Shawn Levy has had a bit of a career resurgence over the last few years. He’s been directing films since the late '90s, and chances are he’s directed a 2000s movie you probably enjoy, but he’s never been a major household name. His recent working relationship with Ryan Reynolds helped deliver the one-two punch of the well-received Free Guy and Netflix’s The Adam Project, and it led to the major announcement that he’ll now be helming the much-anticipated Deadpool 3. With his stock continuing to rise, it’s time to rank Levy's ten best films.
10. The Pink Panther (2006)
The Pink Panther franchise is one of the most famous mystery franchises in cinema history. Anchored by comedy legend Peter Sellers (most of the time), the original series was a fun blend of crime and comedy. So it was inevitable that we would someday get a modern day reboot. Casting Steve Martin as Inspector Jacques Clouseau is an inspired choice and feels like it should’ve been a perfect fit, but if you’re not a fan of over-the-top fake French accents, then this movie quickly grows tiresome. It was overall panned by critics, but made enough to warrant a sequel. It also deserves a shout-out for continuing Beyonce’s brief foray into broad comedy films after 2002’s Goldmember. Maybe after this Pink Panther film, Queen Bey realized she didn’t need to be making these types of movies anymore.
9. Date Night (2010)
Date Night is what happens when expectations are too high. Released in 2010, the film follows a bored married couple who get caught up in a high-stakes adventure after a mistaken identity. It stars Steve Carell and Tina Fey, who at that time were two of the biggest comedy sitcom stars around thanks to The Office and 30 Rock. So pairing them together meant the movie should be the funniest movie of all time right? Well, not quite. It’s perfectly serviceable, but not really memorable. Nobody would include it in their lists for best comedies of the 2010s. If it was anyone else besides these two comedic geniuses in the lead roles, then perhaps it would’ve been received a bit better, but as it stands, this feels like a movie that doesn’t live up to its potential. Does anyone remember that this film includes Mark Ruffalo, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Common, and Gal Gadot? No, you probably only remember Mark Wahlberg without a shirt.
8. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)
Sequels to smash-hit movies are always hard. You want to give audiences what they liked and responded to before, but it tends to become a bit repetitive because the jokes feel the same. Kudos to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian for upping the ante though. It’s basically the same idea as the first one, but changes the setting to, you guessed it, the Smithsonian. It’s not as fresh as the first film, but if you’re a fan of the original, then chances are you’ll like what this movie is selling. The plot revolves around Larry Daley (Ben Stiller) sucked into a conflict that includes some of history’s greatest villains coming to life and trying to take over the world. Classic museum shenanigans ensue. Although the original is overall better, kudos to the film for its talented cast including new additions Amy Adams, Hank Azaria, and Jon Bernthal.
7. Cheaper By the Dozen (2003)
Cheaper By The Dozen is the ultimate horror movie about trying to raise not one, not two, but twelve children on a measly two-parent salary. Okay, the movie isn’t really about that, but it should be. This 2003 film is actually a remake of a 1950 film with the same name and general premise, but this time it throws in a bunch of 2000s heartthrobs like Ashton Kutcher, Tom Welling, and Richard Jenkins to sweeten the deal. Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt lead the film as the patriarch and matriarch of this chaotic family and with such a capable funny man like Martin at its center, it’s a shame the movie itself isn’t better. Levy does what he can, but this is just another average 2000s comedy.
6. Big Fat Liar (2002)
If this was a list of the best performances in a Shawn Levy film, then Paul Giamatti would clearly be at the top. Move over Brando and Day-Lewis, because Giamatti is here to steal your thunder and look blue while doing it. He plays arrogant producer Marty Wolf in the obvious modern classic Big Fat Liar, who finds his life terrorized by apparently the smartest teenager on the planet after he steals an idea and turns it into a movie. Audiences responded to it so well that it became the 52nd highest-grossing film of 2002, which is another way of saying that it deserved Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor that year. But seriously, it’s a light-hearted, no-stakes film that coasts breezily on the charm of Frankie Muniz and Amanda Bynes, and then hits the gas and accelerates thanks to Giamatti’s demonic dark energy.
5. This Is Where I Leave You (2014)
The biggest outlier in Levy’s filmography is also one of his better movies. This Is Where I Leave You is based on a novel and focuses on four siblings who return home after their father passes away. It leans more dramatic than most of Levy’s work, but Levy’s skill as a filmmaker is finding the humor and the heart in dramatic moments, and while some parts of the movie don’t work on a story-level, it’s competently made and pleasantly enjoyable, while also being propped up by a truly stellar cast. Jason Bateman, Adam Driver, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll, Rose Byrne, Kathryn Hahn, Connie Britton, Timothy Olyphant, and Jane Fonda all star and that level of talent should be enough to convince you to check this movie out.
4. Night at the Museum (2006)
The original Night at the Museum is a perfectly pleasant movie. It’s the type of film you can show to the whole family and everyone from Grandma Virjean to Toddler Tommy can find something to like about it. Its four-quadrant targeting is why the film was released near Christmas in 2006 and why it went on to become the fifth highest-grossing film of that year. Night At the Museum may not be anyone’s favorite movie of all-time, but it’s a reliable charmer filled with fun characters and a clever overall concept. This movie might best exemplify Levy’s ability to make harmless, crowd-pleasing popcorn cinema and sometimes that’s all movies need to be. But if there are any die-hard NOTM-heads out there, keep in mind that an animated remake is in the works and is expected to hit Disney+ in 2022.
3. The Adam Project (2022)
The Adam Project may fall apart in its final act thanks to some questionable plotting, seemingly cast and crew pandemic restrictions, and wonky CGI, but it’s hard to deny how much fun this movie is from start to finish. The true strength, like many of Shawn Levy’s films, is its willingness to wear its heart on its sleeve. This is a big budget, sci-fi adventure film on the surface, but that’s just window dressing next to the real core of the movie which is about a boy struggling with the grief over his father’s death. And the reason this movie ranks so high is mainly because of its two lead actors.
This may be a bold statement, but The Adam Project deserves to be in the conversation for one of Ryan Reynolds’ best performances. We all know Ryan Reynolds’ schtick by now. He’s a fast-talking quip machine that just oozes smarm and sass at all times. And admittedly, that can grow tiresome after a while. But what The Adam Project does so well is that it adds a deeper emotional layer to the actor’s usual performance. Older Adam is smarmy and sarcastic every chance he gets, but he’s also harboring unresolved trauma and pain from his childhood that he’s never dealt with before and Reynolds is allowed to flex his dramatic muscles a bit on top of being his usual hilarious self. Bonus points goes to Young Adam actor Walker Scobell who is completely believable as a young Ryan Reynolds. Catherine Keener and Zoe Saldaña are a little underutilized, but reuniting Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner as Adam’s parents sorta makes this feel like a sequel to 13 Going On 30.
2. Free Guy (2021)
Free Guy is way better than it has any right to be. A film about a quirky NPC video game character who slowly grows aware of the world he lives in sounds a bit niche, and the fact that it wasn’t tied to an existing franchise or established IP was seen as a bit of a risk overall. This movie also had the misfortune of hitting at the worst possible time for a big budget original summer tent pole film. Initially it was supposed to be released July 3, 2020, but due to COVID, it was delayed until August 13, 2021. And the problem with that meant we had to see the Free Guy trailer over and over and over and over again. The movie? Excellent. The trailer? Spectacularly average.
The movie didn’t necessarily look bad, but on the surface it just looked like your run-of-the-mill attempt for Hollywood to make a movie about popular video games without fully understanding its core audience. But then a funny thing happened. Critics mostly loved it and the audience scores were surprisingly positive. Turns out this wasn’t a dud movie after all, but rather one of the best Shawn Levy films ever. Ryan Reynolds is pitch perfect as Guy and the movie’s overall uplifting message centered around positivity and good deeds was heart-warming without ever feeling soapbox-y. The jokes, the style, and especially the talented cast really helped paint this movie as something worth seeing, and it’s also the movie that helped prove Jodie Comer should be a massive star. It ended up doing well enough to warrant a sequel which is a huge win for original IP projects. And remember, don’t just have a good day, have a great day!
1. Real Steel (2011)
Everyone knows the two best types of films are Rocky movies and Robot movies, so it’s surprising that it took Hollywood so long to combine the two together. Real Steel is a 2011 film centered around a former washed-up boxer (Hugh Jackman), whose sport is now played by giant fighting robots, as he struggles to reconnect with his son while trying to make a champion out of an obsolete sparring robot. Its foundation is nothing new. You could throw a rock, and you’d hit a thousand films about an underdog rising to the top or a father bonding with his estranged son, but thanks to the film’s interesting setting and overall world building, it grows into something special. Hugh Jackman is excellent at playing likable, gruff jerks, and he provides the movie its emotional core as he opens up his heart to a son he had no interest in knowing. And yeah, that’s great and all, but again, it’s a film about robots boxing each other which should spark glee out of almost anyone.
It was announced in January 2022 that a TV show is now in early development which is great news. This slightly futuristic world populated with fighting robots is one of the main reasons this film was so well-received, and it’s a shame that things have taken this long to move forward.