Being described as one of the best of your generation is not something many people can brag about. For the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, who was critically dubbed one of the best actresses of her generation, it’s a feat worth celebrating. Jennifer Lawrence’s films are proof of her talent, with the award-winning and remarkable performances she delivered in less than thirty films in which she starred.
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence was born on the 15th day of August 1990 in Kentucky and ever since childhood the feeling of being an outlier was always there. She did, however, find reprieve when she started acting. In high school, she played boys’ basketball, hockey and softball. Lawrence was also part of the cheerleading squad, but all of those activities didn’t fill her with as much satisfaction as she felt when she got a part in a play.
As a child, she performed in plays or in front of her father on days when he worked from home; all of these performances led to a career in the performing arts. The event that turned Jennifer Lawrence’s life upside down and set her on the path she is now on took place during a family trip to New York when she was fourteen. A scout saw her and convinced her to audition where she delivered a brilliant reading of the script given to her. Her mother had other ideas for her career choice, but Jennifer’s love for acting took center stage and today she is a successful actress.
Regardless of the talent Lawrence possesses, she has had mediocre roles and has also been in films where her performance has been highly praised; therefore, this list attempts to chronicle some of Jennifer Lawrence’s films – from the best to the worst of them.
Jennifer Lawrence Movies Ranked Best to Worst
Winter’s Bone (2010)
When Jennifer Lawrence’s career started in 2006, she had minor roles in some TV shows and movies, but in 2010 she was cast in the adapted film. The Winter Bone where she was to play the lead role of Ree Dolly. The film is about survival, trust in family relationships, and the many loopholes in the legal system that can be exploited. This is one of Jennifer Lawrence’s films that greatly inspired the actress who was only twenty years old when she was chosen to play this role.
It received over twenty nominations from different nominating bodies, including the Academy Awards, where it was nominated for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The film won some of the awards it was nominated for and is an announcement of Lawrence’s talent and skill as an actress.
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence appeared in four films together and Reading Book Silver Liningwas the first movie that featured them both. Cooper is Pat Solitano, a bipolar patient who has just been released from a mental institution. He was sent to the facility after beating the man his wife was having an affair with. Jennifer Lawrence stars as Tiffany Maxwell in the film; she also suffers from a mental disorder and the death of her husband has pushed her into depression as she uses dancing as therapy for the hurt she feels. In an effort to get closer to Pat, Tiffany recruits him as a dance partner for a competition in exchange for helping him get closer to his cheating wife, who placed a restraining order on him and left the state.
The film follows the progression of Pat and Tiffany’s sexually attracted relationship from becoming friends to eventually falling in love with each other. Cooper and Lawrence delivered an incredible performance in this adapted film, and like most great films, it swept the 2012 awards ceremonies with 91 nominations and 47 wins. For her performance, Jennifer Lawrence won thirteen awards, including the Golden Globe for Best Actress.
American Hustle (2013)
This film was created based on events that actually happened. In the corpus that makes up the films of Jennifer Lawrence, it is the one that stands out. This is Rosalyn Rosenfeld, the wife of hustler Irving Rosenfeld played by Christian Bale. After being caught by the FBI agent, Richie DiMaso decides to help the FBI in arresting corrupt politicians, which he does with his friend, Sydney Prosser, played by Amy Adams.
This story is a long and winding one that explores the complexity of human behavior, particularly the ability to believe a lie when the truth is staring you in the eye. Jennifer Lawrence is able to deliver exceptional performances alongside the panoply of performances delivered by the other actors in the film, including Bradley Cooper. For her work, she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Mother! (2017)
Allegories are hard to identify at times, and it can be confusing the first time you encounter one, but as the story progresses, you begin to connect the dots of the movie about it. The same applies for the 2017 film Mother! Directed and written by Darren Aronofsky, it was described as a psychological horror film, but it is really a simple allegory of the relationship between God represented by Javier Bardem and the earth or nature, sometimes called Mother Earth or Mother Nature. Jennifer Lawrence plays the titular mother character.
The film begins with the interruption of the quiet life the mother and her husband lead when a young man dies in their newly renovated home. For most of the film, Lawrence’s character struggles to get her husband’s attention and even loses a child as he’s caught in the eye of the attention he bears. With this film by Jennifer Lawrence, she is able to give a performance full of raw emotion and longing from a man whose desire for attention is insatiable.
Joy (2015)
This is one of the Jennifer Lawrence movies based on The True Story of Joy Mangano. In this film, Jennifer was once again able to translate experiences lived in front of the camera. She was able to do this with a certain type of grace and just the right amount of emotion required for each scene. This is his second film with Robert De Niro and his third with Bradley Cooper.
Joy, the titular character played by Lawrence, is the inventor of a mop that can be twisted without having to squeeze it yourself. The film is a chronicle of the difficulties faced by dysfunctional families and the ups and downs that entrepreneurs face when embarking on building their own business. Lawrence won her third Golden Globe for the role of Joy Mangano.
The Hunger Games (2012–2015)
This is the franchise to which Jennifer Lawrence owes most of the fame she enjoys today. The film is divided into four parts – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 1 & 2 and The Hunger Games : Mockingjay 1 & 2. Her character, Katniss Everdeen was not only a beacon of hope in the world of The Hunger Games but also for fans of the book and film. In the years it took to complete the trilogy, Jennifer Lawrence’s place in the film industry grew immensely, but this is one of her less flattering roles. The series started on a high note, but over the films it struggled to regain the excellence displayed in the first installment.
Passengers (2016)
In a world where space travel is possible, passengers are put into hibernation that can last for more than 90 years. But contrary to plan, one of a spaceship’s passengers – Jim Preston (played by Chris Pratt) – wakes up years too early due to his pod malfunctioning. Faced with despair and the long life of loneliness where he is the only person to wake up on the ship, Preston loses it until he sees Aurora Lane, played by Jennifer Lawrence, and decides to wake her up as well.
Even though it was a box office hit, it earned over $300 million off a $150 million budget, it got an average rating from critics, as they called it in its flawed narrative, accusing the authors of celebrating Stockholm Syndrome.
Serena (2014)
This Jennifer Lawrence film was a disaster at the box office as well as a major disappointment for critics who gave it the total score of 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is Jennifer Lawrence’s fourth film starring Bradley Cooper. This is the worst film in which she appeared. Serena is an adaptation of the eponymous novel which tells the disintegration of the love existing between a young couple. Critics mostly had issues with the film’s plot and technical aspects of the film, leaving little praise for the performances delivered by Lawrence and Cooper.