2014 proved to be an embarrassingly solid, surprising, and striking year for film – so much that I’ve expanded my list of favorite films all the way up to 25.
So here are the first five of the best films of the year, starting with the funniest:
25. Obvious Child (Dir. Gillian Robespierre)
She had her year on Saturday Night Live and a string of memorable guess appearances on Parks and Recreation and House of Lies, but Gillian Robespierre’s astute and heartwarming comedy Obvious Child gave Jenny Slate her true chance to shine. She’s hilarious, stunning, and deeply empathetic as a young woman who finds herself dumped and pregnant in time for Valentine’s Day. Slate’s performance is fantastic, and Robespierre proves to be a comedic director to certainly watch.
24. Lucky Them (Dir. Megan Griffiths)
Lucky Them has the energy and funk to be a few movies at once – an insightful look into the Seattle music scene, a drama about love and loss, an investigative and funny character piece – but effortlessly struts as an unusual (and local, for this Seattlelite) gem. Toni Collette gives her best performance since Little Miss Sunshine and Thomas Haden Church is scene-stealingly brilliant in this fresh and moving story on love, music, and the surprising changes of direction life takes us.
23. Wild (Dir. Jean-Marc Vallée)
Following up last year’s brilliant performance piece Dallas Buyers Club is no easy feat, but Québécois director Jean-Marc Vallée’s adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s blistering memoir is eclectic, visceral, and powerful. Reese Witherspoon is fierce and poignant as Strayed during her 1,100 mile hike to heal herself after her mother’s death and a string of drug-fueled promiscuity. It’s an electric story of redemption from a director who continues to prove himself as a dynamic storyteller and an actor’s director (Witherspoon and Laura Dern, as her mother, are superb).
22. Frank (Dir. Lenny Abrahamson)
Funny, vibrant, and inventive, Frank is a quirky dramedy that benefits from the relationship between the titular character’s enigmatic spirit and the creative process at its center. Michael Fassbender gives one of the year’s strangest and most touching performances, while Domhnall Gleeson, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and the rest of the ensemble work as an dissonant yet charming team. By the time they begin to find the flow of “I Love You All”, you get a sense that their artistic process isn’t supposed to make sense – but it’s just as meaningful as it is weird.
21. Enemy (Dir. Denis Villeneuve)
Depending on who you ask, Enemy is a different kind of film – an unfortunate anomaly but refreshing stunner. It’s a psychological horror film, an adultery thriller, and a fantastical urban mystery all rolled into one beguiling and eerie package. Denis Villeneuve’s authorial touch may seem like a blend of Adrian Lyne, David Lynch, and Claire Denis, but his voice is singularly engaging and jarring. Add in a layered dual performance from Jake Gyllenhaal and a memorable turn from up-and-comer Sarah Gadon, Enemy is a gratifying and disturbing puzzle of a film.
Cinemaniac 