Happy Birthday to John Cusack, who turns 51 today!
I love John Cusack. I’m of the age where I had (and, okay, still have) a massive crush on Cusack’s Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything. Thanks a lot, John Cusack! No boy can ever live up to Lloyd Dobler. You made a generation of girls have expectations that were way too high when it came to teenage boys. Teenage boys are awful. Teenage boys are NOT like Lloyd Dobler! Certainly not any that I knew in 1989, anyway…*sigh*
Anyway – I still love Lloyd & I still love John. It’s funny how he’s tried to never be a big “movie star”, which I respect, yet I have to say that of all these many Actor Top Ten lists that I’ve done, Cusack’s is possibly the best one yet for having so many of my personal favorites in it. The Top Five kick ass! So Cusack has certainly been in some damn enjoyable movies, even though he prefers to not be a huge movie star.
As always, I’m ranking these based on the movie (not the performance). Say Anything would most definitely top the list if it was by performance but no movie can really ever top my number one on this list, which Cusack only had a small role in. So, here are My Top Ten John Cusack Movies:
The Rest That I’ve Seen:
20. Class
19. The Grifters
18. Hot Tub Time Machine
17. Eight Men Out
16. 2012
15. Adaptation
14. Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil
13. The Player
12. Identity
11. Serendipity
TOP TEN:
10. TIE: 1408 & Being John Malkovich
9. High Fidelity
8. Anastasia
7. Grosse Pointe Blank
6. Con Air
5. Better Off Dead
4. The Journey Of Natty Gann
2. Say Anything…
1. Stand By Me
Saw But Don’t Remember Well Enough To Include In List Without Re-watching:
One Crazy Summer, Hot Pursuit, The Sure Thing, Tapeheads, America’s Sweethearts
Some I Haven’t Seen At All:
Grandview USA, Broadcast News, True Colors, Bullets Over Broadway, The Road To Wellville, The Thin Red Line, Pushing Tin, Runaway Jury, Must Love Dogs, Martian Child, Igor, The Paperboy, Maps To The Stars, Love & Mercy, Hot Tub Time Machine 2, Chi-Raq, Cell
Oh, Lloyd… *sigh*
Cinema Parrot Disco 
I’m not a fan of Cusack but I have grown to appreciate a few of his performances, most recently in The Paperboy (so creepy) and Love & Mercy.
Hmm. Two I haven’t seen! I do want to see Love & Mercy. : )
I love John (but love his sister more), however this list is underwhelming. Granted, I’ve never seen the top two. So maybe I should finally watch Say Anything and Stand By Me… But now it’s a thing. You know? Grosse Point Blank would top my list of Cusack movies (and my list of soundtracks) I love that movie. I absolutely love that movie. Minnie Driver… Sigh. What were we taking about? I feel like when I finally see Stand By Me there should be a ceremony and a plaque with the words He Did It and a phone call from Wil Wheaton applauding my effort. It’s a thing now.
You’re lucky I missed this comment. No, wait – I’m going to try to not do that annoying thing I do & freak out when someone hasn’t seen one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s okay. It’s okay that you haven’t seen Stand By Me! Really. I’ll be fine. I can get through this. People are free to have lives outside of watching movies. It’s okay! What were we talking about again? John Cusack? Oh shit. You’ve not seen Say Anything either. Good god. I’m sorry. I can’t go on…. ; ) (In all seriousness, I’ll give you a plaque if you watch Stand By Me. And I’ll get Wil to call you, too. Wil is my best friend in my 12-year-old self’s fantasy world)
I may have seen Say Anything but I don’t remember it. So that’s worse. I will watch Stand By Me… When Stephen King personally screens it for me. JK (I’ll put it in my queue)
It’s been 6 days… Have you seen Stand By Me yet? JK (kind of) 😉
He’s one of those actors who has had amazing roles and terrible ones. Recently I loved him in Love & Mercy. Would highly recommend.
He really has done some utter shit! He’s all over the place. I really do need to see Love & Mercy. : )
You must have some movie calendar! His cameo in Stand by Me is great. Funny to think of him in Sixteen Candles.
Hehe. I do look birthdays up pretty far in advance. I have birthday top ten posts sorted through December. ; )
He is one of those actors I love but I’m often ambivalent about his movies. I’ve gone to some that were just not good. So I don’t find myself watching any movie he is in just because he is in it. I thought he didn’t do Hot Tub Time Machine 2, which is in the list of have not seen. That is basically why I didn’t watch 2. I have a theory that in order to really get Hot Tub Time Machine, you had to have been in High School in the mid 80’s. So there was a really limited appeal to it.
Yeah, he really has done some shitty movies. But the good ones are so good that I forgive the bad ones, I guess! And because I love Lloyd Dobler so much… 😉 As for HTTM, I did like that okay (although, no, it wasn’t good). I’d say you most definitely have to have been an 80’s high schooler to like it. After 2 got such horrible reviews, I skipped it. It shows up in the credits on Cusack’s IMDb page so maybe they had a flashback of him or something, meaning they had to give him a credit? Hmm…
I think he’s a really reliable actor. Never disappoints me.
Yep! I’d love to see him in more, but know he likes to avoid the big mainstream movies. : )
I think he’s got his own niche that he’s happy with.
Great list! I love John Cusack! There is just something about him playing that boy-next-door which is so sweet, and when he plays a guy following a lead there is just so much conviction and determination in him. He is definitely the audience’s man. I highly recommend you watch the Runaway Jury, it is such an entertaining film! And, I would have included the Sure Thing on this list. He was good there.
Yay! Glad to hear from another Cusack fan. I’ll always love him. : ) I did see The Sure Thing but it was so long ago I have to re-watch it (along with several others from that time period). I’m too forgetful in my old age! I may have even seen Runaway Jury…. (I just watch too many movies. Lol) : )
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