The Best and Worst Brendan Fraser Movies

Shortly after breaking out in “Encino Man,” Fraser starred in this direct-to-video comedy. It tells the story of a storage facility owner (Donald Sutherland), who must cope with the sudden death of his wife. At home for the funeral, the man’s college-age son (Fraser) helps run the family business.

Fraser’s career was at an early nadir when he appeared in this Canadian thriller, which went straight onto DVD in the United States. Two children witness a murder and become the killers’ next target, and their father (Fraser) must escape from prison in order to save them.

A real estate developer (Fraser) squares off against woodland creatures in this much-maligned fantasy comedy. Fraser makes additional appearances in a number of uncredited roles. He was already rethinking his career choices during production.

Directly after starring in “The Mummy,” Fraser played the title role in this slapstick dud. It adapts a cartoon character of the same name, who made up part of the Rocky and Bullwinkle franchise. Critics were largely unimpressed with the movie’s series of tasteless sight gags.

History’s first animated feature-length film to make full use of motion capture technology is also one of the worst. Follow the titular hero (voiced by Fraser) across a perilous sea as he searches for a mystical potion. Or don’t.

Alternately known as “Whole Lotta Sole,” this Irish crime comedy kicks off with the botched robbery of a Belfast fish market. Fraser stars as an American shopkeeper who gets mixed up in the chaos that ensues.

This fantasy comedy, culled from the graphic novel “Dark Town” mixes live-action and stop-motion animation. Upon falling into a coma, a cartoonist (Fraser) finds himself trapped in a world of his own creation. Shot on a reported budget of $75 million, it made only $7.6 million at the worldwide box office.

The final installment of “The Mummy” film series was also the original trilogy’s biggest disappointment. Brought out of retirement, adventurer Rick O’Connell (Fraser) and his family must send a resurrected Chinese emperor (Jet Li) back to the grave.

Fraser was making a name for himself in Hollywood even as he appeared in a string of box office failures, including this 1994 sports dramedy. It follows a struggling baseball scout (Albert Brooks) down to Mexico, where he discovers a talented but psychologically troubled pitcher (Fraser).

This poorly reviewed fantasy dramedy premiered at the Brooklyn International Film Festival and then presumably went straight onto the home rental market. Fraser plays middle-aged gambling addict Leo Searly, who enrolls in college and forges an unlikely friendship with a 14-year-old Harvard reject (Alex Wolff).

Living on the fringes of Brazilian society, a brothel owner (Scott Glenn) and his son (Fraser) come upon a suitcase full of drugs in this lurid thriller. Their subsequent scheme quickly unravels due to unforeseen obstacles and bad choices. According to legend, director Darren Aronofsky cast Fraser in “The Whale” after seeing a trailer for this film.

This computer-animated comedy rolled out to largely negative reviews but nevertheless made enough profit to warrant a sequel. It tells the story of a devious squirrel (voiced by Will Arnett) and his team of misfits, who plan to rob a local nut shop. Fraser provides the voice of a rival squirrel named Grayson.

This sophomoric comedy helped launch the respective movie careers of both Fraser and co-star Pauly Shore. Two stoners (Shore and Sean Astin) unthaw a caveman (Fraser) and bring him to high school under the guise of a foreign exchange student. It made just over $40 million at the worldwide box office against a reported budget of $7 million.

This dark indie dramedy tells the story of New York businessman Ted Ryker (Michael Keaton), who’s tasked with mentoring new hire Jamie Bashant (Fraser). Things dial up a notch when Ryker starts sleeping with Bashant’s wife (Amber Valletta). Is it unbridled lust or is there more to this affair than first meets the eye?

While not a theatrical box office success, this satirical comedy has earned a loyal cult following over time. Fraser and co-stars Adam Sandler and Steve Buscemi play the members of a struggling rock band, who hijack a Los Angeles radio station in vying for airplay.

This romantic dramedy draws loose inspiration from a 1948 novel, which had been previously adapted both in Hollywood and elsewhere. In the wake of a train crash, a young woman (Ricki Lake) takes on the mistaken identity of a wealthy counterpart. Fraser plays the love interest.

This ambitious crime drama takes cues from an ancient Chinese proverb and tells four different interconnected stories. Fraser’s character embodies the concept of pleasure (or lack thereof) and has the unique ability to see people’s futures. “Pretentious at best, risible for the rest of the time,” wrote critic Catherine Shoard for the Daily Telegraph (UK).

This Indian crime drama centers on a powerful mob family and the undercover cop (Fraser) tasked with bringing it down. It takes a few pages from the “King Lear” playbook, as three brothers quarrel over the future of their empire.

In this fantasy adventure, a man (Fraser) and his daughter have the unique ability to bring storybook characters into the real world. When they read from a book called “Inkheart,” it unleashes an evil villain named Capricorn (Andy Serkis). Reviews were mixed.

The first film produced by CBS Studios tells the story of a married couple (Fraser and Keri Russell), who may have found the cure to their childrens’ fatal disease. With help from a researcher (Harrison Ford), they take on the medical establishment in a race against the clock.

This computer-animated sci-fi adventure follows blue alien astronaut Scorch Supernova (voiced by Fraser) and his crew to our hostile planet. Soon trapped by the U.S. Army, the aliens must plot their escape from Area 51.

Fraser found his earliest blockbuster success with the title role in this comedy adventure, based on an animated series of the same name. Raised in the jungle, George rescues a human woman (Leslie Mann) and experiences first love. Neither Fraser nor Mann reprised their roles for a 2003 direct-to-video sequel.

Hoping to get the girl of his dreams, an awkward man (Fraser) makes a deal with the devil (Elizabeth Hurley) in this remake of a 1967 British movie. Both versions offer comedy-based adaptations of the tragic play “Faust” by Goethe.

An international production, this psychological thriller follows a former cult member (Fraser) into the home of a mysterious woman (Ashley Judd). The title makes reference to a biblical passage while the movie itself imparts a surrealist tone.

Actor Joe Pesci’s career was on a downward trajectory when he co-starred with Fraser in this sentimental dramedy. Witness the unlikely friendship between a Harvard University student (Fraser) and a local homeless man (Pesci). It spent a weekend on top of the domestic box office but was only the 69th highest-grossing film of the year.

From “Gremlins” director Joe Dante came this unsuccessful update to the Looney Tunes franchise. It mixes live action with animation and draws clear influence from previous films such as 1988’s “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” Fraser plays wannabe stuntman DJ Drake, who pairs up with Daffy Duck for a zany adventure.

One among many films to adapt the classic Jules Verne novel, this modern retelling was theatrically released in 3-D and was relatively successful at the box office. Professor Trevor Anderson (Fraser) and his peers plunge deep into the earth and confront outrageous obstacles along the way. It was followed by a 2012 sequel starring Dwayne Johnson in the lead role.

Fraser and co-star Rachel Weisz reunited with director Stephen Sommers for this blockbuster sequel. It takes place in 1933 and resurrects the powerful mummy Imhotep once again, setting him loose upon the world. Dwayne Johnson is introduced as the Scorpion King, who received his own 2003 prequel movie.

This romantic comedy plays upon a similar trope as “Encino Man” and pairs Frasier with 1990s movie star Alicia Silverstone. Raised in a nuclear fallout shelter for 35 years, a naive man (Frasier) enters the real world and soon finds himself a fish out of water. While not without its charms, the movie opened to mixed reviews and underwhelming box office numbers.

A young Fraser brought his dramatic chops to this historical drama, in which a Jewish quarterback (Fraser) enters a Catholic boarding school. The story takes place in 1959 and explores themes of both religious bigotry and class division. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Chris O’Donnell co-star as fellow prep students.

This obscure dramedy follows a $20 bill as it migrates from one person and story to the next, cultivating plenty of subtext. “The very lightness of the premise gives the film a kind of freedom,” wrote critic Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times.

This romantic comedy stars Fraser as a Texas-based puppeteer who travels to Los Angeles to find the woman he’s been literally dreaming about. Her name is Joanna Going and she’s a savvy con artist who’s been having some visions of her own. It made just over $228,000 at the domestic box office.

The film that put Fraser on top of the world pits adventurer Rick O’Connell (Fraser) against a resurrected mummy on a destructive warpath. A remake of the 1932 monster classic, it made a killing at the box office and spawned a lucrative franchise. “I loved making that movie,” the actor later said of the experience.

The second (and more faithful) film adaptation of Graham Greene’s bestselling novel takes place in 1952 Vietnam toward the end of the First Indochina War. Fraser plays a young doctor, who squares off against a British journalist (Michael Caine) over the affections of a local woman.

Fraser’s recent performance in this sobering drama is earning him the highest accolades of his career. He plays an obese and reclusive teacher named Charlie, who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter from the confines of his home. “Fraser’s choices are so subtly intelligent that we barely notice what amounts to his costume, so attuned are we to the way his Charlie teeters on the brink of life and death,” wrote critic Chris Hewitt for the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

This acclaimed period drama examines and imagines the final days of “Frankenstein” helmer James Whale (played by Ian McKellen). While grappling with physical and mental decline, the openly gay director sets his sights on a young gardener (Fraser). Based on a 1995 novel, it won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.