Best Michael Douglas Movies
Wall Street, Fatal Attraction, Basic Instinct, Falling Down
As a member of a prominent Hollywood family, it’s no wonder that Michael Douglas is a force to be reckoned with in Hollywood, both as an actor and a producer. As an actor he has taken on a variety of roles and characters, including some that are sleazy and unlikeable. But no matter what the personality of the character, Michael Douglas always manages to shine. Here is a list of five of the best movies in which he has appeared.
Romancing the Stone (1984)
Until Michael Douglas took the lead in Romancing the Stone, he had been more highly regarded as a producer than an actor, but his portrayal of smug treasure hunter Jack Colton in the 1984 action/adventure/comedy established him as a bankable leading man in Hollywood. One of the many action films inspired by Raiders of the Lost Ark, Romancing the Stone is the story of a homely romance writer (Kathleen Turner) who becomes embroiled in a quest for a precious stone in the Colombian jungle while trying to save her kidnapped sister. Douglas plays the devilishly charming adventurer she teams up with. Part of the film’s success was due to the electric chemistry between Douglas and his leading lady. The two went on to become one of the great screen pairings of the 1980s, teaming up several times over the next few years.
Wall Street (1987)
1987 was a pivotal year for Douglas’s career, one that earned him massive attention as a serious actor. As Wall Street’s corrupt corporate tycoon, Gordon Gekko, Douglas exuded an arrogance that was both soulless and seductive. Gekko represented every evil money-grubbing cliché of the 1980s. He was a character with no conscience that loved money more than people and life itself. One characteristic that distinguishes Douglas from most other stars of his generation is the overt sleaziness of his screen persona, yet he still manages to remain charismatic. Gordon Gekko exemplifies this more than any other. His efforts in Wall Street netted him a Best Actor Oscar for the role.
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Keeping in line with his history of playing ethically dubious characters, Michael Douglas took on the role of a philandering husband in the grownup thriller Fatal Attraction. A cautionary tale about infidelity, Fatal Attraction suggests (in a terrifying way) that there may be no such thing as “safe sex”. As a family man who made a mistake, Douglas manages to garner sympathy for a character whose poor choices have left him helpless and backed into a dangerous corner. Stylish, strained, and purposefully sensational it remains a landmark of 1980s filmmaking. While much of this is due to Glen Close’s portrayal as the psychotic jilted lover, Michael Douglas’s role as the not-quite-innocent victim gave cheating men everywhere a reason to think twice.
Basic Instinct (1992)
In this modern version of film noir, Douglas plays the part of the hard-boiled detective opposite Sharon Stone’s femme fatale. As San Francisco detective, Nick Curran, he tackles a dark, but somewhat gullible cop who gets caught up in the web spun by an impossibly sexy and uninhibited murder suspect. Douglas and Stone have fantastic chemistry which is why this movie, which at times is completely implausible, works as well as it does. Stone taunts and tantalizes as Douglas tries (unsuccessfully) to resist her. Basic Instinct is a sexy, lewd, and embarrassingly enjoyable thriller. If it were a magazine, you’d probably keep it under your mattress.
Falling Down (1993)
In a role very different from what he had tacked so far, Michael Douglas plays an average, middle-aged, white-collar man who decides one day that he’s had enough. He is terrific in a role that was probably quite unpleasant to take on. Falling Down skirts the line between the serious and the satirical, and the character created by Douglas in the film is not particularly sympathetic, and at times is downright sickening. While the circumstances and feelings of the character are not uncommon, few other people who experience them fall apart in the way this character does. His character's lawlessness is founded on a combination of desperation and powerlessness, and Michael Douglas plays it beautifully.
Michael Douglas’s career has spanned four decades, and while not every film has been a winner, he has an impressive resume that can rival that of any actor in Hollywood.
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