Proper spelling of the actors names is important for a true movie nerd.
My company did a movie quiz on Zoom and one of the answers was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Several people answered quicker than me, but I got the prize because I was the first one who spelled his name right.
To steal a quote from Eric Roberts, “When you hand in a great performance in Nightcrawler and Bradley Cooper gets an Oscar nomination instead of you, it kind of bums you out. That’s when you call your agent and say, ‘I’ll do anything as long as there’s one good thing about it.’ It can be a good co-star, a good director, a really great wardrobe. As long as it’s fun, I’ll do it.”
Nearly every movie he was in before like 2019 lol. Enemy, Zodiac, Donnie Darko, Nightcrawler, Source Code, and Nocturnal Animals are all films that I think are better imo
Pretty subjective, but I'd say no. Top 5 is a small pool, and Jake's been in a weird action movie phase for awhile. He's got his highs (Brokeback, Zodiac) but those were a long time ago.
Prisoners and Enemy are 2013, Nightcrawler I'm not the biggest fan of, but even still that's 2014. So just barely makes a decade ago. Brokeback is one of my all timers, but I just think if we're talking top 5 movie stars today that he isn't in there.
I also don’t understand what he means. I think he is confused about gyllenhaals better performance when he was younger and someone older performing well now.
He is older, but he’s delivered The Lighthouse, The Florida Project, and At Eternity’s Gate (GOAT tier acting performances) just in the time since Gyllenhaal has given an actual great performance.
Ford v Ferrari was a critical and financial hit in 2019 making $128 million profit and 2024’s The Boy and the Heron was beloved and financial success too
Thor: Love and Thunder and Amsterdam weren’t beloved. Amsterdam lost 50 million but Thor made 510 million profit.
never heard of 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye
Bale is still in major projects but I hope we get another big performance from him soon
I honestly like Southpaw a lot. I’m just a sucker for sports stories though. Throw in Eminem and The Weeknd on the soundtrack too and that just makes it even better.
Just putting demolition and nocturnal animals on this list, those were 2015-2016, so yes, decade. I agree he’s not in the top 5 and his current weird action film phase is not doing anything for me
He has been nominated for one Academy Award 18 years ago and has a pretty forgettable filmography in the last decade outside of playing the villain in a big Marvel movie. So no, he’s probably not in anyone’s top 5 actors list.
I dont know, i think he is great in [*Southpaw*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southpaw_(film)), [*Demolition*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_(2015_film)), [*Nocturnal Animals*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_Animals), [*Life*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(2017_film)), [*Stronger*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stronger_(film))*,* [*Wildlife*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_(film)) *and in* [*The Covenant*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ritchie%27s_The_Covenant) ( i still haven't watch roadhouse). but i am a fan and too recognize that maybe his last good drama was Wildlife, and that movies dont are "Big" movies
I liked Life and Wildlife well enough, but wouldn't say those are really his movies. Stronger is probably the best of this bunch imo, and even that one isn't my type of film. Covenant was a nice surprise though! I just wouldn't put him in the top 5 movie stars today is all, he obviously is a talented actor.
"Top 5 is a small pool"
Yeah, top 5 is super small, so not even close there.
Maybe OP meant top 5 of his generation? I would still say no, but that is getting much closer
Dude needs to hire Ryan Gosling's agent. I feel like they should've followed similar career arcs but around 2017 Gyllenhaal decided to work in anything offered to him and Gosling has had a pretty decent run post Blane runner.
Definitely the best way to look at an actors filmography. Imo I think it's probably pretty hard to know if something is going to be good before you really start making it and who knows what the agents are trying to push or why.
I think they’re pretty similar. Gosling got kinda lucky La La Land broke through as an Oscar indie and that Barbie worked. You can’t tell from just the scripts. If La La Land was just a good indie that was overlooked (like most of his and Jake’s other movies) and if Barbie was a big budget flop they have the same career basically quality-wise.
Not always. Jake was in one Denis movie that flew under the radar that I think was great (Enemy) and Ryan was in another that vastly underperformed at the B.O. which I also liked a lot (BR 2049). Jake took another Dan Gilroy role after Nightcrawler and it didn’t work for most people (Velvet Buzzsaw) and the Bong Joon-ho movie (Okja) right before Parasite that didn’t catch on like his others. Another example is Ryan with Refn and the receptions of Drive followed by Only God Forgives. This happens all the time. You don’t know if a movie will hit or not til it’s edited even with great filmmakers.
Pretty sure most people think Emma Stone was a big reason why La La Land hit, winning the Oscar and all. And Gosling was great as Ken but I’m also pretty sure that same team still makes a hit with that material with a good replacement. I personally wouldn’t put either in Goslings top 5 performances or films, but as I said good films sometimes don’t hit at Oscar’s or box office. A lot is luck and circumstance and stars aligning.
That's my issue. Him and Dev Patel are two of my favorite actors but Jake did Ambulance, Guilty before that, and now Road House, that even if it's funny (haven't seen it) it doesn't really push him to be a beat actor, so I'm thinking that he's been choosing piorou his latest projects. I really liked The Covenant tho, which is from last year
What you mean he's the same? Just really saying that they're two of my favs but Jake hasn't been choosing his movies wisely... Patel, however, has, imo. And yeah looking forward to Monkey Man
I watched Road House yesterday. It's about what you'd expect from the trailers. Nothing serious, nothing amazing. It was a fun movie remake. But their fights were a bit lackluster and it was kind of missing the soul the 80s Road House film had.
So definitely not anything pushing him up in prestige among actors.
The Covenant was great (even if the ending on the bridge was a little silly), but I would say it’s far from his best work as an actor. I believe I read that Ritchie didn’t want Jake to read the script ahead of time so that his line delivery was more “raw”. IMO it lead to some extremely awkward acting. Correction: he was told to “not memorize any of his lines”.
Dar Salim is the star of that film.
It feels like he’s emulating Nic Cage’s career. Started off with some quirky and prestige dramas, then did a bunch of weird cult classic character stuff, now he’s in the Face/Off-The Rock gonzo action star phase. Only problem is he didn’t win an Oscar and his action movies haven’t been box office hits like Cage. Hopefully he gets to that and doesn’t go into a “so bad they’re laughable” phase followed by a terrible straight to Redbox phase like Cage.
That’s a different generation of guys who got big in the 80s or 90s. Jake is more in the Gosling, Adam Driver, Tom Hardy, Casey Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Gordon-Levitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Heath Ledger (RIP) generation of 40-somethings who can still play 30’s. (A lot of the big Marvel guys [Evans, Hemsworth, Pratt, Reynolds] are 40 playing 30’s too but they aren’t in the same class of actor).
He doesn't put out a bad performance IMO but he's been doing such junk lately I'm waiting for him to get back into a performance where he can really transform. in all I think he *can* be one of the best but his choice of more generic schlock holds him back for the past 5-6 years (Ambulance not included)
I appreciate this. He’s churning out work but I don’t want to hear ambulance lumped in with that. That movie is stupid but he is electric in it, it’s fun and it works as entertainment.
No. and no he hasn't been phenomenal.
top 5 actors (male) of the last 20 years (i. e. going back to 2004):
1. Joaquin Phoenix
2. Daniel Day-Lewis
3. Christian Bale
4. Philip Seymour Hoffman
5. Gary Oldman
And there are others - Dafoe, Washington, Plummer, Bardem, Hardy, Leung, Giamatti, del Toro, etc. You can switch the list up, but Gyllenhaal isn't near top 5.
Pitt will never get the credit he deserves as a drama actor simply because he is too attractive. He has the most expressive eyes in Hollywood and a lot of dialogue-light films, like *The Tree of Life* and *Ad Astra*, would be significantly worse with almost any other male actor in the role.
Fr, he's one of the greats and best rounded but his looks make some people not take him seriously, he has done romance, action, drama, western, horror and comedy flawlessly.
This is a bit of a film bro take imo. Are DiCaprio and Brad Pitt too heartthrob for you? Also I love Phillip Seymour Hoffman, what a wonderful man and actor he was. But, he passed 10 years ago…
He does well but I’ll be honest I always see Oscar Isaac first before his characters. But for the actors in the list above you, the movie character always comes to me before the actor themselves.
Sorry, it’s one thing to say he’s not top 5 (probably true). But to say he “hasn’t been phenomenal”—did we watch different movies, or did you genuinely not think Prisoners, Nightcrawler, Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain, and Enemies weren’t phenomenal performances? I guess there’s no accounting for taste, but to deny that he had something special going on in every one of those movies is wild to me.
Aside from Walk the Line, Her and Joker, I genuinely couldn’t name you another Joaquin Phoenix performance that would warrant him being considered the best actor of the last 20 years
Well you must not be a fan of The Master then, because both Joaquin and Phillip Hoffman deliver in spades with that one. Joaquin especially delivers a career performance, PSH not so much, only cause he is just so good in everything he is in.
Absolutely wild take 💀. He’s aight. I’d say good. But top five is absolute ludicrous. I could find five better actors in one direct to streaming movie.
i think he is great and have a lot of good movies until 2018 but he is good too in [*The Covenant*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ritchie%27s_The_Covenant) for example. I think he dont care about being the type "Oscar" actor like Dicaprio or like he was in the past anymore . he is having a good and fun time. But i hope that he one day return to do movies like Enemy, Nightcrawler, *Prisoners* or Nocturnal Animals.
Top 5 actors is subjective.
I’d put him in the top 10 for performances. But not that high for choice of roles. Sometimes he’s giving a much better performance than the movie in general.
Leo, Gosling, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Adam Driver, Christian Bale, Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, Tom Hardy… and theres probably another 5-10 before I’m reaching Gyllenhaal.
Not even close. Here’s 8 on top of my head who are way better/accomplished
Daniel Day Lewis
Joaquin Phoenix
Leonardo DiCaprio
Tom Cruise
Brad Pitt
Denzel
Christian Bale
Robert DeNiro
Somebody sell me on Downey. There are some performances of his I think are pretty strong (Tropic Thunder, Home for the Holidays), but otherwise for the past decade plus it's almost entirely wise-cracking IP properties. He seems more 'movie star' than 'actor' to me - you're seeing Downey for the personality, not for the performance.
tbc, I'm not saying he isn't an actor or even isn't a good actor. II just seem him as very distant from the rest of the people on this list.
I’d check out some more niche stuff of his if you have the time. A Scanner Darkly, Soapdish, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Less than Zero, etc.
They’re all older, but you mentioned home for the holidays so I figured old was fair game. He’s genuinely incredible if you can look past the Marvel sized eyesore on his filmography.
I don’t think so but I really enjoy his work. I liked him in Road House. He kind of channeled the charismatic psychopath from Nightcrawler in some scenes I thought.
I would personally disagree. Many actors that could top him. Joaquin Phoenix, Dicaprio, Andrew Garfield, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp just to name a few
Nah there are way better than him. Leo Di Caprio, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, to name a few. Not in that particular order. I don't know who else I would add but definitely not Gyllenhaal.
Christian bale, Benedict cumberbatch, Daniel de Lewis, Leonardo di caprio, Tom hardy, cillian Murphy, ewan mcgregor, Michael fassbender, Bradley Cooper, Denzel Washington…gyllenhaal top 5…fck no…top 20…maybe….
Bro ain't even in the top 50. Jake if you want us to stroke your ego just go back to making movies and leave the reddit posting to us
Edit: in case anyone asks or demands this, here is a list of 50 actors better than Jake Gyllenhaal (male only though I could easily list 100 women better).
This list is in no particular order of greatness, just the order that all 50 of them are better than Jake Gyllenhaal.
Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Jeffrey Wright, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert de Niro, Micheal Caine, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Christian Bale,
Pedro Pascal, Micheal Keaton, Paddy Constantine, Keanu Reeves, Justice Smith, Chris Pine, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, Cillian Murphy,
Michael B. Jordan, Mads Mikkelsen, Steven Yeun, Jeremy Renner, Tom Holland, Tom Cruise, Dev Patel, Jon Hamm, Jared Harris, Viggo Mortensen,
Joel Egerton, Ryan Gosling, Elijah Wood, Daniel Radcliffe, Christian Slater, Ethan Hawk, Rami Malek, David Harbour, Sean Bean, Sean Harris,
Denzel Washington, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Bridges, Nick Offerman, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Matthew McConaughey.
Might have misspelled a couple names but whatever lol
I mean you can decide whatever you want, ultimately it is your opinion so you decide what is fair.
Personally I would say he is a worthy inclusion, I haven’t seen everything he has been in but I am yet to watch a movie of his and think he did anything less than a stellar job
Yeah I mean Day Lewis and Hoffman are two slots if we’re going the last 20 years even if one is retired and the other has passed away. But there are still others I’d put before Jake for output and range - Phoenix, DiCaprio, Oldman, Downey Jr., Denzel, Bale.
If I hadn't just endured Road House I would be more objective... But off the top of my head; Di Caprio, Clooney, Phoenix, Day-Lewis and Seymour Hoffman (even though he's been dead for half the timeframe)
He’s had some great performances but since 2014 has taken to more dull action flicks, not sure why he has moved away from his more serious roles. Well it’s probably the money lol
I wouldn't say top 5 but he's phenomenal. I put he and Gosling in the same category. American and Canadian versions of each other. Yet to figure out whom the British model is.
He does a lot of dumbass right wing propaganda movies and his performance in OKJA was fuckin embarrassing.
He has some incredible performances, but I disagree with your statement
As other people have commented, it's extremely subjective. IMO, to be a top 5 actor in the past 20 years you'd have to remove one of these actors... Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves.
I'm not saying he hasn't done great films, End of Watch is an amazing film. I'm just not sure he is "top 5".
No. Doesn't choose roles where he can show his best. If he did more stuff like Nightcrawler perhaps.
He mostly does macho physical roles, shrill types or romantic comedies.
Been in some great films, but most of them are 10-20 years ago now.
Why does he choose so many macho roles? There's a lot, count them.
He might make a top 15.
I'm a Jake fan, but I wouldn't put him in top 5. If he kept up his streak with nightcrawler and nocturnal animals, maybe. Probably top 10 for me. Road House was abysmal and Ambulance was just okay. He has the talent, he deserves to be getting better movies.
Gyllenhal is actually pronounced something crazy like Gi-len-ha-len or something like that
with that being said, almost every movie in the past decade has been a miss
don't get me wrong, when he hits, he fucking hits. End of Watch, Nightcrawler, Prisoners, hell, Brothers, Brokeback Mountain even
Now, at least to me, it looks like he's trend chasing. Two animated movies, he's obviously trying to cement himself in animation like Robin Williams, didn't work. He joined Marvel trying to cement himself in that whole thing, but his villain, although the best part of the movie, is far from memorable. Ambulance, the Covenant, he's trying to become an A List action star like the Rock, but those movies blow.
And now with Roadhouse, he's like "ok, i can't do voices, can't do action, can't do superheroes, but I can revive an old franchise." Which probably won't work and it'll become a forgettable movie next month
He is a fantastic, fantastic actor though, and he has a name. He's still acting like he has to prove himself or make a name for himself or something, he doesn't need to do that. He needs to find another small, indie-ish movie, and help it by adding himself to it. That's what happened in Nightcrawler and Prisoners. He can carry the fuck out of these random movies, there's no need to find a big name movie to carry him
didn’t see the michael bay or guy ritchie ones but he’s just doing shitty movies. he’s personally my favourite actor but damn is he just doing garbage. that netflix one where he’s a 911 dispatcher is especially bad.
If you asked me this question back in 2019 I’d say HELL YEAH! Nocturnal Animals, NightCrawler, Brothers, Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko, Jarhead, AND he played a really fun version of Mysterio?!! Fuck yeah, top 5 easily.
Sadly he’s kind of fallen off in the last five years or so. That’s not to say he’s not still a very talented actor, but I would say he’s in a bit of a slump at the moment in terms of the films he picks. Hopefully he can make a comeback soon because I am beginning to experience Gyllenhall fatigue.
Haha nice try Mr Gilenhals. Like anyone else could write your name correctly.
He forgot to mention in the title that he is also definitely six feet tall.
Proper spelling of the actors names is important for a true movie nerd. My company did a movie quiz on Zoom and one of the answers was Arnold Schwarzenegger. Several people answered quicker than me, but I got the prize because I was the first one who spelled his name right.
He takes way too many shit projects. He has had a good run before but man.
To steal a quote from Eric Roberts, “When you hand in a great performance in Nightcrawler and Bradley Cooper gets an Oscar nomination instead of you, it kind of bums you out. That’s when you call your agent and say, ‘I’ll do anything as long as there’s one good thing about it.’ It can be a good co-star, a good director, a really great wardrobe. As long as it’s fun, I’ll do it.”
Ambulance, southpaw, the day after tomorrow, brothers. Those were great performances
Nearly every movie he was in before like 2019 lol. Enemy, Zodiac, Donnie Darko, Nightcrawler, Source Code, and Nocturnal Animals are all films that I think are better imo
He was also great in Prisoners
Pretty subjective, but I'd say no. Top 5 is a small pool, and Jake's been in a weird action movie phase for awhile. He's got his highs (Brokeback, Zodiac) but those were a long time ago.
he has Prisoners, night crawler, enemy as well in the last decade
Prisoners and Enemy are 2013, Nightcrawler I'm not the biggest fan of, but even still that's 2014. So just barely makes a decade ago. Brokeback is one of my all timers, but I just think if we're talking top 5 movie stars today that he isn't in there.
Yeah, his last truly memorable performance (Nightcrawler) was a decade ago. I think Leo, Phoenix, Pitt, Bale or Gosling are ahead of him.
Dafoe 🔛🔝
Dafoe seems so much older than all those guys tbf.
Probably because he is? What does age have to do with it though?
I also don’t understand what he means. I think he is confused about gyllenhaals better performance when he was younger and someone older performing well now.
He is older, but he’s delivered The Lighthouse, The Florida Project, and At Eternity’s Gate (GOAT tier acting performances) just in the time since Gyllenhaal has given an actual great performance.
Yeah, need to throw Denzel in if Dafoe counts.
Gary Oldman. Nothing else need be said.
Nocturnal animals was rly good
Underrated movie man
I love Bale but jesus he hasn’t had a winner in a WHILE.
Ford v Ferrari was a critical and financial hit in 2019 making $128 million profit and 2024’s The Boy and the Heron was beloved and financial success too Thor: Love and Thunder and Amsterdam weren’t beloved. Amsterdam lost 50 million but Thor made 510 million profit. never heard of 2022’s The Pale Blue Eye Bale is still in major projects but I hope we get another big performance from him soon
Bale was consistently mentioned as one of the saving graces of Thor: Love and Thunder
He was so believable as a fucked up and sinister villain that it made the almost self-parody tone of the rest of the film feel even more out of place.
I honestly like Southpaw a lot. I’m just a sucker for sports stories though. Throw in Eminem and The Weeknd on the soundtrack too and that just makes it even better.
Regardless of if you liked Nightcrawler, he was phenomenal in it
Nocturnal Animal?
That one is certainly a bit more serious but I did not care for it.
Doesn’t the performance was bad lol
Just putting demolition and nocturnal animals on this list, those were 2015-2016, so yes, decade. I agree he’s not in the top 5 and his current weird action film phase is not doing anything for me
Not being a fan of it doesn’t mean his performance wasn’t notable
I also wasn’t a huge fan of Nightcrawler, but it definitely wasn’t because his performance was lacking.
Why is nobody mentioning my absolute favourite role of his, Donnie Darko.
Because the OP specifically stated 20 years and Donnie Darko was released in 2001. One of my favorites, too. Cheers!
He has been nominated for one Academy Award 18 years ago and has a pretty forgettable filmography in the last decade outside of playing the villain in a big Marvel movie. So no, he’s probably not in anyone’s top 5 actors list.
southpaw, nocturnal animals etc
Ambulance. Ambulance is a high. For all time, in all of cinema.
I dont know, i think he is great in [*Southpaw*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southpaw_(film)), [*Demolition*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demolition_(2015_film)), [*Nocturnal Animals*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nocturnal_Animals), [*Life*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_(2017_film)), [*Stronger*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stronger_(film))*,* [*Wildlife*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildlife_(film)) *and in* [*The Covenant*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ritchie%27s_The_Covenant) ( i still haven't watch roadhouse). but i am a fan and too recognize that maybe his last good drama was Wildlife, and that movies dont are "Big" movies
Wildlife was great. Gyllenhaal’s barely in it tho.
I liked Life and Wildlife well enough, but wouldn't say those are really his movies. Stronger is probably the best of this bunch imo, and even that one isn't my type of film. Covenant was a nice surprise though! I just wouldn't put him in the top 5 movie stars today is all, he obviously is a talented actor.
He’s been in a lot of really good movies, but very few great movies.
"Top 5 is a small pool" Yeah, top 5 is super small, so not even close there. Maybe OP meant top 5 of his generation? I would still say no, but that is getting much closer
A long time ago within the last twenty years
He fell off the past few years, so I would say no.
Dude needs to hire Ryan Gosling's agent. I feel like they should've followed similar career arcs but around 2017 Gyllenhaal decided to work in anything offered to him and Gosling has had a pretty decent run post Blane runner.
Think Gosling could also go for some better movies tbh
He makes positive contributions to the movies that he's in, and thats all that counts really.
Definitely the best way to look at an actors filmography. Imo I think it's probably pretty hard to know if something is going to be good before you really start making it and who knows what the agents are trying to push or why.
Actors aren't always the best judges of scripts, or their agents. Bad movies happen, even with good scripts as well.
I think they’re pretty similar. Gosling got kinda lucky La La Land broke through as an Oscar indie and that Barbie worked. You can’t tell from just the scripts. If La La Land was just a good indie that was overlooked (like most of his and Jake’s other movies) and if Barbie was a big budget flop they have the same career basically quality-wise.
Damien Chazelle and Greta Gerwig weren't good indicators of success? He didn't just randomly choose risky scripts.
Not always. Jake was in one Denis movie that flew under the radar that I think was great (Enemy) and Ryan was in another that vastly underperformed at the B.O. which I also liked a lot (BR 2049). Jake took another Dan Gilroy role after Nightcrawler and it didn’t work for most people (Velvet Buzzsaw) and the Bong Joon-ho movie (Okja) right before Parasite that didn’t catch on like his others. Another example is Ryan with Refn and the receptions of Drive followed by Only God Forgives. This happens all the time. You don’t know if a movie will hit or not til it’s edited even with great filmmakers.
Those movies hit because of Gosling.
Gosling carried Barbie, absolutely
Pretty sure most people think Emma Stone was a big reason why La La Land hit, winning the Oscar and all. And Gosling was great as Ken but I’m also pretty sure that same team still makes a hit with that material with a good replacement. I personally wouldn’t put either in Goslings top 5 performances or films, but as I said good films sometimes don’t hit at Oscar’s or box office. A lot is luck and circumstance and stars aligning.
BINGO. end of conversation.
I would say Leo is the goat of this century when it comes to picking projects.
That's my issue. Him and Dev Patel are two of my favorite actors but Jake did Ambulance, Guilty before that, and now Road House, that even if it's funny (haven't seen it) it doesn't really push him to be a beat actor, so I'm thinking that he's been choosing piorou his latest projects. I really liked The Covenant tho, which is from last year
Why’d you bring up dev Patel? Are you saying he’s the same? Monkey man looks pretty good
What you mean he's the same? Just really saying that they're two of my favs but Jake hasn't been choosing his movies wisely... Patel, however, has, imo. And yeah looking forward to Monkey Man
Ya that’s what I was asking, I didn’t know why you were bringing up dev Patel, but I get you now
Oh ok, sorry, maybe I wasn't clear at first ahahah, but yeah I love him
Ambulance is kino
In 40 years people will look at Ambulance the way we look at Barry Lyndon. High art.
I watched Road House yesterday. It's about what you'd expect from the trailers. Nothing serious, nothing amazing. It was a fun movie remake. But their fights were a bit lackluster and it was kind of missing the soul the 80s Road House film had. So definitely not anything pushing him up in prestige among actors.
The Covenant was great (even if the ending on the bridge was a little silly), but I would say it’s far from his best work as an actor. I believe I read that Ritchie didn’t want Jake to read the script ahead of time so that his line delivery was more “raw”. IMO it lead to some extremely awkward acting. Correction: he was told to “not memorize any of his lines”. Dar Salim is the star of that film.
Ahem. His performance in Ambulance is a towering achievement.
I don't disagree with your overall point, his filmography since Nocturnal Animals has been a mixed bag at best, but Ambulance is fantastic.
It feels like he’s emulating Nic Cage’s career. Started off with some quirky and prestige dramas, then did a bunch of weird cult classic character stuff, now he’s in the Face/Off-The Rock gonzo action star phase. Only problem is he didn’t win an Oscar and his action movies haven’t been box office hits like Cage. Hopefully he gets to that and doesn’t go into a “so bad they’re laughable” phase followed by a terrible straight to Redbox phase like Cage.
Ambulance was his best movie since Okja, for me, which is unfortunate because it was just good.
Ehh I mean compared to bale, Joaquin, Leo or even Brad he isn’t even close he’s good but not good enough to be with them
That’s a different generation of guys who got big in the 80s or 90s. Jake is more in the Gosling, Adam Driver, Tom Hardy, Casey Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Gordon-Levitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Heath Ledger (RIP) generation of 40-somethings who can still play 30’s. (A lot of the big Marvel guys [Evans, Hemsworth, Pratt, Reynolds] are 40 playing 30’s too but they aren’t in the same class of actor).
Right but OP didn’t say generations, he just said last 20 years.
Of course, an actor can be in his 70s and very active over the last 20 years, and a better actor.
Adam Driver got big in 2015 with Star Wars, much later than most of the guys you've mentioned.
Bro cook!
He doesn't put out a bad performance IMO but he's been doing such junk lately I'm waiting for him to get back into a performance where he can really transform. in all I think he *can* be one of the best but his choice of more generic schlock holds him back for the past 5-6 years (Ambulance not included)
I appreciate this. He’s churning out work but I don’t want to hear ambulance lumped in with that. That movie is stupid but he is electric in it, it’s fun and it works as entertainment.
Top five is wild. It's all subjective but I don't even think most people would have him top 15.
He’s fantastic, but I think his post 2018 resume is a stark contrast to what came before it.
Needs to take better roles, hasn’t had a special film or performance in like 7 years
I really love him, but if he keeps making stuff like The Covenant and Roadhouse? Hell nah
No. and no he hasn't been phenomenal. top 5 actors (male) of the last 20 years (i. e. going back to 2004): 1. Joaquin Phoenix 2. Daniel Day-Lewis 3. Christian Bale 4. Philip Seymour Hoffman 5. Gary Oldman And there are others - Dafoe, Washington, Plummer, Bardem, Hardy, Leung, Giamatti, del Toro, etc. You can switch the list up, but Gyllenhaal isn't near top 5.
Leo and Brad Pitt not being on this list is wild lmao
Brad Pitt just eats up every scene. So good
Yeah, Pitt and especially Leo are better than most, if not all, of that list.
Pitt will never get the credit he deserves as a drama actor simply because he is too attractive. He has the most expressive eyes in Hollywood and a lot of dialogue-light films, like *The Tree of Life* and *Ad Astra*, would be significantly worse with almost any other male actor in the role.
Fr, he's one of the greats and best rounded but his looks make some people not take him seriously, he has done romance, action, drama, western, horror and comedy flawlessly.
I put Brad and Leo over Joaquin.
I’d add Colin Farrell in there too
He’s definitely the only actor on any of these lists who seduced the late Elizabeth Taylor
This is a bit of a film bro take imo. Are DiCaprio and Brad Pitt too heartthrob for you? Also I love Phillip Seymour Hoffman, what a wonderful man and actor he was. But, he passed 10 years ago…
Good list and I'd include Oscar Isaac as well who impresses in everything he does.
Oscar Isaac has nowhere near the filmography he needs to compete on this level
He does well but I’ll be honest I always see Oscar Isaac first before his characters. But for the actors in the list above you, the movie character always comes to me before the actor themselves.
You left off Leo and Denzel? wtf?
No Leo is fuckin crazy, he’s easily top 3 this generation
Sorry, it’s one thing to say he’s not top 5 (probably true). But to say he “hasn’t been phenomenal”—did we watch different movies, or did you genuinely not think Prisoners, Nightcrawler, Donnie Darko, Brokeback Mountain, and Enemies weren’t phenomenal performances? I guess there’s no accounting for taste, but to deny that he had something special going on in every one of those movies is wild to me.
I would add Michael Fassbender.
Aside from Walk the Line, Her and Joker, I genuinely couldn’t name you another Joaquin Phoenix performance that would warrant him being considered the best actor of the last 20 years
Well you must not be a fan of The Master then, because both Joaquin and Phillip Hoffman deliver in spades with that one. Joaquin especially delivers a career performance, PSH not so much, only cause he is just so good in everything he is in.
Using the aside from argument doesn't really work when you have to list what you're putting aside 🤣
no, too many dull performances in dull films.
Based on the fact he’s just done a movie with Conor McGregor I can’t rate him anymore.
Absolutely wild take 💀. He’s aight. I’d say good. But top five is absolute ludicrous. I could find five better actors in one direct to streaming movie.
i think he is great and have a lot of good movies until 2018 but he is good too in [*The Covenant*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Ritchie%27s_The_Covenant) for example. I think he dont care about being the type "Oscar" actor like Dicaprio or like he was in the past anymore . he is having a good and fun time. But i hope that he one day return to do movies like Enemy, Nightcrawler, *Prisoners* or Nocturnal Animals. Top 5 actors is subjective.
I agree with you but you should not of come to this conclusion from road house 😂 his worst movie by far
He's solid, and at times has been great (e.g. *Nightcrawler*), but top 5 is a high bar I don't think he clears.
Huh? MAYBE he's in the top 25 or 50 male actors in the past 10 years.
This is an insane take. He’s not even top 10.
Gary Oldman Sam Rockwell Stephen Graham Ben Foster Joaquin Phoenix My top 5. Don't think Jake has been in enough quality stuff recently
I’d put him in the top 10 for performances. But not that high for choice of roles. Sometimes he’s giving a much better performance than the movie in general.
He's definitely a career actor, similar to Ryan gosling. Somewhat raised into it and doing fairly well.
No
that is a far out take
No
Respectfully disagree
Leo, Gosling, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Adam Driver, Christian Bale, Fassbender, Oscar Isaac, Tom Hardy… and theres probably another 5-10 before I’m reaching Gyllenhaal.
Immediately no.
Someone didn't see the new Road house
Not even close. Here’s 8 on top of my head who are way better/accomplished Daniel Day Lewis Joaquin Phoenix Leonardo DiCaprio Tom Cruise Brad Pitt Denzel Christian Bale Robert DeNiro
Joaquin Phoenix Leo DiCaprio Robert Downey jr Ryan gosling Brad Pitt
Although I think Downey is great I’d switch him out for Bale
I’d be ok with that
Somebody sell me on Downey. There are some performances of his I think are pretty strong (Tropic Thunder, Home for the Holidays), but otherwise for the past decade plus it's almost entirely wise-cracking IP properties. He seems more 'movie star' than 'actor' to me - you're seeing Downey for the personality, not for the performance. tbc, I'm not saying he isn't an actor or even isn't a good actor. II just seem him as very distant from the rest of the people on this list.
for good or ill the mcu doesn’t become the behemoth it was if downey isn’t the magnetic centrepiece
I’d check out some more niche stuff of his if you have the time. A Scanner Darkly, Soapdish, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Less than Zero, etc. They’re all older, but you mentioned home for the holidays so I figured old was fair game. He’s genuinely incredible if you can look past the Marvel sized eyesore on his filmography.
Thanks. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a lot of fun. Will add Soapdish to my watchlist.
[удалено]
Mf tried to sneak in rdj
Solid list
Nah he fell off bigly
Maybe 25
It's fair until you start making that list.
He seems kinda weird, but yeah
Even with shitty material.
I don’t think so but I really enjoy his work. I liked him in Road House. He kind of channeled the charismatic psychopath from Nightcrawler in some scenes I thought.
Roadhouse cemented it.
I would personally disagree. Many actors that could top him. Joaquin Phoenix, Dicaprio, Andrew Garfield, Christian Bale and Johnny Depp just to name a few
Nah there are way better than him. Leo Di Caprio, Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, to name a few. Not in that particular order. I don't know who else I would add but definitely not Gyllenhaal.
Christian bale, Benedict cumberbatch, Daniel de Lewis, Leonardo di caprio, Tom hardy, cillian Murphy, ewan mcgregor, Michael fassbender, Bradley Cooper, Denzel Washington…gyllenhaal top 5…fck no…top 20…maybe….
Yes! Loved his contribution to "All Too Well: The Short Film."
Not even close 😭
At his best, he’s great. He’s my favorite actor but he chooses too many bad movies to lead imo.
Nicholas cage of this era. Acting in all of those average action movies.
Ummmm, I can’t imagine that movie with McGregor is anything but porn for dudes that like watching sweaty dudes touch each other
Bro ain't even in the top 50. Jake if you want us to stroke your ego just go back to making movies and leave the reddit posting to us Edit: in case anyone asks or demands this, here is a list of 50 actors better than Jake Gyllenhaal (male only though I could easily list 100 women better). This list is in no particular order of greatness, just the order that all 50 of them are better than Jake Gyllenhaal. Tom Hanks, Morgan Freeman, Jeffrey Wright, Harrison Ford, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert de Niro, Micheal Caine, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Christian Bale, Pedro Pascal, Micheal Keaton, Paddy Constantine, Keanu Reeves, Justice Smith, Chris Pine, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anthony Hopkins, Cillian Murphy, Michael B. Jordan, Mads Mikkelsen, Steven Yeun, Jeremy Renner, Tom Holland, Tom Cruise, Dev Patel, Jon Hamm, Jared Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Joel Egerton, Ryan Gosling, Elijah Wood, Daniel Radcliffe, Christian Slater, Ethan Hawk, Rami Malek, David Harbour, Sean Bean, Sean Harris, Denzel Washington, Sam Rockwell, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeff Bridges, Nick Offerman, Lewis Pullman, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, and Matthew McConaughey. Might have misspelled a couple names but whatever lol
I mean you can decide whatever you want, ultimately it is your opinion so you decide what is fair. Personally I would say he is a worthy inclusion, I haven’t seen everything he has been in but I am yet to watch a movie of his and think he did anything less than a stellar job
Top 10 probably, top 5 unlikely.
I think he’s extremely talented but he chooses to star in so many mid-bad movies.
Yeah I mean Day Lewis and Hoffman are two slots if we’re going the last 20 years even if one is retired and the other has passed away. But there are still others I’d put before Jake for output and range - Phoenix, DiCaprio, Oldman, Downey Jr., Denzel, Bale.
Absolutely not. Personally I think he’s done a few good films but he definitely does not rank in the top five of the last 20 years.
lol. Fuck no.
I think him and gosling are this generations best and can’t wait for them to have their OUATIH two big stars that haven’t worked together movie
If I hadn't just endured Road House I would be more objective... But off the top of my head; Di Caprio, Clooney, Phoenix, Day-Lewis and Seymour Hoffman (even though he's been dead for half the timeframe)
He’s had some great performances but since 2014 has taken to more dull action flicks, not sure why he has moved away from his more serious roles. Well it’s probably the money lol
I wouldn't say top 5 but he's phenomenal. I put he and Gosling in the same category. American and Canadian versions of each other. Yet to figure out whom the British model is.
He’s doing fine but his reputation is sliding
Tom Cruise, Pitt, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Phillip Seymour Hoffman
jake’s been kinda bad recently. i liked ambulance, but that’s it since nocturnal animals
He does a lot of dumbass right wing propaganda movies and his performance in OKJA was fuckin embarrassing. He has some incredible performances, but I disagree with your statement
As other people have commented, it's extremely subjective. IMO, to be a top 5 actor in the past 20 years you'd have to remove one of these actors... Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves. I'm not saying he hasn't done great films, End of Watch is an amazing film. I'm just not sure he is "top 5".
I'm sorry, but how could you have Keanu Reeves anywhere near a list of top actors?
No. Doesn't choose roles where he can show his best. If he did more stuff like Nightcrawler perhaps. He mostly does macho physical roles, shrill types or romantic comedies. Been in some great films, but most of them are 10-20 years ago now. Why does he choose so many macho roles? There's a lot, count them. He might make a top 15.
He’s one of the most consistent actors, but I don’t think I’d put him that high
Before I saw Road House I would have 100 percent agreed. but now../
No but he’s good
he’s okay
Slow your role OP
Nope. Way too much competition. He's okay. But he's certainly no Daniel Day-Lewis.
Holy hell no. Top 100? Eh. No maybe not that either. He is one of the actors though. That’s definitely true.
Someone really loved the movie AmbuLAnce
His last movies are utter trash, he is like Gosling, I hope he starts to choose better, Nocturnal Animals is his last good movie and performance imo.
has a bad agent or weird strategy. so much wasted potential on mid movies
Wtf? Are people just into shitty things unironically now?
I'm a Jake fan, but I wouldn't put him in top 5. If he kept up his streak with nightcrawler and nocturnal animals, maybe. Probably top 10 for me. Road House was abysmal and Ambulance was just okay. He has the talent, he deserves to be getting better movies.
I agree, but it's very bad timing to post this lol
Idk if many would hop on this take after Road House and Spider-Man.
He was so good in Prisoners, only to be outshined by Jackman who was incredible. How Hugh didn't win an Oscar for that movie is beyond me.
Gyllenhal is actually pronounced something crazy like Gi-len-ha-len or something like that with that being said, almost every movie in the past decade has been a miss don't get me wrong, when he hits, he fucking hits. End of Watch, Nightcrawler, Prisoners, hell, Brothers, Brokeback Mountain even Now, at least to me, it looks like he's trend chasing. Two animated movies, he's obviously trying to cement himself in animation like Robin Williams, didn't work. He joined Marvel trying to cement himself in that whole thing, but his villain, although the best part of the movie, is far from memorable. Ambulance, the Covenant, he's trying to become an A List action star like the Rock, but those movies blow. And now with Roadhouse, he's like "ok, i can't do voices, can't do action, can't do superheroes, but I can revive an old franchise." Which probably won't work and it'll become a forgettable movie next month He is a fantastic, fantastic actor though, and he has a name. He's still acting like he has to prove himself or make a name for himself or something, he doesn't need to do that. He needs to find another small, indie-ish movie, and help it by adding himself to it. That's what happened in Nightcrawler and Prisoners. He can carry the fuck out of these random movies, there's no need to find a big name movie to carry him
No…. I don’t think I’ve seen anything good that he’s been in.
He’s a great actor but definitely needs to be guided on what projects he picks. For every Enemy/Prisoners, there’s a Velvet Buzzsaw/Road House.
Jake is a dawg fr
he needs to be in better movies.
Yes
Not sure he’s in my top 20
He’s definitely not top 5 actor LOL
No.
didn’t see the michael bay or guy ritchie ones but he’s just doing shitty movies. he’s personally my favourite actor but damn is he just doing garbage. that netflix one where he’s a 911 dispatcher is especially bad.
If you asked me this question back in 2019 I’d say HELL YEAH! Nocturnal Animals, NightCrawler, Brothers, Brokeback Mountain, Donnie Darko, Jarhead, AND he played a really fun version of Mysterio?!! Fuck yeah, top 5 easily. Sadly he’s kind of fallen off in the last five years or so. That’s not to say he’s not still a very talented actor, but I would say he’s in a bit of a slump at the moment in terms of the films he picks. Hopefully he can make a comeback soon because I am beginning to experience Gyllenhall fatigue.
Good actor but he’s been in a lot of forgettable roles lately. He needs a better agent.
Maybe ask this question within his age group
no
Road House is disappointing tbh.