The Worst Julia Roberts Movie of All Time, According to Critics
The Academy Award-winning actor has made her share of critically reviled films.
She's won multiple awards, created iconic characters, and been the romantic lead in enough movies to earn her the title of "America's sweetheart." Julia Roberts is easily one of the most famous and adored actors of all time, with memorable performances in films like Pretty Woman, Erin Brockovich, and My Best Friend's Wedding. But when you've starred in as many movies as she has over the course of more than three decades, they're not all bound to be winners. So what are the worst Julia Roberts movies ever made?
We consulted Rotten Tomatoes for a ranked list of every Julia Roberts movie, then looked for each "rotten" (under 60 percent) entry. These are the films that the critics panned despite Roberts' considerable star power. You might be surprised to see some of your favorites on the list. Read on discover her worst film, from the just OK to the truly terrible.
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26
Money Monster (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 59 percent
"Even professionals sometimes take a loss, and that's what Money Monster ultimately feels like: an investment that doesn't quite pay off," writes Jen Chaney for Uproxx.
25
Conspiracy Theory (1997)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 57 percent
"The film starts to sour after 20 minutes," writes Mick LaSalle for the San Francisco Chronicle.
24
Ticket to Paradise (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 57 percent
"If [George] Clooney and Roberts are both wonderful actors, at this point they're just not that good together, at least not in this setup," writes Stephanie Zacharek for Time.
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23
Ocean's Twelve (2004)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 55 percent
"Ocean's Twelve is busier, messier and thinner than its predecessor, and while it looks like the cast is having a blast and a half, the studied hipness can get so pleased with itself it borders on the smug," writes David Ansen for Newsweek.
22
The Mexican (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 54 percent
"Promises a road movie of blissful comic romance and delivers a series of dramatic dead ends," writes Peter Travers for Rolling Stone (via Rotten Tomatoes).
21
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 54 percent
"As the film piles on shovelfuls of further exposition, [Denzel Washington] and Ms. Roberts are left to look terrific and recite perfunctory lines," writes Janet Maslin for The New York Times (via Rotten Tomatoes).
20
Flatliners (1990)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 51 percent
"The movie's problem, like many others recently, is that it isn't any deeper, dramatically or psychologically, than its own trailer. It is the trailer: the long version," writes Michael Wilmington for the Los Angeles Times.
19
Mirror Mirror (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 50 percent
"You'll laugh intermittently, but more often, you'll notice where you're supposed to be laughing and aren't," writes Tim Grierson for Gawker (via Rotten Tomatoes).
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18
Stepmom (1998)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 46 percent
"A cartoonish two-hour-plus soap opera of little distinction, played by actors who deserve better and should have known better," writes John Hartl for the Seattle Times.
17
Runaway Bride (1999)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 46 percent
"Runaway Bride is an atrocious bit of by-the-numbers screen filler," writes Ernest Hardy for Film.com (via Rotten Tomatoes).
16
Satisfaction (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 40 percent
"The only satisfaction I got out of the bad movie Satisfaction was that I was no worse for wear having to endure such awful tunes," writes Dennis Schwartz for Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews.
15
Secret in Their Eyes (2015)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 39 percent
"You just keep waiting for it to take flight, for some clue as to why these talented people are spinning their wheels with such subpar material," writes Jason Bailey for Flavorwire.
14
Full Frontal (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 39 percent
"A boring, amateurish, incomprehensible and stupefyingly pretentious pile of swill," writes Rex Reed for the Observer (via Rotten Tomatoes).
13
Something to Talk About (1995)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 39 percent
"Everything about Something to Talk About feels off by a few beats," writes Mike Clark for USA Today (via Rotten Tomatoes).
12
Larry Crowne (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 37 percent
"Neither fish nor fowl, Larry Crowne skitters between pathos and shtick, wasting abundant acting talent as it goes," writes Ella Taylor for NPR.
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11
Eat Pray Love (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 36 percent
"A tiresome, humourless, lifeless, overlong dirge in which the lofty pretention to say something deep about the quest for self and the female condition all gets blown away by an insipid, off-the-shelf romantic-movie ending," writes Jim Schembri for The Age.
10
Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 34 percent
"Devoid of enjoyment, intelligence or interest," writes Nev Pierce for the BBC.
9
America's Sweethearts (2001)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 32 percent
"The film isn't just banal, it's aggressively, arrogantly banal," writes Manohla Dargis for L.A. Weekly (via Rotten Tomatoes).
8
Hook (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 29 percent
"This enormous wheeze comes over like the proverbial movie with a 40 million dollar set and a five cent script, which may hold its interest for under-fives but will leave most others cold," writes Angie Errigo for Empire (via Rotten Tomatoes).
7
Mary Reilly (1996)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 26 percent
"It's a slight, moribund bugaboo, a bump in the night, and then nothing," writes Marc Savlov for the Austin Chronicle.
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6
Ready to Wear (1994)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 24 percent
"Despite some delicious moments, this sluggish, overlong, halfhearted satire feels like a movie that wanted to go somewhere but never got there," writes James Berardinelli for ReelViews.
5
Fireflies in the Garden (2011)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 23 percent
"This histrionic family drama must have looked good on paper to attract such a big-name cast, but on the screen it comes off as glib, rushed, and underdeveloped," writes J.R. Jones for the Chicago Reader.
4
Dying Young (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 23 percent
"Will someone please, please, write a part for Julia Roberts and not be happy just to look at her?" writes Carrie Rickey for the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Rotten Tomatoes).
3
Sleeping With the Enemy (1991)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 19 percent
"Roberts evokes sympathy, not just for playing the victim of an unforgivably bad husband, but for becoming the victim of an unforgivably bad movie," writes Brian D. Johnson for Maclean's.
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2
Valentine's Day (2010)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 18 percent
"It forgets to pause and consider what romance is really about and it's not about trying to be the new Love Actually," writes Anna Smith for Metro.
1
Mother's Day (2016)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 8 percent
"Even if stars Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts and Kate Hudson are mom's all-time favorites, don't subject her to this cloying, plotless dose of saccharine unless she's done you wrong," writes Sandy Cohen for the Associated Press (via Rotten Tomatoes).
