Few modern actors are as beloved by audiences and highly regarded by critics as Leonardo DiCaprio. The Oscar winner rose to prominence in the ’90s, becoming one of the most popular young heartthrobs with movies like Romeo + Juliet and Titanic. The 2000s saw him earn considerable critical acclaim and begin a successful collaboration with Martin Scorsese in movies like The Aviator and The Departed, cementing himself as a true power player in the industry.
However, DiCaprio reached a new level of acclaim in the 2010s, thanks to a strong succession of movies that became modern cinematic icons. The decade saw him finally win the Oscar he had long pursued, continuing his working relationship with Scorsese while working with filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Clint Eastwood, and Quentin Tarantino. This list will rank all eight movies that DiCaprio made throughout the 2010s based on their overall quality, DiCaprio’s performance, and their contributions to his resume. Each is important to building the actor’s legacy, but some are undeniably stronger than others. Only narrative features will count, meaning the list will not include any documentaries or short films.
8
‘J. Edgar’ (2011)
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Even great directors like Clint Eastwood have failures, and boy, did he fail with J. Edgar. This bland and woefully misguided political biopic chronicles the career of infamous FBI director J. Edgard Hoover, whose life is marked by controversy. The story tracks his duties in the FBI, serving through eight presidents and three wars, emphasizing his relationships with his loyal secretary (Naomi Watts) and his constant “companion” (Armie Hammer).
Aside from the jumpscare that is Armie Hammer, J. Edgar is a bad movie, plain and simple. Eastwood opts for a by-the-numbers approach to the story, attempting to humanize Hoover through his complex dynamic with his mother (an utterly wasted Judi Dench) and his apparent romantic affair with Hammer’s Clyde Tolson. Yet, the efforts are for naught, as the film screams Oscar bait in every scene. DiCaprio is also at his hammiest in the role, especially when buried under the old man makeup during the scenes in Hoover’s twilight years. Rarerly has the actor seemed more out of place.
7
‘The Great Gatsby’ (2013)
Directed by Baz Luhrmann
Baz Luhrmann‘s trademark maximalist style certainly has its fans, but it’s also an acquired taste. The perfect example is his 2013 adaptation of The Great Gatsby, where DiCaprio plays the titular role. Joining him are three-time Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan as Daisy, Tobey Maguire as Nick, Joel Edgerton as Tom, and Elizabeth Debicki, in her film debut, as Jordan.
Visually crowded and tonally uneven, The Great Gatsby is the visualization of that old saying, “style over substance.” Now, style can be substance, but that’s not the case here. Luhrmann’s vision is far too grand and wild for the story, with the main themes of nostalgia, obsession, the dangers of wealth, and the entrapments of the American Dream getting lost amidst all the visual noise and jazz covers of Top 20 hits. DiCaprio does his best, but his more subdued take clashes against Luhrmann’s style, resulting in an awkward performance that never quite fits in. DiCaprio needed a more measured director, while Luhrmann needed a more vibrant leading man. At least The Great Gatsby gave us a tremendous Lana del Rey song.
The Great Gatsby
- Release Date
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May 10, 2013
- Runtime
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143 Minutes
6
‘Shutter Island’ (2010)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Arguably the weakest of the Dicaprio-Scorsese collaborations, Shutter Island is a neo-noir psychological thriller based on the 2003 eponymous novel. Set in the ’50s, the film follows US Marshall Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) and his partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo), as they travel to Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane to locate a missing woman. Michelle Williams and Ben Kingsley also star.
Shutter Island thinks itself a tad more clever than it is. Indeed, its third-act twist will either shock or disappoint audiences; there’s seemingly no middle ground. DiCaprio is confident in the lead role, providing a performance that blends anxiety with concern that fits perfectly with Scorsese’s brooding, bleak atmosphere. However, it’s Ruffalo who ultimately emerges as Shutter’s Island MVP, his more quiet and straight-man performance ultimately befitting the film’s tone. Shutter Island doesn’t rank among DiCaprio or Scorsese’s best cinematic work, but there’s no fault in it being a solid thriller that embraces the genre’s classic tropes; after all, not everything needs to be a masterpiece.
Shutter Island
- Release Date
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February 19, 2010
- Runtime
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138 minutes
5
‘The Revenant’ (2015)
Directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu
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By 2015, Leonardo DiCaprio was the Oscar’s biggest bridesmaid after Glenn Close. Following his loss in 2014, the consensus was that his next Oscar-nominated role would undoubtedly be the one that gave him the gold, and it was. In 2015, the actor teamed up with Oscar-winning Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu for The Revenant, a Western about Hugh Glass, a frontiersman left for dead following a brutal bear attack.
Like Shutter Island, The Revenant is polarizing with audiences; they either love it or hate it. However, it ranks higher on this list because DiCaprio is actually quite good as Glass. His performance is intense and fully committed, with DiCaprio going to great lengths to sell Glass’ desperation and will to survive. In the hands of a lesser actor, the role would’ve seem like a shameless Oscar play, but DiCaprio brings glimpses of warmth and genuine vulnerability to his portrayal. Enhanced by the striking cinematography from three-time Oscar winner Emmanuel Lubezki, DiCaprio’s performance becomes a true tour de force that finally earned him that elusive Oscar.
The Revenant
- Release Date
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December 25, 2015
- Runtime
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156 minutes
- Director
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Alejandro González Iñárritu
4
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ (2019)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
The second of DiCaprio’s collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is an ode to a pivotal time in the titular town. DiCaprio stars as Rick Dalton, a fading actor who, alongside his loyal stunt double (Brad Pitt), crosses paths with the Manson Family in 1969 Hollywood. Margot Robbie also stars as Sharon Tate. The film is also famous for featuring multiple young actors in minor roles, including Austin Butler, Sydney Sweeney, Mikey Madison, and Margaret Qualley.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood perfectly captures a changing time for the film industry, as the Golden Age of cinema fades, giving way to the rise of New Hollywood. DiCaprio is perfect as the struggling Rick Dalton, whose character journey echoes this shift, starting on a bittersweet note and ending on a more positive promise for a new chance. Unlike Tarantino’s other movies, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is surprisingly straightforward while still featuring his flashes of bold and often ridiculous brilliance. It’s a love letter to the 1960s and the film industry, and DiCaprio is the perfect anchor. It’s one of the actor’s best performances, abandoning ego to play an actor so willfully obsessed with it.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
- Release Date
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July 26, 2019
3
‘Django Unchained’ (2012)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
DiCaprio’s first collaboration with Tarantino was the Western Django Unchained, a far more familiar depiction of the director’s traits. Jamie Foxx stars as the titular character, a former slave freed by the bounty hunter King Schultz (Cristoph Waltz). Together, they go on a revenge journey to rescue Django’s wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from the sadistic plantation owner, Calvin Candie (DiCaprio).
Django Unchained might be the most unabashedly Tarantino movie. Hyperviolent, stylized, over-the-top, and arguably too long, Django Unchained is a Spaghetti Western for the new age. The entire cast is great, but DiCaprio is arguably the standout. In one of his few fully villainous roles, DiCaprio is a beast as the ruthless and racist Candie. It’s such a despicable role, and the actor is clearly having the time of his life portraying such a cold-hearted bastard. It’s a masterful portrayal of pure and unashed evil; DiCaprio wastes no time in humanizing or trying to make audiences empathize with Candie, instead opting to depict him as the absolute worst humanity has to offer.
2
‘Inception’ (2010)
Directed by Christopher Nolan
In his first and so far only collaboration with Christopher Nolan, DiCaprio plays the struggling thief Dominic Cobb, who steals vital information by entering his target’s subconscious via dreams. When an opportunity presents itself to return to the US and reunite with his children, Cobb agrees to take a job not stealing information but rather implanting an idea in the mind of a wealthy heir.
Inception is perhaps the defining blockbuster of the 2010s and one of the best adventure movies of all time. A larger-than-life and truly mind-blowing piece of science fiction, the film is Christopher Nolan’s most purely entertaining effort, a high-stakes action thriller that demands everything from the audience without ever overwhelming them. DiCaprio is a stellar leading man for this adventure, bringing a sense of gravitas to the story that elevates it past the stereotypical narratives common in the action-thriller genre. Inception is the ultimate combination of a perfect director and an ideal leading man, a thinking-person’s sci-fi dream that more than warrants its placing on this list as DiCaprio’s second-best effort of the 2010s.
1
‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ (2013)
Directed by Martin Scorsese
2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street is the best Leonardo DiCaprio movie of the 2010s and a strong contender for his best collaboration with Scorsese. A crime black comedy biopic, the film chronicles the rise and fall of Jordan Belfort, a New York stockbroker whose rampant crimes and excesses eventually lead to his downfall. Jonah Hill and Margot Robbie also star in the movie.
It wouldn’t be an overstatement to state that DiCaprio gives the best performance of his career in this movie. As Belfort, the actor is a true force of nature, a charismatic yet decidedly off-putting man, a delusional criminal desperately clinging to a life that was never his to begin with. Although many believe the film lionizes Belfort, The Wolf of Wall Street is much more insightful, albeit not at all nuanced, in its depiction of Belfort. DiCaprio portrays him as profoundly deluded to the point of absurdity, a classic case of the clown taking over the circus. With The Wolf of Wall Street, Scorsese and DiCaprio are firing on all cylinders, resulting in a scathing indictment of the American Dream, an unsavory satire that keeps getting better with age.
