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Isn’t taste a wonderful thing? It’s the fascinating idea that two people can watch the same film, and emerge with completely different – perhaps even polarised – verdicts on what they just saw.
There is never going to be a masterpiece that pleases everybody who sees it, just as there has never been a piece of schlock that could not somewhere locate an apologist.
Over time, however, opinions tend to group, and solidify: a canon is formed. These are the best films – according to critics, or awards bodies, or members of the public.
But what happens when this verdict is simply off base? Throughout the decades, there have been countless examples of films that have received vast amounts of eager praise disproportionate to the actual merits of the film itself.
Here are 25 such films, works that have been rewarded with commendations that they do not deserve. Some have been hyped up by critics, some by awards bodies, and others simply by popular consensus.
From The Notebook to Everything Everywhere All at Once, here are 25 of the most overrated movies ever released...
25. American Hustle (2013)
David O’Russell’s Seventies-set caper about con artists ticked plenty of boxes: true story, great cast, visually superb. But the two other boxes it ticked? Smoke and mirrors. Carried by stellar performances from its female leads, the film was, beneath the surface, a convoluted and incoherent pastiche of too many genres and ambitions. Beyond Jennifer Lawrence’s stupendous gravity-defying up-do, there was nothing particularly special about American Hustle – no matter what its 10 Oscar nominations suggest. More telling is that this hotly-tipped flash-in-the-pan sensation won zero. Annabel Nugent
24. Gravity (2013)
Sandra Bullock floats around space for two hours in this very serious film that received a cosmic ten Oscar nominations (winning seven). It’s supposed to make a deeper point, about existentialism, about depression, about death and rebirth. But there’s only so much you can see of the insides of space equipment before the point is stretched to infinity and beyond. Maira Butt
23. Private Benjamin (1980)
This is a movie that is rightly celebrated for its influence, but feels over-celebrated for its actual quality. As a Jewish-American ditz who enrols in the army, Goldie Hawn is characteristically effervescent, but the movie that surrounds her rarely lives up to her charisma – it’s instead stodgy and largely unfunny, repetitive instead of involving. A key inspiration for films such as Legally Blonde and The House Bunny, it warrants kudos as a blueprint, but not for much else. Adam White
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22. Desperately Seeking Susan (1985)
You are probably not remembering Desperately Seeking Susan correctly. You will remember Madonna’s “Into the Groove”, its sensational theme song. You will remember Madonna herself, in her rubber bracelets, fingerless gloves and sheer fabric as the Susan of the title. And you’ll remember that cool, grimy Eighties New York that serves as the backdrop to director Susan Seidelman’s comedy film. All are present and accounted for. But you won’t remember that Seidelman’s movie is otherwise overlong and almost hypnotically low-energy, that Madonna is merely a cameo player, and that the movie runs out of plot by its halfway mark. If you loved it as a kid, don’t watch it again as an adult. If you haven’t watched it at all but intend to, keep your expectations low. AW
21. Prisoners (2013)
I’ll admit that Denis Villeneuve’s thriller, about the abduction of two young girls, is a handsomely made film, thanks in large part to the cinematography of the great Roger Deakins. But, despite being championed by many as an early masterpiece from the Dune director Villeneuve, Prisoners simply isn’t all that – an overblown, mannered attempt to varnish a pulpy story into something worthy of prestige. Louis Chilton
20. Elf (2003)
Perhaps the most over-hyped genre of all, Christmas movies are often hastily canonised simply because there are so few festive alternatives. Such is the case with Elf, the bland and too-broad story of a human (Will Ferrell) raised as an adoptive Christmas elf. Stacked next to real bona fide Yuletide classics, Elf is a boorish and unwelcome imposter, a film whose dubious qualities are all too often brushed aside as good old seasonal mawk. LC
19. Top Gun (1986)
Top Gun makes more sense when you consider its source material. Not a book or someone’s life story. Not a comic book, or a historical source. Instead, Tony Scott’s 1987 fighter pilot flick was inspired by a picture in a glossy magazine happened upon by the film’s writer. “It was two guys in leather jackets and sunglasses standing in front of the biggest, fastest f***ing airplane you ever saw in your life!” recalled screenwriter Chip Proser. The film doesn’t venture much deeper than that. Albeit entertaining, Top Gun was, in effect, little more than a two-hour advertisement for aviator sunglasses and sheepskin jackets – yet for years was hailed as a pillar of Eighties action cinema. Last year’s long-awaited sequel Top Gun: Maverick was a step up in practically every regard. AN
18. Fight Club (1999)
David Fincher’s provocative anti-establishment psychodrama became a cult classic almost immediately after it was released. But Fight Club, for all its grubby excess, was always punching slightly above its weight: the messaging was a little smug and obvious, and the story too dark and jaded for its own good. Fincher would go on to make better, more mature films later in his career – compared to Zodiac, for instance, Fight Club is the work of a filmmaker still working out which impulses to follow, and which ought to be reined in. LC
17. Good Will Hunting (1997)
There’s an old Hollywood rumour that Ben Affleck and Matt Damon deliberately made their breakout film Good Will Hunting as commercial and Oscar-friendly as possible purely to get it financed and make them famous in the process. Treacly plotting? Check. Inspirational themes? Check. A scene-stealing, catnip-for-best-supporting-actor character written for a veteran star (Robin Williams)? Check. And it worked! Good Will Hunting turned Affleck and Damon into household names and won them an Oscar. It’s also among the least interesting things they – and director Gus Van Sant – have ever done, an incredibly OK drama that never quite warranted the hubbub that surrounded it. AW
16. The Birds (1963)
There are several parts of The Birds that have endured as pure, uncut cinema; Alfred Hitchcock’s eye for unease remains more or less unsurpassed. But, especially when juxtaposed with his best works (Rear Window, Psycho), this story of avian bedlam is a bit of an uneven and dated affair, a disaster movie that remains more fascinating in its concept than its execution. LC
15. Gladiator (2000)
To this day, one of the greatest tricks in cinema remains Ridley Scott convincing everyone that Gladiator was an Oscar-worthy historical epic, and not just a bullish action flick with a big budget and a heavy-handed script. As to Russell Crowe’s iconic question, audiences were without a doubt “entertained” – but five Academy Awards? Come on. The late, legendary film critic Roger Ebert called it as he saw it: “Gladiator lacks joy. It employs depression as a substitute for personality, and believes that if the characters are bitter and morose enough, we won’t notice how dull they are.” AN
14. The Notebook (2004)
Ask anyone to recommend a good romance, and there’s a good chance they will inevitably lead with The Notebook. But this Ryan Gosling-Rachel Macadams matchup isn’t romantic – it’s deeply sinister. The Notebook follows two young lovers kept apart by their respective social classes: Noah is destitute, Allie is classy and rich. He falls in love at first sight after he spots his unassuming target on a carnival ride, before convincing her she needs to “learn to trust”. He then creepily pines after her for the rest of his life until they remarry, after which he recounts the entire tale to her while she is living with dementia. It’s as warm and fuzzy as Netflix’s disturbing thriller You. MB
13. Gone with the Wind (1939)
A film that has long been cited among the best movies ever made, Gone with the Wind is certainly epic, in both its lavish set pieces and mammoth three-hour runtime. But while there are parts of this film that still sing, much of it is either dry and tedious, or else terribly problematic. A favourite film of Donald Trump, Gone with the Wind is now shown with a disclaimer beforehand warning of its outdated cultural values. Maybe it’s time this film, too, was best left for the wind. LC
12. The Revenant (2015)
Remembered primarily as the film that finally won Leonardo DiCaprio his Oscar, the real surprise about The Revenant is just how overrated its lead performance is: DiCaprio grunts and gurns like a demon, but ultimately fails to bring any personality to this otherwise frigid tale of revenge in the American wilderness. LC
11. The English Patient (1996)
The term “Oscar bait” dates back to the days of Old Hollywood, but I’d argue it found its apotheosis in 1996 with The English Patient. On paper, a sweeping historical romance starring Ralph Fiennes and Kristen Scott Thomas sounds downright charming – in reality, it is long-winded, pretentious, and did I mention long-winded? Flashbacks arrive at such a glacial pace that it is impossible to be swept off your feet. In the words of Elaine Benes in Seinfeld: “Quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert and just die already. Die!” AN
10. Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
You feel every minute of Sergio Leone’s four-hour crime epic, which has its fans but never quite hits the heights to match its impressive ambition. It probably doesn’t help that several of its cast members – among them Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci – swam in similar waters to much more powerful effect in work such as The Godfather Part II and Goodfellas. This tale of Prohibition-era gangsters also riffs on the same queasy sexual politics that dominate Leone’s earlier Westerns – every woman here is raped, some enjoy it, some are only ever mocked for it. This is sumptuous but grubby work. AW
9. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Miracle on 34th Street has long been revered as one of the eternal classics of the festive season. But this tale – of a shopping mall Santa who turns out to be the real deal – really doesn’t deserve to be uttered in the same breath as a film such as It’s a Wonderful Life. The sentiment here is laid on so thick as to be cloying; this clunky and distinctly American parable is best viewed as a time-capsule curio rather than a movie that still resonates nearly 80 years on. LC
8. Amélie (2001)
Twee romance Amélie is a good and inventive film, but no movie would be able to withstand the kind of hype that Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s movie endured. For a generation, Amélie was not just a French film but the French film, a movie that came to represent in shorthand an entire filmmaking culture. How could any film live up to that? It can’t, of course – this is a film far better appreciated as a quirky acquired taste. LC
7. The Breakfast Club (1985)
Detention drama The Breakfast Club is celebrated as a high point of both John Hughes’s career and 1980s teen films as a genre. But while the movie undoubtedly has its charms, much about this has aged horribly, from the insidious social messaging to the cringe-inducing dance sequence. Hughes, meanwhile, has done far superior work elsewhere. LC
6. Friday the 13th (1980)
Friday the 13th is widely cited as a landmark work in the slasher genre, a film that helped establish and popularise the “stalker” template that’s still iterated on to this day. As an actual film, however, it’s a long way from its vaunted reputation. There’s room for scuzzy exploitation in horror, of course, but compared to films such as Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Black Christmas, this is a shockingly crass and unedifying spree to behold. LC
5. Grease (1978)
When was the last time you actually sat down to watch Grease? And by Grease I mean all 110 minutes of the thing, and not just the songs. Yes, those songs are great – big, euphoric bangers guaranteed to get even the most dire of parties going – but the rest of Grease is a hot mess, a by-the-numbers slog even when it’s not being egregiously offensive. There’s a reason the best way to watch this is on a Sunday afternoon while doing the housework. AW
4. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Whatever you think of the relative merits of Everything Everywhere All At Once, a kind of low-budget action pastiche that sent Michelle Yeoh into a multiverse of parallel realities, there’s no accounting for the magnitudes of its massive success. A strange hodge-podge of blunt earnestness and daffy internet humour, EEAAO swept the Oscars in 2023, winning best picture, best director and three acting categories (among others). A remarkable achievement for a film that lacked the depth or sophistication of most of its rivals. LC
3. Up (2009)
Everyone loves Up, the heart-wrenching Pixar animation about a man who grows old, tragically loses his wife, and decides to explore the world in a balloon-powered flying house. Well, everyone loves the first 20 minutes. The fact is, the rest of this much-hyped animated film fails to live up to its pitch-perfect opening, and pales in comparison to the Disney studio’s better fare. It’s up for a bit — then down, down, down. LC
2. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Prison-set Stephen King adaptation The Shawshank Redemption is a perfectly good film. It has good performances (from Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman), and a strong, moving story. But is it really the best film ever made? Of course not. And yet, Shawshank has long sat atop the ranking of IMDB’s greatest movies list – an honour that radically outstrips its qualities as a film. LC
1. Joker (2019)
Has there ever been a film so bafflingly acclaimed as Joker? Seeing critics hurl stars at this self-serious supervillain adaptation made me feel as if I were the victim of some elaborate prank: I don’t understand how this can be construed as a good or enjoyable film. Phoenix’s Oscar-winning performance, as delusional misfit Arthur Fleck, is an exercise in gaudy over-acting, and his character is situated in a story that’s neither interesting nor remotely fun. And yet, people loved it, and paid to see it in their droves – I guess the joke’s on me. LC
