Want to know the best Gena Rowlands movies? How about the worst Gena Rowlands movies? Curious about Gena Rowlands box office grosses or which Gena Rowlands movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Gena Rowlands movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Gena Rowlands (1930-2024) was an Oscar®-nominated American actress. She has been acting in movies, stage and television for over 65 years. She is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), which earned her nominations for the Academy Award® for Best Actress. Her IMDb page shows 105 acting credits from 1954 to 2017. This page will rank Gena Rowlands movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences, and get some award recognition.
Gena Rowlands Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.
| Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Movie (Year) | Rating | S |
| 1974 | A Woman Under the Influence (1974) AA Best Actress Nom |
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| 2004 | The Notebook (2004) |  |
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| 1976 | Two-Minute Warning (1976) | |
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| 1962 | Lonely Are The Brave (1962) | |
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| 2007 | Persepolis (2007) |  |
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| 1967 | Tony Rome (1967) | |
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| 1963 | A Child Is Waiting (1963) | |
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| 1968 | Faces (1968) | |
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| 1978 | The Brink's Job (1978) | |
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| 1977 | Opening Night (1977) | |
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| 1995 | Something to Talk About (1995) | |
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| 1998 | Hope Floats (1998) | |
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| 2005 | The Skeleton Key (2005) | |
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| 1962 | The Spiral Road (1962) | |
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| 1998 | Paulie (1998) | |
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| 2006 | Paris, je t'aime (2006) |  |
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| 1991 | Once Around (1991) | |
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| 1984 | Love Streams (1984) | |
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| 1991 | Night on Earth (1991) | |
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| 1980 | Gloria (1980) AA Best Actress Nom |
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| 1971 | Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) | |
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| 1998 | The Mighty (1998) | |
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| 1982 | Tempest (1982) | |
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| 1958 | Shadows (1958) | |
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| 1988 | Another Woman (1988) | |
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| 1998 | Playing By Heart (1998) |  |
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| 1958 | The High Cost of Loving (1958) | |
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| 1987 | Light of Day (1987) | |
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| 2007 | Broken English (2007) | |
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| 1996 | Unhook the Stars (1996) | |
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| 1997 | She's So Lovely (1997) | |
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| 2014 | Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (2014) |  |
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| 1969 | Machine Gun McCain (1969) | |
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| 1993 | Silent Cries (1993) | |
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| 2001 | Wild Iris (2001) Showtime Movies |
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| 1995 | The Neon Bible (1995) | |
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| 2004 | Taking Lives (2004) | |
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| 2011 | Olive (2011) |  |
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| 2013 | Yellow (2013) | |
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| 1999 | The Weekend (1999) | |
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| 2014 | Parts Per Billion (2014) | |
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| 1991 | Ted & Venus (1991) |  |
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| 1994 | Parallel Lives (1994) Showtime Movies |
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Gena Rowlands Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table
The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies any way you want.
- Sort Gena Rowlands movies by her co-stars
- Sort Gena Rowlands movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Gena Rowlands movies by yearly domestic box office rank
- Sort Gena Rowlands movies by how they were received by critics and audiences. 60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
- Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Gena Rowlands movie received.
- Sort Gena Rowlands movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CreditRank | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Actual B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Domestic (mil) | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | B.O. Rank by Year | Review % | Oscar Nom / Win | S | UMR Score |
| 1 | A Woman Under the Influence (1974) AA Best Actress Nom |
Peter Falk & Directed by John Cassavetes |
18.50 | 106.9 | 106.9 | 29 | 86 | 02 / 00 | 91.9 | |
| 2 | The Notebook (2004) | James Garner & Ryan Gosling |
81.00 | 140.6 | 200.7 | 32 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 88.8 | |
| 3 | Two-Minute Warning (1976) | Charlton Heston & Walter Pidgeon |
27.60 | 139.7 | 139.7 | 23 | 55 | 01 / 00 | 83.7 | |
| 4 | Lonely Are The Brave (1962) | Kirk Douglas & Walter Matthau |
2.80 | 40.7 | 40.7 | 87 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 81.6 | |
| 5 | Persepolis (2007) | Catherine Deneuve & Danielle Darrieux |
4.40 | 7.0 | 35.6 | 175 | 90 | 01 / 00 | 79.7 | |
| 7 | Tony Rome (1967) | Frank Sinatra & Jill St. John |
9.80 | 86.9 | 86.9 | 31 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 78.6 | |
| 6 | A Child Is Waiting (1963) | Burt Lancaster & Judy Garland |
2.50 | 31.2 | 31.2 | 79 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 78.5 | |
| 8 | Faces (1968) | John Marley & Seymour Cassel |
2.10 | 17.6 | 17.6 | 116 | 81 | 03 / 00 | 76.8 | |
| 9 | The Brink's Job (1978) | Warren Oates & Peter Boyle |
15.40 | 71.0 | 71.0 | 47 | 65 | 01 / 00 | 76.5 | |
| 10 | Opening Night (1977) | Joan Blondell & Peter Falk |
1.20 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 130 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 74.6 | |
| 11 | Something to Talk About (1995) | Julia Roberts & Dennis Quaid |
50.90 | 126.1 | 172.9 | 34 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 73.4 | |
| 12 | Hope Floats (1998) | Sandra Bullock & Harry Connick Jr. |
60.10 | 138.0 | 187.3 | 34 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 73.4 | |
| 13 | The Skeleton Key (2005) | Kate Hudson | 47.90 | 80.7 | 80.7 | 61 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 72.3 | |
| 14 | The Spiral Road (1962) | Rock Hudson & Burl Ives |
6.60 | 94.5 | 94.5 | 39 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 71.0 | |
| 15 | Paulie (1998) | Jay Mohr & Tony Shalhoub |
26.90 | 61.8 | 61.8 | 67 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 70.2 | |
| 16 | Paris, je t'aime (2006) | Natalie Portman & Willem Dafoe |
4.90 | 8.0 | 28.6 | 187 | 78 | 00 / 00 | 67.6 | |
| 17 | Once Around (1991) | Richard Dreyfuss & Holly Hunter |
14.90 | 38.0 | 38.0 | 78 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 66.1 | |
| 18 | Love Streams (1984) | Directed by John Cassavetes | 0.20 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 184 | 79 | 00 / 00 | 65.6 | |
| 19 | Night on Earth (1991) | Winona Ryder & Giancarlo Esposito |
2.00 | 5.2 | 5.2 | 149 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 64.9 | |
| 20 | Gloria (1980) AA Best Actress Nom |
Gena Rowlands & Buck Henry |
3.50 | 14.3 | 14.3 | 123 | 72 | 01 / 00 | 63.9 | |
| 21 | Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) | John Cassavetes | 0.70 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 170 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 61.9 | |
| 22 | The Mighty (1998) | Sharon Stone & Harry Dean Stanton |
2.70 | 6.1 | 14.1 | 163 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 59.4 | |
| 23 | Tempest (1982) | Susan Sarandon & Molly Ringwald |
5.00 | 18.4 | 18.4 | 96 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 57.4 | |
| 24 | Shadows (1958) | Directed by John Cassavetes | 0.60 | 10.3 | 10.3 | 160 | 70 | 00 / 00 | 56.5 | |
| 25 | Another Woman (1988) | Mia Farrow & Gene Hackman |
1.60 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 168 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 51.0 | |
| 26 | Playing By Heart (1998) | Sean Connery & Angelina Jolie |
4.00 | 9.1 | 9.1 | 154 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 50.0 | |
| 27 | The High Cost of Loving (1958) | José Ferrer | 0.90 | 15.7 | 29.8 | 149 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 46.3 | |
| 28 | Light of Day (1987) | Michael J. Fox & Joan Jett |
10.50 | 28.9 | 28.9 | 81 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 44.9 | |
| 29 | Broken English (2007) | Parker Posey & Melvil Poupaud |
1.00 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 223 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 44.4 | |
| 30 | Unhook the Stars (1996) | Gérard Depardieu & Marisa Tomei |
0.30 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 235 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 42.6 | |
| 31 | She's So Lovely (1997) | John Travolta & Sean Penn |
7.30 | 17.1 | 17.1 | 126 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 41.8 | |
| 32 | Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (2014) | Rita Moreno | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 221 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 38.7 | |
| 34 | Machine Gun McCain (1969) | Peter Falk & Ennio Morricone |
1.30 | 9.8 | 9.8 | 128 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 33.0 | |
| 33 | Silent Cries (1993) | Annabeth Gish | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 255 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 33.0 | |
| 35 | Wild Iris (2001) Showtime Movies |
Laura Linney | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 383 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 28.8 | |
| 36 | The Neon Bible (1995) | Denis Leary | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 240 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 28.3 | |
| 37 | Taking Lives (2004) | Angelina Jolie & Ethan Hawke |
32.70 | 56.7 | 113.7 | 85 | 41 | 00 / 00 | 27.8 | |
| 38 | Olive (2011) | John Scurti | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 361 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 20.0 | |
| 39 | Yellow (2013) | Melanie Griffith & Ray Liotta |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 328 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 12.5 | |
| 40 | The Weekend (1999) | Brooke Shields & Deborah Kara Unger |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 342 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 12.1 | |
| 41 | Parts Per Billion (2014) | Frank Langella & Rosario Dawson |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 426 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 10.5 | |
| 42 | Ted & Venus (1991) | Bud Cort | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 232 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 10.0 | |
| 43 | Parallel Lives (1994) Showtime Movies |
Treat Williams | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 273 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 5.1 |
Check out Gena Rowlands‘s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
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i saw 6 including 2 of top 3. 9s : playing by heart, something to talk about. both hidden gems for me. 8s: the notebook, hope floats another hidden gem. something to talk about and hope floats had very low UMR reviews. i added several to my watchlist.
Even Joel Hirschhorn can’t get everything about movies wrong and he is right when he says that Gena was never popular with the general public. Bruce credits her with only 4 films that crashed the magical 100 million-dollar barrier and she has just supporting roles in all of them. Outside those 4 movies the overall box office gross for the 37 other films that WH lists for her is just approx $720 million – an unimpressive average per movie of $19.5 million.
It’s 2 out of 2 for Joel today though because he is right again when he says that she is highly respected artistically. For example IMDB credits her with 31 acting awards and 25 noms and in my opinion that’s very good for an actress who [being often an art house movie specialist and who as Joel suggests has been selective in her film roles] didn’t enjoy the hype that many other lesser-talented young ladies in movies enjoy today.
I think though that I personally enjoyed Gena’s creepy performance in The Skeleton Key the best of all the roles that I’ve seen her in notwithstanding The Work Horse giving it a 59% slightly less that good review rating above. HE is certainly not joining Joel as a guy whom I think has gotten everything right tonight!
Making 8 the other 6 movies in which I have seen Gena over the years are Spiral Road/Lonely are The Brave/Tony Rome/Once Around/A Child is Waiting/Hope Floats. “Voted Up!” – a well-deserved new page in my view.