irritating and underwhelming piece of cinema that is not one of Streep’s finest efforts.
But what film does Streep think is her worst? She has never explicitly listed a film she thinks is bad, but she once revealed that she thinks her performance in The French Lieutenant’s Woman was her weakest. “I didn’t feel like I was living it. You always want to do something better after the fact,” she told Graham Norton about her role in the acclaimed 1981 film.
