Mark Ruffalo is a pretty common household name nowadays, becoming recognizable thanks to many of his works that have gained a lot of popularity. Ruffalo has also worked a lot with many other popular and well-known names, either featuring as a supporting actor in the film or starring amongst them. His work is so diverse that he’s one of the few people who have been nominated for at least one Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony award over his career.
Ruffalo’s most recent cinematic contribution was in 2023's critically-lauded Poor Things; appearing alongside Emma Stone is already getting glowing reviews and early Oscar buzz as it could be one of the big contenders at this year's awards ceremony, with Ruffalo likely earning another much-deserved nomination. Ruffalo is one of the most well-respected actors as he has dabbled in a variety of genres, including massive blockbusters, romantic comedies, and smaller character dramas. Let's look at some of Ruffalo’s best movies over the last few decades.
Update December 9, 2023: This article has been updated following Ruffalo's latest film, Poor Things, and where each title can be watched.
10 Infinitely Polar Bear (2014)
Infinitely Polar Bear follows the story of Cameron Stuart, a man diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was fired and hospitalized following a psychotic break, and his wife struggles to make enough money to support herself and their two children. During Cameron’s rehabilitation, he gets his own apartment, shortly after which his wife asks him to watch their children. She intends to travel away to get her M.B.A. to better support her family and he reluctantly agrees. Now, he and his children must overcome their familial and psychological obstacles in order to learn how to live together.
What Makes It Great
In this film, Ruffalo plays the lead beautifully, keeping the comedy-drama grounded with his complex performance, not letting it get too out of hand but not making the entire experience severely underwhelming, either. Though it does seem to take some of its themes a little lighter than they should be, it’s still a stellar performance on Ruffalo’s end. He even received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor from this performance.
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9 Foxcatcher (2014)
Touting a brilliant cast led by Steve Carell, Channing Tatum, and Mark Ruffalo, the Oscar-nominated 2014 biographical, psychological sports drama Foxcatcher depicts the shocking events that led to the murder of Olympic gold medalist wrestler Dave Schultz (Ruffalo) in 1996 after his fellow athlete brother Mark (Tatum) became mixed up with the wealthy wrestling enthusiast John Eleuthère du Pont (Carell). The riveting film chronicles the complicated relationship between John and Mark and the wrestler's dark downward spiral, which ultimately results in a devastating tragedy.
What Makes It Great
Both critics and audiences were blown away by the outstanding drama, with Ruffalo and Tatum knocking it out of the park as the troubled athletes; The Guardian commended the duo in their review and wrote, "Tatum and Ruffalo, as Mark and Dave, have outdone themselves. These actors give what seems to me the most compelling portrayal of brothers since Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro in Scorsese's Raging Bull." Foxcatcher competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, where Bennett Miller won the Best Director Award. It also received five Oscar nominations, with Ruffalo earning a Best Supporting Actor nod (the second of his stellar career).
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8 13 Going on 30 (2004)
Mark Ruffalo became a household name when he starred alongside Jennifer Garner in the 2004 fan-favorite romantic comedy 13 Going on 30, famously telling the story of the awkward adolescent Jenna Rink as she finds herself miraculously transported from 1987 to the year 2004, living in a stunning Fifth Avenue apartment with an enviable job as a fashion magazine editor. Jenna quickly realizes being an adult is far more complicated than she thought, and all she truly wants is to be reunited with her childhood best pal Matty (Ruffalo).
What Makes It Great
Ruffalo's sensational chemistry with Garner in the endearing flick was off the charts, and his character helped propel Jenna's journey of self-discovery while showing her the glamorous life she thought she wanted might not be what it seemed. The actor's performance as the sweet and swoon-worthy Matty captured the hearts of audiences everywhere and helped establish him as a bonafide leading man, with 13 Going on 30 going on to become a beloved cult classic that fans love rewatching again and again.
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7 Shutter Island (2010)
The Martin Scorsese film Shutter Island is a neo-noir psychological thriller that harkens back to Hitchockian films of old. Based on a novel of the same name, US Marshall Edward Daniels and his new partner Chuck Aule are investigating the disappearance of an inmate on Shutter Island. They only find one clue in the form of a cryptic note and are now stuck on the island for a few days due to a bad storm. The staff aren’t very cooperative, making it harder for the investigation to take place. As strange things begin happening in their confinement, they must unravel the real truth that brought them there.
What Makes It Great
Ruffalo plays Chuck Aule, Daniels's partner. It's a challenging role to fill, as there are many twists he must hide in but Ruffalo executes them well. Audiences could never guess what comes next with his acting here, with the plot slowly unraveling around him as he holds firm until the final reveal. The engrossing picture was named one of the National Board of Review's top ten films of the year, with critics being blown away by the thriller's ominous atmosphere, phenomenal cast performances, and Scorsese's homage to Hitchcock and the noir genre.
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6 The Kids Are All Right (2010)
The Kids Are All Right follows the Allgood family, with moms Nicole and Jules, and kids Laser and Joni. Each mom had the kids by using the same sperm donor, and as they come of age, they begin to wonder who their biological father is. They find out from the sperm bank and soon meet their dad Paul Hatfield, who ends up becoming a prominent figure in their life for a while. As the moms discover this, tensions rise among the family, and they must reconcile or risk their family falling apart.
What Makes It Great
Ruffalo plays Paul, a motorcycle-driving, organic-co-op-owning sperm donor who brings the family problems in this movie. He delivers the right amount of comic surprise that one might expect from a man just discovering he has kids while also playing the little moments that drive the drama side of the story. As the movie focuses on the concept of marriage and family, he helps test the limits of those and gives the character his own flair that is both likable but, at times, frustrating. Ruffalo received two Best Supporting Actor nominations for his performance, one from the BAFTAs and the other from the Academy Awards.
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5 The Marvel Cinematic Universe (2012 - Present)
The MCU has quickly created a lengthy legacy of superhero movies over the last decade and a half. Starting with the first Iron Man movie back in 2008, the Marvel Comics have been brought to life on the big screen. From separate, individual hero-focused movies to large team-ups full of many recognizable characters, the overarching thread that connects them all seems unlikely to be cut any time soon, as the MCU even begins to branch out into TV shows for Disney+. Ruffalo has played the role of Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, ever since the first Avengers. After replacing Edward Norton, who played the same character in the widely forgotten movie The Incredible Hulk (and Eric Bana in the weird 2003 version), the popularity of the MCU helped boost Ruffalo to become a more well-known name.
What Makes It Great
Over the course of five full movies and three cameos, Ruffalo has given us a display of his broad range of emotions, perfectly balancing out the shy but wickedly smart Bruce Banner with the angry, rage-fueled Hulk. His Hulk has undergone a truly incredible character arc over the course of the franchise, and while it appeared that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law would lead him to take a back seat, there is still likely a big future for Ruffalo in the franchise. Ruffalo has redefined the Hulk in a way that no actor since Bill Bixby did back in the original The Incredible Hulk series.
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4 Poor Things (2023)
Mark Ruffalo shared the screen with the dynamic Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe (among talented others) in the recently released, universally lauded 2023 fantasy black comedy Poor Things, a riveting adaptation of the novel of the same name that centers on the newly liberated Victorian woman Bella Baxter, who after being brought back to life by an eccentric scientist (Dafoe) yearns to see more of the world and runs off with a suave-yet-corrupt lawyer (Ruffalo). The peculiar pair share a whirlwind romance and embark on a globe-trotting adventure, with Bella taking control of her life and discovering her own self-worth.
What Makes It Great
Poor Things has barely been in theaters and it already has achieved critical adoration and praise, with audiences thoroughly enjoying the picture's imaginative and delightfully bizarre premise as well as Stone and Ruffalo's extraordinary performances. Ruffalo won the Best Supporting Actor award from the National Board of Review and has also racked up countless other accolades and nominations, completely throwing himself into the role of the dapper and pompous lawyer and demonstrating his impeccable range as a performer.
Entertainment Weekly noted that Ruffalo "appears to be having the time of his life, chewing the scenery with a manic glee. He's built a career playing solid, decent men, and what fun it is to watch him play a reprobate cad [and] a puffed-up vainglorious peacock, a man whose ego is the size of an entire continent."
Currently in theaters
3 Zodiac (2007)
The movie Zodiac is based on the non-fiction books published about the Zodiac Killer. The San Francisco Chronicle receives encrypted letters from the killer, who calls himself ‘Zodiac.’ He threatens to kill a dozen people if they don’t publish these letters. Political cartoonist Robert Graysmith doesn’t believe the killer is being truthful, but no one believes him, so he is excluded from the investigation. As the Zodiac killer continues to kill people even after his letters are published, Graysmith delves deeper into the mystery, trying to unravel what he can while teaming up with Inspector Dave Toschi (Ruffalo), one of the police inspectors assigned to the case.
What Makes it Great
The Zodiac Killer was never caught, remaining one of the most infamous unsolved crimes of all time. Still, as this movie chronicles the events of the era, Ruffalo is great at immortalizing the inspector, acting just like the police would for any crime but also showing viewers the fear behind the thought of a serial killer on the loose that is threatening them all. Director David Fincher creates a sense of gloom surrounding Ruffalo's realistic performance, which compliments it nicely. This is a role that helped redefine Ruffallo's image after years of romantic comedies and is one of the most overlooked performances in his career and one that should have gotten him an Oscar nomination.
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2 You Can Count on Me (2000)
The movie You Can Count on Me is about two siblings, Sammy and Terry Prescott, who lost their parents at a young age. Though they were separate from one another for a while, Terry comes back into Sammy’s life desperate for money after getting in and out of trouble after being in jail for three months. She welcomes him in even as a single mother, and he starts to become a bad influence on her son. While they butt heads and continue to have their own personal problems, they slowly help each other learn and come to a better point in their lives.
What Makes It Great
Terry Prescott is brought to life by Ruffalo in this movie. As the bad boy who is down on his luck, he knows how to be a bad influence for his sister’s son and how to get on her last nerve while simultaneously knowing he has his own issues he's ignoring and really should take care of. This kind of character growth is hard to master, but Ruffalo brings it to the screen perfectly, managing to be likable and cool but also immature and obnoxious simultaneously, and the story wouldn’t be the same without him.
Rent/Buy on Prime Video
1 Spotlight (2015)
Spotlight is based on a true story that happened in Boston. The film highlights one of the biggest cases of the Boston Globe’s 'Spotlight' team, an investigative journalist unit for the paper. They investigated and eventually brought to light a widespread and systemic child sex abuse problem in the Boston area, all done by numerous Roman Catholic priests. It exposed a large problem being covered up in the area and won The Globe the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.
What Makes It Great
Ruffalo immortalizes one of the Spotlight team writers on the big screen, Michael Rezendes. As such an important moment in history, filmmakers have to be precise to bring a real person to the screen, especially when they are still alive. Ruffalo brings just what the role needs. However, as one can tell, the situation stresses him out more and more as the film progresses before it finally breaks in a big outburst of emotion that is still masterfully controlled. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, which was rightfully deserved. In a career filled with incredible roles, it is hard to top a moment greater than his "they knew speech", speaking to an entire generation's frustrations with the crimes the Catholic church let happen.
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