After bursting onto the scene of critical Hollywood acclaim with his on-screen debut Primal Fear (1996), Edward Norton starred in several hits in the following years, such as Fight Club (1999). His success continued into the 2000s, but as that decade progressed, he began unraveling on film sets and showing up in critical duds.
The 2010s marked his resurgence, as Edward Norton made a comeback of epic proportions by appearing in several well-acclaimed titles that also had great showings in theaters. The decade also marked the beginning of his long-standing partnership with American auteur Wes Anderson, who arguably saved his career. All that said, this is every Edward Norton movie of the 2010s, ranked.
12 Collateral Beauty
Although it tries its heart out, Collateral Beauty (2016) comes up short pretty much across the board of quality. It’s without a doubt the worst film of Edward Norton’s run throughout the 2010s, and thus, as little time will be spent on it as possible.
Collateral Beauty by David Frankel featured other talented performers (on top of Norton) such as Will Smith (in the starring role), Keira Knightley, Michael Peña, Naomie Harries, and Kate Winslet. That amount of star power should have made for a much more intriguing flick about an advertising executive in New York City who experiences a great tragedy and thus becomes depressed. There’s not much more to the plot, and thus lands at the top of the list.
11 The Guardian Brothers
An animated movie originally voiced by a Chinese cast, The Guardian Brothers (2016) — also called Little Door Gods overseas — follows two of the titular guardians from the film’s spirit realm as they protect a family from a business competitor. And aside from its intriguing premise, perhaps the most prominent element of filmmaking worth noting herein would be the many names among its ensemble voice cast.
In the English version, on top of Edward Norton, thespians who lent their dulcet tones to The Guardian Brothers include Meryl Streep, Bella Thorne, Nicole Kidman, and Mel Brooks. They’re all great to hear, but really, this film ends up missing its mark. It’s not quite as bad an execution as the prior pick on the list. But frankly, they’re fairly close in quality, with these two being undeniable opening picks.
10 Stone
Off the bat, Stone (2010) marks a relatively noticeable escalation in quality in terms of the overall list. But even then, it comes in at number ten for a reason, as this crime thriller from director John Curran missed most of its qualitative marks, even off the bat in the film’s opening scene as Robert De Niro’s protagonist becomes unhinged when his wife threatens to leave him.
De Niro’s character is a parole officer, while Norton shows up opposite him as a convicted arsonist, the titular character Gerald “Stone” Creeson. And the two share a surprisingly entertaining chemistry that renders Stone an overall decent outing for Norton from throughout the 2010s.
9 The Bourne Legacy
The fourth entry in the famous action franchise, The Bourne Legacy (2012) was the first of its kind to not feature American actor Matt Damon in the lead role. Instead, that honor went to Jeremy Renner, while the actor of the hour portrays the film’s antagonist named Colonel Eric Buyer. And as the Director of the National Research Assay Group — a fictional government organization — he’s tasked with overseeing a particular super soldier program.
The result is far from the worst film you’ll read about today, as the Bourne franchise featured a well-established tone well before this entry that rendered Tony Gilroy’s direction much more seamless in the end. But after three films in the prior decade, it was clear with The Bourne Legacy that the franchise had run its course.
8 Leaves of Grass
Although this technically was shown in the prior decade at the Toronto International Film Festival, it’s worth noting that Leaves of Grass (2010) didn’t receive a theatrical release until the following year. And it’s easily among the best Edward Norton performances of the 2010s, even if the overall product leaves a little too much to be desired. Its plot follows Bill Kincaid, a professor at Brown University who returns to his home in Oklahoma upon hearing that his twin brother has been killed. When he gets back, the plot is kicked into gear as his brother is still alive.
There are two further things worth noting here, first being its direction by American actor Tim Blake Nelson, who also penned the script. It’s an admirable effort on his part, and totally unexpected given his past penchants. But of course, among the most impressive elements from Leaves of Grass would be Norton’s dual performance. It’s what renders his efforts so unique, driving the quality of the film from start to finish.
7 Alita: Battle Angel
One of two blockbuster titles on the list — following The Bourne Legacy, which actually paled in commercial comparison to this stint from Robert Rodriguez — Alita: Battle Angel (2019) garnered adequate reviews from critics on top of its success within movie theaters. But still, what’s most prominently worth noting about this cyberpunk action film would be its results at the worldwide box office.
Alita: Battle Angel raked in over $400 million off a budget of under $200 million, more than doubling its initial cost. And although Norton has only a cameo appearance as a character named Nova, the film as a whole comes in at number seven.
6 Motherless Brooklyn
A neo-noir crime film, Motherless Brooklyn (2016) features a star-studded cast of performers like Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Willem Dafoe. And in the starring role is the man of the hour, Edward Norton. But what’s more is that, on top of his acting efforts that shined through and through, he actually wrote and directed the project, as well.
He plays the protagonist, a private investigator in New York City by the name of Lionel Essrog. A quirk is soon revealed in that he has Tourette syndrome, which produces an intriguing plot dynamic as he attempts to make sense of his mentor’s mysterious murder. And for those who don’t know, this is based on the novel of the same name by Jonathan Lemme from 1999, and for the most part, it’s a great adaptation until its final stylistic frame.
5 Sausage Party
The second animated film to appear on the list is Sausage Party (2016), a comedy from the minds of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg — with those two being a famous screenwriting duo — along with American funny man Jonah Hill. Its plot follows several anthropomorphic pieces of food as they traverse the store in which they reside after learning they’ll all soon be consumed by humans.
Among its star-studded voice cast were both Rogen and Jonah, appearing in pretty prominent parts as Frank and Carl, a pair of sausages. And while his role is far less important, Norton nonetheless shows up as a Jewish bagel named, aptly, Sammy Bagel Jr. This is an absurd premise for a feature, obviously. But its writers achieve a tangible, adult-oriented tone from the start, and they see the final product into solid overall fruition.
4 Moonrise Kingdom
Throughout his critically acclaimed career, Edward Norton has only collaborated with two directors on multiple occasions: himself, and Wes Anderson. At the turn of the century, Keeping the Faith (2000) marked Norton’s directorial debut, in which he was also the star. And the second time he directed himself was with the aforementioned Motherless Brooklyn, perhaps to a more impressive degree.
But regarding Moonrise Kingdom (2012): it was directed by Anderson from a script he cowrote with Roman Coppola, and it marked Norton’s first of five total collaborations with the American auteur. This is arguably his most impressive performance in an Anderson flick, and also his most appreciable role. He shows up as Scout Master Randy Ward, and he showed a tremendous rapport with the director off the bat. It’s no wonder they’ve worked together ever since.
3 Isle of Dogs
A stop-motion Claymation project, Isle of Dogs (2018) was the third straight Wes Anderson film in which Norton was prominently featured. The plot of this one follows a group of canines on the titular, garbage-dump of an island as they traverse the intricacies of life outside their homes, without their owners, and completely bereft of proper resources.
And as one of the five dogs in the aforementioned group, Norton shines through and through as Rex. This is without a doubt the most impressive voice effort of the actor’s career, and the project as a whole was well-written, visually appealing, and poignant until the end. Even if he isn’t featured live action, Isle of Dogs is essential when discussing 2010s Norton.
2 The Grand Budapest Hotel
Perhaps the single most famous movie on the list lands in the penultimate spot, as many film fans cite this as their favorite feature from writer-director Wes Anderson. It’s certainly his best of the decade, as it tops his other collaborations with Norton featured on this very list. And whether they’ve seen every Anderson film multiple times or have really only indulged in a single, respective viewing, audiences everywhere would agree that The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) is at least in discussion as Anderson’s magnum opus.
And justifiably so. It features all the auteur’s staples, from eccentric characters and absurd plot points to careful color palettes and shots of perfect symmetry. If you haven’t seen Grand Budapest, you can rest assured it deserves this placement at number two.
1 Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Written and directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, the film at hand accrued numerous nominations at the 87th Academy Awards. And among those was Best Supporting Actor for the man of the hour, Ed Norton. He plays Mike Shiner here in Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014), a method actor that shows up to save the play being run by Michael Keaton’s titular protagonist. It’s a fascinating premise for a character that resulted in tremendous dynamics with each of Norton’s on-screen co-stars.
This isn’t just the best movie that Edward Norton took part in throughout the 2010s, as Iñárritu also elicited the actor’s most impressive performance of the decade. From every fathomable angle, it deserves this number one spot, and frankly, it could very well be the best performance of his career. But really, it lands here due to its sheer technical mastery — it’s edited to appear as a single shot, for instance — in tandem with an engrossing plot. Birdman is among the greatest films of its decade, if it isn’t the best one outright.
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