Whether in romantic comedies, legal dramas, action thrillers or musicals, Richard Gere has been pretty durable as a leading man in a career spanning over 40 years. But how many of his titles remain classics? Let’s take a look back at 12 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1949, Gere kicked off his movie career with a memorable supporting turn in Richard Brooks‘ “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” (1977), followed by a leading role in Terrence Malick‘s “Days of Heaven” (1978). He became a sex symbol with Paul Schrader‘s “American Gigolo” (1982) and a romantic idol with Taylor Hackford‘s “An Officer and a Gentleman” (1982), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination as Best Drama Actor.
Despite his box office bravura, Gere has never competed at the Oscars. Perhaps the closest he ever came was with his leading role in Rob Marshall‘s Broadway adaptation “Chicago” (2002), for which he won the Golden Globe as Best Comedy/Musical Actor and earned a SAG bid as Best Actor (he also took home the Ensemble prize). Yet on nominations morning, Gere was left off, although the film did contend in 13 categories and won Best Picture. He reaped additional Globe noms for “Pretty Woman” (1990) and “Arbitrage” (2012), both of which failed to translate at the Academy.
Gere has also enjoyed success on the small screen, earning an Emmy nomination for his supporting turn in the TV movie “And the Band Played On” (1993).
Tour our photo gallery of Gere’s 12 greatest films, including some of the titles listed above, as well as “The Cotton Club” (1984), “Primal Fear” (1996), “I’m Not There” (2007) and more.
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12. LOOKING FOR MR. GOODBAR (1977)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Written and directed by Richard Brooks, based on the novel by Judith Rossner. Starring Diane Keaton, Tuesday Weld, William Atheron, Richard Kiley, Richard Gere.
Gere made a striking impression with a small but memorable role in Richard Brooks’s controversial drama. Based on the novel by Judith Rossner, “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” stars Diane Keaton as a schoolteacher who spends her nights cruising for abusive men, seeking increasingly violent sexual encounters. Gere plays Tony, a tough-talking Italian American who introduces Keaton to cocaine and Quaaludes. As their relationship intensifies, he becomes increasingly brutal and dangerous. Though he’s far from the main focus, the actor steals the show with an intense, star-making performance.
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11. TIME OUT OF MIND (2015)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Oren Moverman. Screenplay by Oren Moverman, story by Jeffrey Caine and Moverman. Starring Richard Gere, Ben Vereen, Jena Malone, Kyra Sedgwick, Steve Buscemi.
It doesn’t happen often, but every once in a while, Gere forgoes his pretty boy image to portray a grittier kind of character, proving he’s got the chops to be more than just a matinee idol. In “Time Out of Mind,” he plays a mentally ill homeless man rambling around New York City, trying to reconnect with his estranged daughter (Jena Malone) while searching for food and a place to stay. Along the way, he befriends a fellow homeless man (Ben Vereen) who professes to be a once-great jazz musician, and their relationship helps him repair the damage within himself so he can get back on his feet again.
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10. BREATHLESS (1983)
Image Credit: Orion/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Jim McBride. Written by L. M. Kit Carson and Jim McBride, based on an earlier screenplay by Francois Truffaut and Jean-Luc Goddard. Starring Richard Gere, Valerie Kaprisky, Art Metrano, John P. Ryan, Robert Dunn.
It takes a certain amount of chutzpah to remake Jean-Luc Goddard’s nouvelle vague masterpiece as an ‘80s thriller, and “Breathless” is nothing if not audacious. Though it can’t hold a candle to the 1960 original, it’s an entertaining romp in its own right. Gere takes on the Jean-Paul Belmondo role as a wandering criminal who goes on the run after killing a police officer. He shacks up with a beautiful French exchange student (newcomer Valerie Kaprisky filling Jean Seberg’s shoes), and together they try to escape to Mexico, although fate has other ideas. Come for the action, stay for the steamy love scenes.
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9. THE COTTON CLUB (1984)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Screenplay by William Kennedy and Francis Ford Coppola, story by Kennedy, Coppola and Mario Puzo, based on the novel by James Haskins. Starring Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane, Lonette McKee, Bob Hoskins, James Remar, Nicolas Cage, Allen Garfield, Fred Gwynne.
By the time Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Cotton Club” finally made it to screens, it had long been overshadowed by its troubled, scandal-ridden production (massive budget overruns, producer Robert Evans getting embroiled in a murder case when financier Roy Radin was killed, etc). Yet the results speak for themselves. Set in New York in the 1920s and 1930s, it’s a sprawling look at the movers and shakers who populated Harlem’s famous jazz club. Gere plays Dixie Dwyer, a musician who starts working with the mob to advance his own career. His plans are stymied when he falls in love with the girlfriend of one of the gangsters (Diane Ladd).
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8. I’M NOT THERE (2007)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Todd Haynes. Screenplay by Todd Haynes and Oren Moverman, story by Haynes. Starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw.
In exploring the life of Bob Dylan, Todd Haynes turned the biopic on its head and shook the cliches out of its pockets. Rather than creating the standard womb-to-tomb through-line, he casts six different actors (Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Marcus Carl Franklin, Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw) to embody the various incarnations of the protean artist, making little attempt to connect them. Gere stars as an actor playing Billy the Kid in a western, a direct reference to the musician’s appearance in Sam Peckinpah’s “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.” The entire cast won the Robert Altman Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.
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7. PRIMAL FEAR (1996)
Image Credit: Ron Phillips/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Gregory Hoblit. Screenplay by Steve Shagan and Ann Biderman, based on the novel by William Diehl. Starring Richard Gere, Edward Norton, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfre Woodard, Frances McDormand.
Of the several thousand legal thrillers that dominated multiplexes in the ‘90s, “Primal Fear” is one of the best in terms of pure entertainment value. Gere plays Martin Vail, a crackerjack Chicago defense attorney who attaches himself to high profile cases. When a Kentucky altar boy (Edward Norton in his Oscar-nominated, breakout performance) is accused of murdering a priest, Vail decides to represent him, and quickly determines the kid is innocent, even though the evidence is stacked against him. Gere is mesmerizing as the whip-smart, egotistical attorney, whose personal and professional demons are tested by the investigation.
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6. ARBITRAGE (2012)
Image Credit: Green Room/Kobal/Shutterstock Written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki. Starring Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon, Tim Roth, Brit Marling, Laetitia Casta, Nate Parker.
You won’t find too many actors capable of making a hedge fund billionaire relatable, yet Gere pulls it off in Nicholas Jarecki’s supremely entertaining thriller. “Arbitrage” casts the actor as Robert Miller, a ruthless businessman desperately trying to complete the sale of his venture capital empire, which is $400 million in debt. Years of fraud threaten to ensnare his daughter (Brit Marling), the company’s young CFO, while problems with his mistress (Laetitia Casta) could destroy his marriage to his devoted wife (Susan Sarandon). The role brought Gere a Golden Globe nomination as Best Drama Actor, though the Academy overlooked him.
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5. PRETTY WOMAN (1990)
Image Credit: Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock Directed by Garry Marshall. Written by J. F. Lawton. Starring Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, Ralph Bellamy, Jason Alexander, Hector Elizondo, Laura San Giacomo.
Originally conceived as a cautionary tale about the dangers of sex work, “Pretty Woman” morphed into one of the cheeriest romantic comedies of all time. It’s a Cinderella story about a hooker with a heart of gold (Julia Roberts) and her Prince Charming (Richard Gere), a successful businessman who hires her to pose as his girlfriend while he’s visiting Los Angeles for a week. But before you know it, they’re falling in love for real. Though both Gere and Roberts earned Golden Globe bids, only Roberts reaped an Oscar nomination. The two reunited with director Garry Marshall for the equally treacly but less charming “Runaway Bride.”
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4. DAYS OF HEAVEN (1978)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Written and directed by Terrence Malick. Starring Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard, Linda Manz.
There are few films as hauntingly poetic and visually stunning as Terrence Malick’s “Days of Heaven.” It’s filled with great passions, viewed at a distance by a narrator too young to understand them. Set in 1910, it centers on a Chicago steel worker (Gere) who flees with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and younger sister (Linda Manz) after accidentally killing his supervisor. They start working on a Texas farm, where the dying owner (Sam Shepard) falls in love with Adams. Gere convinces her to marry him so they can inherit his fortune, but things don’t turn out as they expect. An Oscar winner for its gorgeous cinematography.
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3. CHICAGO (2002)
Image Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock Directed by Rob Marshall. Screenplay by Bill Condon, based on the musical by Bob Fosse, John Kander and Fred Ebb, and the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins. Starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Richard Gere, Queen Latifah, John C. Reilly, Christine Baranski, Taye Diggs.
You’d be hard-pressed to watch “Chicago” without tapping your toes with joy. It’s a glitzy, energetic adaptation of Kander and Ebb’s Broadway hit that helped rejuvenate the movie musical by bringing it into the 21st century. Renee Zellweger stars as Roxie Hart, a wannabe performer who gains notoriety after murdering her lover. Gere is the hotshot lawyer trying to keep her off Death Row, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is fellow celebrity murderess Velma Kelly. The film earned 13 Oscar nominations and won six, including Best Picture. Surprisingly, Gere was snubbed in Best Actor, despite winning the Golden Globe and reaping a SAG bid.
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2. AMERICAN GIGOLO (1980)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Written and directed by Paul Schrader. Starring Richard Gere, Lauren Hutton, Hector Elizondo, Nina Van Pallandt, Bill Duke.
Paul Schrader’s “American Gigolo” is perhaps the grimmest film to help turn its leading man into a sex symbol. Dark subject matter aside, it is super hot, with some full-frontal male nudity and a sensual Giorgio Moroder score. It centers on Julian Kay (Gere), a Beverly Hills escort who lives a life of luxury (with a closet full of Armani suits) thanks to his high-priced romantic skills. Yet he’s terribly lonely until he meets a politician’s wife (Lauren Hutton) who helps him put the “love” in lovemaking. At the same time, he suddenly finds himself the prime suspect in a murder case, and must find a way to clear his name before it’s too late.
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1. AN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN (1982)
Image Credit: Paramount/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Taylor Hackford. Written by Douglas Day Stewart. Starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, David Keith, Louis Gossett, Jr., Robert Loggia.
There are few scenes as romantic as the ending of “An Officer and a Gentleman,” when rebellious Navy cadette Zack Mayo (Gere), having successfully completed boot camp, picks up his girlfriend, Paula (Debra Winger), and carries her out of a factory as coworkers applaud. It’s one of those movie moments that still works despite countless parodies, perhaps because director Taylor Hackford has done such an effective job of laying the groundwork. The film won Oscars for Louis Gossett, Jr.’s supporting turn as the hard-nosed drill sergeant and for the original song “Up Where We Belong,” earning four more nominations including Best Actress for Winger. Gere competed at the Golden Globes, but was snubbed by the Academy.
