The Finest Ryan Gosling Motion pictures You Must Watch

If you feel the need to watch his filmography after seeing his iconic Oscar performance, we’ve got you. Here are the best Ryan Gosling movies you need to watch if you haven’t already.

If one watches Ryan Gosling’s movies in the order of their release, one can notice a pattern — the actor is increasingly delivering some of the best movies made in recent years.

This is why almost all of his movies to date are critically well-received, even though not all may have achieved commercial success as Barbie (2023). However, a look at the IMDb ratings of movies starring Ryan Gosling reveals that Barbie was not received as well by fans as his other films.

Nevertheless, Gosling’s career has been marked by a captivating and nuanced acting style. Often described as “subtle” or even “stoic,” his strength lies in his ability to convey complex emotions through minimal expressions and gestures.

Directors have praised Gosling’s ability to tell a story solely through facial expressions. Damien Chazelle, who directed him in La La Land, compared him to silent film legend Charlie Chaplin, highlighting how a slight shift in an eyebrow or a flicker of the eyes can speak volumes. This focus on subtlety makes Gosling particularly adept at portraying characters with hidden depths or inner turmoil.

In an interview with The Independent in May 2023, Gosling himself described his approach as “escape-room style,” meaning he treats each role like a puzzle to be solved. This translates to a deep understanding of his character’s motivations and a reactionary way of playing the scene, allowing him to adapt to unexpected situations on set.

However, to say Gosling is all stoicism would be a disservice. Films like Lars and the Real Girl showcase his ability to portray vulnerability and emotional complexity. He can be equally charming and charismatic, as seen in Crazy, Stupid, Love, proving his range extends far beyond the quiet intensity he’s known for.

The best Ryan Gosling movies have earned the actor three Oscar nominations, including one for playing Ken in Barbie, two BAFTA nominations and five Golden Globe nods besides a win for La La Land.

Best-rated Ryan Gosling movies to watch

1
/17

The United States of Leland (2003)

Directed by: Matthew Ryan Hoge

Other cast members: Don Cheadle, Chris Klein, Jena Malone, Michelle Williams, Kevin Spacey

IMDB rating: 7

Synopsis: Leland (Gosling) is sent to a juvenile detention centre after he kills a disabled boy. To find out why, Pearl Madison (Cheadle), an aspiring writer who teaches in the detention centre, begins talking to him and discovers the tumult in the mind of Leland.

Directed by: George Clooney

Other cast members: George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood

IMDB rating: 7.1

Synopsis: Stephen Meyers (Gosling), a junior presidential campaign manager for Pennsylvania Governor Mike Morris (Clooney), is an idealistic staffer. He gets first-hand experience of the dirty world of politics through his relationship with a young intern Molly Stearns (Wood) and her connection to Morris.

3
/17

The Believer (2001)

Directed by: Henry Bean

Other cast members: Billy Zane, Theresa Russell, Summer Phoenix

IMDB rating: 7.1

Synopsis: Danny Balint (Gosling) is a young Jewish man who becomes an anti-Semite over a period of time. His internal conflict with Judaism and his eventual realisation of his identity come at a price.

Directed by: Ryan Fleck

Other cast members: Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie

IMDB rating: 7.1

Synopsis: Dan Dunne (Gosling) is a junior high school teacher who has a drug habit. His secret is discovered by Drey (Epps), one of his students. Due to both coming from troubled backgrounds, the two form an unlikely friendship out of concern for each other.

More about the film: Gosling earned his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor for this film. At the time, he became the eighth-youngest nominee in the category — a position he holds to date.

Directed by: Gregory Hoblit

Other cast members: Anthony Hopkins, David Strathairn, Rosamund Pike, Embeth Davidtz

IMDB rating: 7.2

Synopsis: Ted Crawford (Hopkins) is a wealthy aeronautical engineer who is brought to trial after he admits to shooting his wife, Jennifer (Davidtz). A young but brilliant deputy district attorney, Willy Beachum (Gosling), takes up the case to prosecute Ted. But as the case progresses, Willy finds himself in a murder mystery that is far more sinister than he thought.

Directed by: Derek Cianfrance

Other cast members: Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes, Ben Mendelsohn, Dane DeHaan, Emory Cohen

IMDB rating: 7.3

Synopsis: The lives of Luke (Gosling), a motorcycle stunt rider turned robber, and Avery (Cooper), a young idealistic cop, are intertwined with an incident that leads to the former’s death. Fifteen years later, their troubled sons, Jason (DeHaan) and AJ (Cohen), are at the centre of the fallout.

7
/17

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Directed by: Craig Gillespie

Other cast members: Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner, Patricia Clarkson

IMDB rating: 7.3

Synopsis: Lars Lindstrom (Gosling) is a delusional young man who makes a life-size doll his companion. This makes everyone close to him concerned about his mental health.

About the film: Gosling earned his first Golden Globe nomination (in Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category) for this film.

Directed by: Derek Cianfrance

Other cast members: Michelle Williams

IMDB rating: 7.3

Synopsis: Dean (Gosling) and Cindy (Williams) are a married couple with a little child. They are seemingly normal, but there is tumult in their relationship due to things that happened in the past.

Directed by: Damien Chazelle

Other cast members: Claire Foy, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Corey Stoll, Christopher Abbott, Ciarán Hinds

IMDB rating: 7.3

Synopsis: NASA test pilot Neil Armstrong (Gosling) is preparing for the greatest space mission of his career and that of humanity. Problems in his personal life and mishaps related to the mission, however, create hindrances.

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

Other cast members: Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei

IMDB rating: 7.4

Synopsis: Cal Weaver (Carell) is a middle-aged husband whose life changes drastically after his wife, Emily (Moore), asks for a divorce. He meets a young womaniser Jacob (Gosling), who teaches Cal the art of love. But Cal is unaware that Jacob is in love with his daughter, Hannah (Stone).

Directed by: Shane Black

Other cast members: Russell Crowe, Angourie Rice, Margaret Qualley, Kim Basinger

IMDB rating: 7.4

Synopsis: Holland March (Gosling), a detective in 1970s Los Angeles, and Jackson Healy (Crowe), an enforcer, become unlikely partners in a case concerning a missing adult film star connected to a major corruption scandal.

Directed by: Boaz Yakin

Other cast members:

IMDB rating: 7.8

Synopsis: American football coach Herman Boone (Washington) is tasked with making a high school team successful in the leagues in 1971. He faces a daunting task as the school board has integrated an all-black school with an all-white one to form a combined team, leading to racial tensions.

More about the film: Remember the Titans was the second film in Gosling’s career. He appears as Alan Bosley, a white player in the combined team, and has a couple of speaking lines.

Directed by: Nick Cassavetes

Other cast members: Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands

IMDB rating: 7.8

Synopsis: An elderly man (Garner) reads a notebook to tell the story of two young lovers, Noah (Gosling) and Allie (McAdams), who are separated by class differences of the 1940s, to an elderly woman who has dementia.

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn

Other cast members: Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Oscar Isaac, Albert Brooks

IMDB rating: 7.8

Synopsis: An unnamed Hollywood action film stuntman (Gosling) gets involved with gangsters after he tries to help Standard (Isaac), the husband of Irene (Mulligan) for whom he has a soft spot.

Directed by: Adam McKay

Other cast members: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Brad Pitt

IMDB rating: 7.8

Synopsis: When Wall Street guru Michael Burry (Bale) puts a massive amount into credit default swaps betting against the US mortgage market in 2008, banker Jared Vennett (Gosling), hedge-fund specialist Mark Baum (Carell) and other opportunists profit from the economic collapse that followed.

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Other cast members: Harrison Ford, Ana de Armas, Sylvia Hoeks, Robin Wright, Mackenzie Davis

IMDB rating: 8

Synopsis: K (Gosling) is a young Blade Runner who discovers a secret that makes him seek out Rick Deckard (Ford) — a former Blade Runner missing for 30 years.

More about the film: Blade Runner 2049 is a sci-fi film that serves as a sequel to Blade Runner (1982), in which Ford played the lead role.

Directed by: Damien Chazelle

Other cast members: Emma Stone, John Legend, J. K. Simmons, Rosemarie DeWitt

Awards won: Six Oscars, including Best Actress for Stone

IMDB rating: 8

Synopsis: Seb (Gosling), a struggling pianist, and Mia (Stone), an aspiring actress, fall in love. But their individual aspirations come between their relationship.

More about the film: La La Land is the third film to have earned 14 nominations at the Oscars. It thus equalled the record held by All About Eve (1950) and Titanic (1997). Gosling earned his second Best Actor nomination for this film.

(Main and Featured images: Dale Robinette/IMDb)