The noir genre is often associated with “The Golden Age of Hollywood,”as classics like The Maltese Falcon, Sunset Boulevard, and To Have And Have Not are often seen as the epitome of what it can be. Although it is easy to imagine that all noir stories are American-based murder mysteries that center on grizzled detectives, the genre is actually far more diverse than some may realize; in fact, it has only kept grossing over the course of the subsequent decades.
The 21st century has produced many exciting new classics within the noir genrethat have helped expose it to a younger generation of viewers. Although many of these films have modern techniques and narratives that help make them appeal to modern times, they also rely on the same fundamentals that made the stories of Sam Spade and Raymond Chandler so accessible back in the early days of noir cinema. Here are the ten best film noir movies of the last 25 years, ranked.
10 ‘Memento’ (2001)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Image via Summit Entertainment
Memento was the film that put Christopher Nolan on the map as a director; while his debut film, Following, was certainly an interesting twist on a detective story, Memento was such a brilliant piece of writing that it was impossible to ignore the masterful level that Nolan was working with. Although the film’s mysterious ending may have left some viewers frustrated on an initial viewing, Memento is a modern classic that is so packed with hidden details that it becomes even more rewarding upon multiple viewings.
Memento questions the dark nature of its protagonist thanks to the brilliant performance by Guy Pearce, whose character Lenny begins to realize that he has hidden something very dark from his past. Ironically, Pearce’s breakout role was actually in L.A. Confidential, another modern classic that is deeply inspired by the Old Hollywood noir genre.
Gone Baby Gone was proof that Ben Affleck should be taken seriously as a filmmaker; despite appearing in some critically reviled films in the early part of the 21st century, Affleck got back to his scrappy roots with this gritty crime drama about the systematic corruption in his home town of Boston. His cousin, Casey Affleck, gives one of the best performances of his career as a cynical detective whose investigation into the kidnapping of a young girl leads him to discover a deep conspiracy.
Gone Baby Gone is a deeply upsetting film to watch, as it examines topics such as police corruption, family dysfunction, drug abuse, and isolation in a very nuanced way. While Affleck’s performance as a revelation, the film’s impressive ensemble cast also includes great work from Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris, and Morgan Freeman in a rarely villainous role.
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Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone is a crime drama centering on a detective investigating the disappearance a little girl. But soon after he begins digging for the truth, he is victim to a personal and professional crisis.
Release Date June 6, 2007
Runtime 114 minutes
Main Genre Crime
Tagline Everyone Wants The Truth... Until They Find It.
Drive was a brilliant exercise in style that allowed director Nicolas Winding Refn to draw in the influences of European heist thrillers, western classics, and surrealist cinema into this action-packed noir set in Los Angeles. Like many of Refn’s films, Drive is excessively violent; however, the film does have a genuinely sweet heart to it, particularly when it comes to the romance between the unnamed driver (Ryan Gosling) and the friendly neighbor (Carey Mulligan) who moves in next door to him.
Drive features electrifying action scenes, but many of the best moments in the film are the quiet moments of introspection. Although the memorable villains, great fight scenes, and instantly iconic score make Drive a film that can be enjoyed as a pure genre thriller, but a deeply moving examination of masculinity and the burden of having a hero’s journey.
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Drive
A mysterious Hollywood action film stuntman gets in trouble with gangsters when he tries to help his neighbor's husband rob a pawn shop while serving as his getaway driver.
The Nice Guys isn’t just a brilliant noir that gets into the seedy side of Hollywood, but one of the funniest movies of the 21st century. Shane Black had already proven himself as the master of crafting buddy cop comedies due to his writing on the Lethal Weapon franchise and directing the 2005 dark comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; however, The Nice Guys attains an even greater level of humor thanks to the dynamic performances by Ryan Goslingand Russell Crowe.
The brooding, dark nature of Crowe’s character is the perfect counterbalance to the wild eccentricity that Gosling has, which makes their chemistry even funnier to watch. Although it was not very successful at the box office upon its initial release, The Nice Guys has gradually grown a cult following over time, so hopefully someday Black will be able to make a sequel.
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The Nice Guys
In 1970s Los Angeles, a mismatched pair of private eyes investigate a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star.
Zodiac is just another example of why David Fincher is a master of the noir genre, as it is hard to think of another true crime thriller that had evoked this much fanfare. Although the legend of the “Zodiac” killer has already been widely circulated, Fincher examined the shocking ways in which the investigation began to affect the lives of a troubled cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal), an outspoken journalist (Robert Downey Jr.), and a hardworking police officer (Mark Ruffalo) over the course of many years.
Fincher is able to examine the effects of obsession, and how the killer is able to cause significant hardship for the other characters. While Fincher has made more traditional horror movies like Alien 3 and Panic Room, Zodiac is arguably the most terrifying film that he has ever made due to the slow progression of tension.
Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree.
Minority Report is another example of the brilliance of Steven Spielberg, whose foresights into the evolution of the science fiction genre have always been well ahead of their time. Minority Report tackled a subject that has become increasingly relevant in a world dominated by artificial intelligence; if someone is predicted to commit a crime, should they be tried and convicted for that offense?
Spielberg pulls off a magnificent conspiracy thriller at the center of Minority Report, which depicts a dazzling array of visual effects that bring to life a modern metropolitan setting. Tom Cruise is obviously very well-versed in the action genre thanks to his work on the Mission: Impossible franchise, but Minority Report gave him the opportunity to play a grieving father, which proved that he has always been a much better actor than he has been given credit for.
Release Date June 20, 2002
Runtime 145
Writers Philip K. Dick , Scott Frank , Jon Cohen
Tagline What would you do if you were accused of a murder, you had not committed... yet? EVERYBODY RUNS
The 25th Hour was a very different type of film for Spike Lee that became even more powerful due to the real events that surrounded its release. Since the film debuted in theaters only a year after the devastating attacks on the World Trade Center in September of 2001, The 25th Hour felt like the ultimate love letter to Lee’s hometown of New York City.
The 25th Hour is a deeply powerful film about regret, friendship, and redemption, and avoids the easy resolutions that would have given it a more traditionally satisfying ending. Although it is easy to think of the noir genre as one that is only centered on action and mystery, Lee created an emotional character study about a man who is forced to assess the meaning of his life as he questions what many more years behind bars would look like.
No Country For Old Men is a masterclass in suspense and tension that ranks among the best things that Joel and Ethan Coen have ever directed; considering that the two brothers are responsible for some of the greatest films of the past several decades, that is certainly no small statement. Based on the acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, No Country For Old Men became one of the few neo-noirs that took home the Academy Award for Best Picture.
No Country For Old Men examines the violence that has swept through America’s frontiers, and how the effects of greed have made this process even more cyclical. It would be impossible to talk about No Country For Old Men without talking about the Oscar winning performance by Javier Bardem, whose work as the serial killer Anton Chigurh is among the scariest villains in all of film history.
Violence and mayhem ensue after a hunter stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong and more than two million dollars in cash near the Rio Grande.
The Departed is an electrifying Boston crime drama that served as a loose remake of the Hong Kong action trilogy Infernal Affairs. However, Martin Scorsese was able to lift the story to a new setting and examine the effects of the Irish mob, and incorporated more than enough great songs by The Rolling Stonesto signify that it was a completely different entity.
The Departed features one of the best ensembles in any of Scorsese’s films, including Leonardo DiCaprio as a streetwise cop, Matt Damon as a cowardly double agent, Jack Nicholson as a lively gangster, Alec Baldwin as a stern captain, Martin Sheen as a brilliant special officer, and Mark Wahlberg as a foul-mouthed sergeant. Although it is certainly one of the most brutal and upsetting films that Scorsese has ever made, the great dynamics between the characters mean that it is also one of the most entertaining.
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The Departed
An undercover cop and a mole in the police attempt to identify each other while infiltrating an Irish gang in South Boston.
Mulholland Drive is in many ways the film that David Lynch had been working up to for his entire career, as he has always been interested in showing the dark side of iconic works of American culture. With Mulholland Drive, Lynch showed the deeply threatening side of Hollywood itself with the stroy of an aspiring actress (Naomi Watts) that finds herself trapped in a literal nightmare.
Mulholland Drive is a film that can be rewatched many times, as speculating about what all of the symbolism that Lynch has inserted really means is almost as entertaining as the film itself. Although Mulholland Drive is certainly not for anyone that does not enjoy surrealist cinema, its examination of the pressures that women face when trying to break into artistic fields solidify it as one of the more emotionally satisfying projects that Lynch has ever worked on.
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
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