Although John Goodman is best remembered for his role as working-class father Dan Conner on TV’s “Roseanne” and “The Conners,” he’s also enjoyed a very successful big screen career as well, working with such directors as the Coen brothers, Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. Let’s look back at 20 of his greatest films, ranked worst to best.
Surprisingly (and criminally), not one of these roles brought Goodman an Oscar nomination. He did compete at the Golden Globes as Best Supporting Actor for “Barton Fink” (1991), but the academy went for his co-star Michael Lerner instead. Goodman also contended at the Globes four times as Best TV Comedy Actor for “Roseanne” (1989-1991, 1993), winning in 1993.
At the Emmys, Goodman earned seven consecutive Best Comedy Actor bids for “Roseanne” (1989-1995) and won for his guest performance on “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip” (2007). He’s also contended for his TV-movie work: once as Best Movie/Mini Actor (“Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long” in 1995) and twice as Best Movie/Mini Supporting Actor (“A Streetcar Named Desire” in 1996 and “You Don’t Know Jack” in 2010).
Take a look through our gallery of Goodman’s greatest films. Aside from “Barton Fink,” what else was he egregiously snubbed by the motion picture academy for?
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20. ‘Patriots Day’ (2016)
Image Credit: Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX/Shutterstock Directed by Peter Berg. Screenplay by Berg, Matt Cook, Joshua Zetumer; story by Berg, Cook, Kevin Williamson, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson. Starring Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon, J.K. Simmons, Michelle Monaghan.
Goodman is just one of several A-list actors headlining this true crime drama from Peter Berg, which recounts the aftermath of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. He plays Commissioner Ed Davis, who worked with the police and the FBI in a city-wide manhunt to find the terrorists responsible. Shot with handheld documentary realism and told with a rigorous narrative through line, “Patriots Day” is a taut, suspenseful, and rousing tribute to the heroes of a real life tragedy.
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19. ‘The Flintstones’ (1994)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Brian Levant. Written by Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein, Steven E. de Souza, based on cartoon created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Starring Rick Moranis, Elizabeth Perkins, Rosie O’Donnell, Kyle MacLachlan, Halle Berry, Elizabeth Taylor.
It’s one of the great alchemies of casting that John Goodman played Fred Flintstone in this big screen adaptation of the beloved cartoon. The actor is uncanny in his ability to not just look and sound like the 2D creation, but capture his spirit as well. The same goes for Elizabeth Perkins as wife Wilma and Rick Moranis and Rosie O’Donnell as best friends Barney and Betty Rubble. They’re certainly helped by the prehistoric world created by production designers Eloy Lobato and William Sandell, which is spot on. Unfortunately, the rest of Brian Levant’s movie isn’t much fun, with a bizarre plot that revolves around embezzlement and adultery. Still, we’ll return to the town of Bedrock for the joy of Goodman’s performance, which makes this outing far more bearable than the rocky followup “The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas” (2000).
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18. ‘Always’ (1989)
Image Credit: SNAP/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Steven Spielberg. Written by Jerry Belson, based on the story “A Guy Named Joe” by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm and the screenplay by Dalton Trumbo and Frederick Hazlitt Brennan. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter, Brad Johnson, Audrey Hepburn.
Growing up, Steven Spielberg loved “A Guy Named Joe,” the 1944 romantic drama about a deceased WWII bomber (Spencer Tracy) forced to become the guardian angel to a younger pilot (Van Johnson) who’s falling in love with his former girlfriend (Irene Dunne). As an adult, he remade it with Richard Dreyfuss as a forrest fire fighter, Brad Johnson as a young airman, and Holly Hunter as the dead man’s girl. Goodman plays Al Yackey, a fellow pilot who Dreyfuss dies trying to save. Many disregarded “Always” as a sentimental misfire from the usually first-rate craftsman, but the film has found a second life almost 30 years after its release as a touching ode to lost love and sacrifice. It’s perhaps most notable for being the last screen appearance by the legendary Audrey Hepburn as Dreyfuss’s guardian angel.
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17. ‘Trumbo’ (2015)
Image Credit: Hilary Bronwyn Gayle/Groundswell Prods./Shivhav/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Jay Roach. Written by John McNamara, based on the book “Dalton Trumbo” by Bruce Cook. Starring Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Helen Mirren, Louis C.K., Elle Fanning, Michael Stuhlbarg, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, David James Elliott, Alan Tudyk.
Hollywood’s darkest period is brought to life with this vibrant, entertaining biopic about blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston in an Oscar-nominated performance). After being jailed for refusing to answer questions to the House Un-American Activities Committee, Trumbo must find new ways to support his family through his art, writing under pseudonyms and picking up a couple of Academy Awards in the meantime. Goodman plays Frank King, who produced Trumbo’s Oscar-winning bull-fighting drama “The Brave One” (1956). The film brought Goodman a SAG Ensemble nomination.
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16. ‘The Big Easy’ (1987)
Image Credit: Columbia/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Jim McBride. Written by Daniel Petrie, Jr. Starring Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty.
Few movies capture the city of New Orleans quite like “The Big Easy,” Jim McBride’s sensual thriller about a vice cop (Dennis Quaid) who begins an elicit affair with a special prosecutor (Ellen Barkin) while investigating a string of murders. Goodman makes a memorable appearance as De Soto, a detective working for the corrupt commanding officer (Ned Beatty, who played Goodman’s father on “Roseanne”) behind the killings. “The Big Easy” makes great use of its setting, from the winding French Quarter streets to the Cajun music soundtrack, as well as the steamy and sweaty chemistry of its two stars.
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15. ‘The Artist’ (2011)
Image Credit: La Classe Americane/Ufilm/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and Directed by Michel Hazanavicius. Starring Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller.
Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” is a love letter to Hollywood in every way, which is probably why the Academy went so gaga for it. Jean Dujardin stars as George Valentin, a silent movie star who falls in love with a young dancer (Berenice Bejo) as the arrival of sound threatens to end his career. Goodman is perfectly cast as Al Zimmer, the cigar-chomping studio boss who heralds the arrival of talkies. Shot in the style of a black-and-white silent film, “The Artist” is a starry-eyed tribute to tinsel town’s most glamorous era. The film won five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor (Dujardin). Goodman and the cast also competed at SAG for Best Ensemble.
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14. ‘Storytelling’ (2001)
Image Credit: John Clifford/Fine Line Features/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and Directed by Todd Solondz. Starring Selma Blair, Robert Wisdom, Paul Giamatti, Lupe Ontiveros, Julie Hagerty, Jonathan Osser, Mark Webber.
Todd Solondz’s “Storytelling” gives you two movies for the price of one, and neither will appeal to everyone. The first, “Fiction,” follows a college student (Selma Blair) who has a one night stand with her creative writing professor (Robert Wisdom), then tries to use it as material. The second, “Non-Fiction,” focuses on a dysfunctional New Jersey family who are the subjects of a documentary. Goodman plays Marty Livingston, the imposing, bombastic patriarch who fights with his pot smoking son (Mark Webber). Offensive, sexually explicit, and self-referential, “Storytelling” is a challenging experience for audiences, but a richly rewarding one for those who want to stick it out.
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13. ‘Bringing Out the Dead’ (1999)
Image Credit: Phillip Caruso/Touchstone/Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Paul Schrader, based on the book by Joe Connelly. Starring Nicolas Cage, Patricia Arquette, Ving Rhames, Tom Sizemore, Marc Anthony.
Martin Scorsese returns to the mean streets of New York City with “Bringing Out the Dead,” a surreal and nightmarish journey into the abyss. Nicolas Cage stars as Frank Pierce, a Manhattan ambulance paramedic who is haunted by the patients he fails to save. Goodman plays Larry, a fellow EMT who accompanies Frank as he struggles to maintain his sanity over the course of three nights. Scorsese and cinematographer Robert Richardson create a vision of the city that feels taken straight out of Hieronymus Bosch, as if Frank is entering the Underworld to do battle with evil through his white, four-wheeled chariot.
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12. ‘Arachnophobia’ (1990)
Image Credit: Hollywood/Amblin/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Frank Marshall. Written by Don Jakoby and Wesley Strick, Story by Jakoby and Al Williams. Starring Jeff Daniels, Julian Sands, Harley Jane Kozak.
If you’re looking for a movie to give you the creepy-crawlies, look no further than Frank Marshall’s horror-comedy about those most deadly of insects. Jeff Daniels stars as a doctor with a crippling fear of spiders who must wage war against a killer species of South American arachnids who find their way into small town America. Goodman steals the show with a memorable supporting turn as Delbert McClintock, the local exterminator who realizes he needs a bigger can of bug spray to fight these vicious little monsters. For anyone who’s ever crossed the street to avoid a spider’s web, “Arachnophobia” is a frighteningly good time.
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11. ‘Argo’ (2012)
Image Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Ben Affleck. Written by Chris Terrio, based on “The Master of Disguise” by Antonio J. Mendez and “The Great Escape” by Joshuah Bearman. Starring Ben Affleck, Alan Arkin, Kerry Bishe, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Denham, Tate Donovan, Clea DuVall, Victor Garber, Scoot McNairy, Chris Messina.
Ben Affleck’s Best Picture-winning “Argo” is based on one of those truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories that feels perfectly conceived for the movies. Affleck stars as Tony Mendez, a CIA extractor who enlists a Hollywood producer (Alan Arkin) and makeup artist (Goodman) to cook up a phony science-fiction epic as a cover for rescuing six American hostages in Tehran. Told with crackling suspense and a quick wit, “Argo” is that rare entertainment to elevate itself into the realm of great art. Goodman won his very first SAG prize as part of the film’s ensemble, while the film also took home prizes for Best Adapted Screenplay (Chris Terrio) and Best Film Editing.
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10. ‘Sea of Love’ (1989)
Image Credit: Universal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Harold Becker. Written by Richard Price. Starring Al Pacino, Ellen Barkin, Michael Rooker, William Hickey, Richard Jenkins, John Spencer, Michael O’Neill, Samuel L. Jackson.
There aren’t many actors who can go toe-to-toe with Al Pacino, but Goodman proves himself a capable scene partner in Harold Becker’s psycho-sexual thriller. Pacino plays Frank Keller, a detective who teams up with Det. Sherman Touhey (Goodman) to track down a serial killer who finds victims through newspaper singles columns. They place an ad of their own in the paper, with Frank taking the women on dates and Sherman – posing as a waiter – collecting their fingerprints off of wine glasses. Trouble is, Frank falls in love with one of his dates (Ellen Barkin), who may or may not be the killer. Though the plot proceeds as expected, the film is sexy as hell, and Goodman engenders real sympathy as he watches his partner becoming increasingly obsessed with this dangerous woman. The Chicago Film Critics nominated Goodman as Best Supporting Actor for his performance, and the Oscars should’ve followed suit.
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9. ‘Flight’ (2012)
Image Credit: Paramount/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Written by John Gatins. Starring Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood, Nadine Velazquez, Brian Geraghty, Tamara Tunie, Melissa Leo.
Without Goodman to bring it some much-needed comedic relief, Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight” would be a pretty depressing dirge about drug addiction and alcoholism. Denzel Washington earned an Oscar nomination as Best Actor for playing Whip Whitaker, an ace pilot who saves the lives of almost all his passengers after an eleventh-hour crash landing. Problem is, he was under the influence while doing it. Goodman co-stars as Harling Mays, Whip’s smooth-talking, medically expert drug dealer. Despite winning the National Board of Review’s Spotlight Award for his outstanding year’s worth of work (he also appeared in “Argo,” “Trouble with the Curve,” and “ParaNorman” in 2012), Goodman was once again overlooked at the Oscars.
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8. ‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ (2013)
Image Credit: Scott Rudin Prods./Stdiocanal/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Written and Directed by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Garrett Hedlund, F. Murray Abraham, Justin Timberlake.
Goodman makes a small but memorable appearance in this moody Coen Brothers comedy. Set in 1961, the film follows a misbegotten folk singer named Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) who struggles to keep afloat in Greenwich Village. Desperate for cash, he travels to Chicago with a beat poet named Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund) and a jazz musician named Roland Turner (Goodman), who doesn’t care much for folk singers. Goodman relishes making Roland as cruel and misanthropic as possible, cutting down Davis at every opportunity with his razor-sharp tongue. With a goatee and caesar haircut, he looks like a demon sent from hell to torment the hero on his journey.
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7. ‘Raising Arizona’ (1987)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen. Starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, William Forsythe, Sam McMurray, Frances McDormand, Randall “Tex” Cobb.
Goodman’s first collaboration with the Coen Brothers is this whacky comedy about a former police officer named Ed (Holly Hunter) who marries an ex-convict named Hi (Nicolas Cage). Devastated to learn they can’t have children, they decide to steal one from a wealthy local businessman (Trey Wilson) whose wife gives birth to quintuplets. Goodman plays Gale Snoats, who escapes from prison with his brother (William Forsythe) and shows up at Hi’s doorstep. Like all great screwball comedies, “Raising Arizona” careens at breakneck speed from one hilarious set piece to the next with nary a moment to breathe, and Goodman keeps the laughs coming.
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6. ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ (2000)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, based on “The Odyssey” by Homer. Starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Charles Durning, Michael Badalucco, Holly Hunter.
Taking its inspiration from Homer and Preston Sturges, “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” is one of the silliest creations yet by the Coen Brothers. Loosely based on “The Odyssey” (which the Coens apparently have never read), the film centers on three escaped convicts – Ulysses Everett McGill (George Clooney), Pete Hogwallop (John Turturro), and Demlar O’Donnell (Tim Blake Nelson) – on a quest for hidden treasure in the Depression-era South. They encounter several colorful characters – most notably Goodman as a violent Bible salesman – and manage to play a little bluegrass along the way. The film ambles along from one set piece to the next without really taking shape, but that doesn’t diminish how much fun you’ll have on the road with these three knuckleheads.
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5. ‘Matinee’ (1993)
Image Credit: Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Joe Dante. Written by Charles S. Haas; story by Jerico and Haas. Starring Cathy Moriarty, Simon Fenton, Omri Katz, Kellie Martin, Lisa Jakub.
Goodman headlines Joe Dante’s loving tribute to the monster movies of yore. He plays Lawrence Woolsey, a small-time schlock horror filmmaker who travels to Key West, Florida, to promote his latest masterpiece: “Mant!,” or half-man, half-ant. Meanwhile, President Kennedy sets the stage for the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing Woolsey with the perfect backdrop to scare the pants off his audiences. “Matinee” is the kind of film that seems to exist in a simpler time, when the threat of an alien invasion was more palatable than a nuclear holocaust. It’s also a movie for movie lovers, sprinkled with the kind of Hollywood history tidbits that’ll put a smile on any cinephile’s face.
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4. ’10 Cloverfield Lane’ (2016)
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures/Bad Robot/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Dan Trachtenberg. Screenplay by Josh Campbell, Matt Stuecken, Damien Chazelle; story by Campbell and Stuecken. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Gallagher, Jr.
In most of his films, Goodman is warm and cuddly, like a giant teddy bear come to life. In “10 Cloverfield Lane,” he uses that innate kindness and charm to bring us the most skin-crawlingly creepy bad guy since Norman Bates. He plays Howard, a survivalist who traps a young woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) in his basement, claiming that aliens have invaded and his stock-piled abode is the only safe place for miles. Director Dan Trachtenberg keeps the tension tight, and Winstead provides the audience with a terrified yet strong-willed surrogate. But it’s Goodman who carries the film, giving us a villain who believes in the goodness of his intentions, making him seem eerily sane despite his obvious mania. Though various regional film critics groups recognized Goodman’s performance, the Oscars once again ignored him.
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3. ‘Monsters, Inc.’ (2001)
Image Credit: Moviestore Collection/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Pete Docter. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Dan Gerson; story by Pete Docter, Jill Culton, Jeff Pidgeon, Ralph Eggleston. Starring Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn, Jennifer Tilly.
Goodman entered the Pixar dream factory with Pete Docter’s imaginative story about the world’s friendliest monsters. He voices James P. “Sully” Sullivan, who along with his partner Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) are the top employees at Monsters, Inc., a company that employs top of the line “scarers” to harvest the screams of children, which power the city of Monstropolis. Yet children are toxic to monsters, so when a little girl named Boo crosses over to the other side, it throws the city into a panic. Despite being a scary beast, Goodman turns Sully into a warm natured, gentle giant who grow affectionate towards the young tyke. “Monsters, Inc.” competed for four Oscars including Best Animated Feature, winning Randy Newman his career first prize for Best Original Song (“If I Didn’t Have You”). Goodman and Crystal returned for the 2013 prequel “Monsters University.”
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2. ‘Barton Fink’ (1991)
Image Credit: Circle/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Starring John Turturro, Judy Davis, Michael Lerner, John Mahoney, Jon Polito.
One of the strangest films ever by the Coen Brothers (and that’s really saying something), “Barton Fink” is part Hollywood satire, part mystery comedy, and all apocalyptic nightmare. When acclaimed playwright Barton Fink (John Turturro) is drafted from Broadway to write a boxing movie, he finds California to be more hellish than he ever imagined. While living in a aged motel he meets Charlie Meadows (Goodman), a working-class salesman who becomes Barton’s only friend. But Charlie isn’t all he appears to be, and Goodman uses his good guy charm to make the character’s final reveal all the more shocking. “Barton Fink” is probably the closest Goodman ever came to receiving an Oscar nomination, after competing at the Golden Globes as Best Supporting Actor. Yet the Academy nominated his co-star, Michael Lerner — as the bombastic studio chief who brings Barton to Hollywood — instead.
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1. ‘The Big Lebowski’ (1998)
Image Credit: Polygram/Working Title/Kobal/REX/Shutterstock Directed by Joel Coen. Written by Ethan Coen and Joel Coen. Starring Jeff Bridges, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, John Turturro, Tara Reid, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, Ben Gazzara, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare.
All due respect to Dan Conner, but the single greatest character Goodman ever created was Walter Sobchak in “The Big Lebowski.” Based in part on screenwriter John Milius, Walter is a lunatic Vietnam vet and bowling fanatic who’s loyal to his best friend, slacker stoner Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski (Jeff Bridges). To try and describe the plot of this epic Coen Brothers comedy would prove an exercise in futility. Instead, let’s just say that many of the film’s biggest laugh-out-loud moments come from Goodman’s manic performance as the world’s most unstable sidekick. That he didn’t walk away with a Best Supporting Actor Oscar — let alone a nomination — is an offense The Dude simply cannot abide.
