Want to know the best Kevin Bacon movies? How about the worst Kevin Bacon movies? Curious about Kevin Bacon box office grosses or which Kevin Bacon movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Kevin Bacon movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Kevin Bacon (1958-) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles in 1984’s Footloose, 1991’s JFK, 1992’s A Few Good Men, 1995’s Apollo 13, 2003’s Mystic River and as the “Thank you sir may I have another” frat boy in 1978’s Animal House.
His IMDb page shows 86 acting credits since 1978. This page will rank 55 Kevin Bacon movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television roles, cameos, shorts and straight to DVD movies were not included in the rankings.
Kevin Bacon 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
1995
Apollo 13 (1995)
AA Best Picture Nom
1991
JFK (1991)
AA Best Picture Nom
2003
Mystic River (2003)
AA Best Picture Nom
1992
A Few Good Men (1992)
AA Best Picture Nom
1978
Animal House (1978)
2011
X-Men: First Class (2011)
1987
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
1984
Footloose (1984)
1979
Starting Over (1979)
2011
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
1990
Flatliners (1990)
1996
Sleepers (1996)
2008
Frost/Nixon (2008)
AA Best Picture Nom
1982
Diner (1982)
2015
Black Mass (2015)
1994
The River Wild (1994)
1981
Only When I Laugh (1981)
1980
Friday the 13th (1980)
2000
My Dog Skip (2000)
2000
Hollow Man (2000)
2016
Patriots Day (2016)
1999
Stir of Echoes (1999)
1990
Tremors (1990)
2022
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022)
Disney Plus
1998
Wild Things (1998)
1995
Murder in the First (1995)
2004
The Woodsman (2004)
2005
Beauty Shop (2005)
1980
Hero at Large (1980)
2024
MaXXXine (2024)
1997
Picture Perfect (1997)
1995
Balto (1995)
Voice Only
2009
My One and Only (2009)
1997
Telling Lies in America (1997)
1998
Digging to China (1998)
2015
Cop Car (2015)
2023
Leave The World Behind (2023)
Netflix
1988
She's Having a Baby (1988)
1989
The Big Picture (1989)
1988
Lemon Sky (1988)
1991
He Said, She Said (1991)
2024
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
1986
Quicksilver (1986)
2010
Super (2010)
1987
White Water Summer (1987)
1991
Queens Logic (1991)
2005
Where the Truth Lies (2005)
2007
Rails & Ties (2007)
2007
Death Sentence (2007)
1987
End of the Line (1987)
2007
The Air I Breathe (2007)
Limited Release
1994
The Air Up There (1994)
1983
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983)
Film Festival Circuit Only
1988
Criminal Law (1988)
2005
Loverboy (2005)
2012
Jayne Mansfield's Car (2012)
2001
Novocaine (2001)
2003
In the Cut (2003)
2020
You Should Have Left (2020)
Blumhouse Covid19 VOD Release
2002
Trapped (2002)
2013
R.I.P.D. (2013)
2016
The Darkness (2016)
2022
One Way (2022)
Limited Release
2022
They/Them (2022)
Peacock
Kevin Bacon 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 anyway you want.
- Sort Kevin Bacon movies by movie titles and trailers to the movies
- Sort Kevin Bacon movies by his co-stars
- Sort Kevin Bacon movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
- Sort Kevin Bacon movies by domestic yearly box office rank
- Sort Kevin Bacon 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 Kevin Bacon movie received.
- Sort Kevin Bacon movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.
| R | Movie (Year) | UMR Co-Star Links | Adj. B.O. Worldwide (mil) | Review | Oscar Nom / Win | UMR Score | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R | 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 | UMR Score | S |
| 1 | Apollo 13 (1995) AA Best Picture Nom |
Tom Hanks & Bill Paxton |
173.10 | 428.9 | 878.40 | 3 | 86 | 09 / 02 | 99.6 | |
| 3 | JFK (1991) AA Best Picture Nom |
Kevin Costner & Jack Lemmon |
70.40 | 180.3 | 526.00 | 17 | 81 | 08 / 02 | 98.9 | |
| 4 | Mystic River (2003) AA Best Picture Nom |
Sean Penn & Directed by Clint Eastwood |
90.10 | 161.1 | 280.40 | 33 | 87 | 06 / 02 | 98.5 | |
| 2 | A Few Good Men (1992) AA Best Picture Nom |
Tom Cruise & Jack Nicholson |
141.30 | 367.1 | 631.80 | 5 | 76 | 04 / 00 | 98.3 | |
| 5 | Animal House (1978) | John Belushi & Donald Sutherland |
139.80 | 644.2 | 644.20 | 2 | 84 | 00 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 6 | X-Men: First Class (2011) | Jennifer Lawrence & Michael Fassbender |
146.40 | 199.0 | 480.70 | 17 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 97.5 | |
| 8 | Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) | Steve Martin & John Candy |
49.50 | 136.6 | 136.60 | 22 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 93.6 | |
| 7 | Footloose (1984) | John Lithgow | 80.00 | 256.8 | 256.80 | 7 | 55 | 02 / 00 | 91.2 | |
| 11 | Starting Over (1979) | Burt Reynolds & Candice Bergen |
35.60 | 153.1 | 153.10 | 24 | 63 | 02 / 00 | 88.9 | |
| 10 | Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) | Steve Carell & Ryan Gosling |
84.40 | 114.7 | 194.20 | 36 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 88.9 | |
| 13 | Flatliners (1990) | Julia Roberts & Kiefer Sutherland |
61.50 | 156.7 | 156.70 | 18 | 59 | 01 / 00 | 87.8 | |
| 12 | Sleepers (1996) | Brad Pitt & Robert DeNiro |
53.30 | 130.0 | 403.90 | 29 | 67 | 01 / 00 | 87.7 | |
| 13 | Frost/Nixon (2008) AA Best Picture Nom |
Michael Sheen & Directed by Ron Howard |
18.60 | 28.0 | 41.20 | 120 | 87 | 05 / 00 | 86.2 | |
| 14 | Diner (1982) | Daniel Stern & Mickey Rourke |
14.10 | 51.7 | 51.70 | 49 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 84.1 | |
| 15 | Black Mass (2015) | Johnny Depp & Benedict Cumberbatch |
62.60 | 80.0 | 127.60 | 46 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 83.3 | |
| 17 | The River Wild (1994) | Meryl Streep | 46.80 | 123.7 | 123.70 | 29 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 83.0 | |
| 16 | Only When I Laugh (1981) | James Coco & Marsha Mason |
25.50 | 99.0 | 99.00 | 34 | 65 | 03 / 00 | 82.8 | |
| 19 | Friday the 13th (1980) | Jason | 39.80 | 164.9 | 164.90 | 20 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 81.2 | |
| 19 | My Dog Skip (2000) | Diane Lane & Luke Wilson |
34.10 | 68.3 | 68.30 | 72 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 78.4 | |
| 20 | Hollow Man (2000) | Elisabeth Shue & Josh Brolin |
73.20 | 146.4 | 382.40 | 31 | 42 | 01 / 00 | 76.9 | |
| 20 | Patriots Day (2016) | Mark Wahlberg & John Goodman |
31.90 | 39.7 | 63.00 | 89 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 76.0 | |
| 21 | Stir of Echoes (1999) | Zachary David Cope | 21.10 | 45.0 | 45.00 | 84 | 71 | 00 / 00 | 73.7 | |
| 22 | Tremors (1990) | Fred Ward | 16.70 | 42.5 | 42.50 | 71 | 72 | 00 / 00 | 73.6 | |
| 24 | Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special (2022) Disney Plus |
Chris Pratt | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 326 | 84 | 00 / 00 | 72.3 | |
| 24 | Wild Things (1998) | Bill Murray & Matt Dillon |
30.10 | 69.3 | 154.60 | 62 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 72.1 | |
| 25 | Murder in the First (1995) | Gary Oldman & Christian Slater |
17.40 | 43.1 | 43.10 | 88 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 68.3 | |
| 26 | The Woodsman (2004) | Michael Shannon | 1.60 | 2.7 | 2.70 | 190 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 63.8 | |
| 28 | Beauty Shop (2005) | Ice Cube & Queen Latifah |
36.40 | 61.2 | 64.60 | 76 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 62.5 | |
| 27 | Hero at Large (1980) | John Ritter | 12.80 | 53.0 | 53.00 | 62 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 62.3 | |
| 31 | MaXXXine (2024) | Mia Goth & Bobby Cannavale |
15.10 | 15.1 | 21.50 | 61 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 58.5 | |
| 29 | Picture Perfect (1997) | Jennifer Aniston & Jay Mohr |
31.40 | 73.8 | 104.10 | 66 | 50 | 00 / 00 | 56.7 | |
| 31 | Balto (1995) Voice Only |
Bridget Fonda | 11.30 | 28.1 | 28.10 | 108 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 49.0 | |
| 33 | My One and Only (2009) | Renée Zellweger | 2.50 | 3.6 | 3.60 | 174 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 48.7 | |
| 34 | Telling Lies in America (1997) | Calista Flockhart & Luke Wilson |
0.30 | 0.7 | 0.70 | 230 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 47.9 | |
| 35 | Digging to China (1998) | Evan Rachel Wood | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 286 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 46.2 | |
| 35 | Cop Car (2015) | Shea Whigham | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.20 | 204 | 67 | 00 / 00 | 45.1 | |
| 36 | Leave The World Behind (2023) Netflix |
Julia Roberts & Mahershala Ali |
0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 195 | 66 | 00 / 00 | 43.4 | |
| 37 | She's Having a Baby (1988) | Alec Baldwin & Directed by John Hughes |
16.00 | 42.0 | 42.00 | 62 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 40.9 | |
| 38 | The Big Picture (1989) | Roddy McDowall | 0.10 | 0.3 | 0.30 | 199 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 38.1 | |
| 39 | Lemon Sky (1988) | Casey Affleck | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 283 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 37.7 | |
| 40 | He Said, She Said (1991) | Sharon Stone | 9.80 | 25.1 | 25.10 | 95 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 37.2 | |
| 42 | Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024) | Eddie Murphy | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 183 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 36.6 | |
| 43 | Quicksilver (1986) | Laurence Fishburne | 7.60 | 22.2 | 22.20 | 80 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 34.8 | |
| 42 | Super (2010) | Rainn Wilson & Ellen Page |
0.30 | 0.4 | 0.40 | 217 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 33.7 | |
| 43 | White Water Summer (1987) | Sean Astin | 0.30 | 0.8 | 0.80 | 211 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 31.5 | |
| 46 | Queens Logic (1991) | John Malkovich & Jamie Lee Curtis |
0.60 | 1.6 | 1.60 | 181 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 28.0 | |
| 45 | Where the Truth Lies (2005) | Colin Firth | 0.90 | 1.5 | 1.50 | 218 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 28.0 | |
| 48 | Rails & Ties (2007) | Marcia Gay Harden | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | 449 | 59 | 00 / 00 | 27.1 | |
| 49 | Death Sentence (2007) | John Goodman & Kelly Preston |
9.50 | 14.9 | 26.60 | 141 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 25.1 | |
| 48 | End of the Line (1987) | Holly Hunter | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 279 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 23.4 | |
| 51 | The Air I Breathe (2007) Limited Release |
Brendan Fraser | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 377 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 20.6 | |
| 51 | The Air Up There (1994) | Basketball Movies | 21.00 | 55.5 | 55.50 | 63 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 18.7 | |
| 52 | Enormous Changes at the Last Minute (1983) Film Festival Circuit Only |
David Strathairn | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 190 | 54 | 00 / 00 | 18.2 | |
| 54 | Criminal Law (1988) | Gary Oldman | 10.00 | 26.2 | 26.20 | 90 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 17.8 | |
| 53 | Loverboy (2005) | Marisa Tomei & Kyra Sedgwick |
0.00 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 366 | 53 | 00 / 00 | 16.6 | |
| 56 | Jayne Mansfield's Car (2012) | Robert Duvall | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 292 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 13.9 | |
| 57 | Novocaine (2001) | Steve Martin | 2.00 | 3.9 | 3.90 | 177 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 12.7 | |
| 58 | In the Cut (2003) | Meg Ryan | 4.80 | 8.5 | 42.40 | 147 | 46 | 00 / 00 | 11.6 | |
| 59 | You Should Have Left (2020) Blumhouse Covid19 VOD Release |
Amanda Seyfried | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 237 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 10.9 | |
| 60 | Trapped (2002) | Charlize Theron | 7.10 | 13.1 | 24.90 | 151 | 42 | 00 / 00 | 8.5 | |
| 61 | R.I.P.D. (2013) | Jeff Bridges & Ryan Reynolds |
33.60 | 44.6 | 103.90 | 84 | 31 | 00 / 00 | 7.5 | |
| 62 | The Darkness (2016) | Radha Mitchell | 10.80 | 13.4 | 13.40 | 138 | 32 | 00 / 00 | 2.6 | |
| 63 | One Way (2022) Limited Release |
Travis Fimmel | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.20 | 162 | 34 | 00 / 00 | 1.5 | |
| 62 | They/Them (2022) Peacock |
Anna Chlumsky | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.10 | 315 | 22 | 00 / 00 | 0.1 |
Possibly Interesting Facts About Kevin Bacon
1. Kevin Norwood Bacon was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1958.
2. Kevin Bacon left home at age 17 to pursue a theater career in New York City. In 1978 he secured a small but funny role in 1978’s Animal House. In 1980 he had a bigger role in Friday the 13th. 40 years later and Bacon is still going.
3. Kevin Bacon inspired a game called “Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon”, whereby people have to link any given actor to him by no more than six steps.
4. Though Kevin Bacon was initially dismayed by the game, the meme stuck, and Bacon eventually embraced it, forming the charitable initiative SixDegrees.org, a social networking site intended to link people and charities to each other.
5. Kevin Bacon formed a band called The Bacon Brothers with his brother, Michael. The duo have released six albums.
6. Kevin Bacon has been married one time. He has been married to actress Kyra Sedwick since 1988….they have two children.
7. Kevin Bacon is a distant relative to Richard Nixon.
8. Roles Kevin Bacon either turned down or was seriously considered for: Sean Penn role in 1983’s Bad Boys, Charlie Sheen role in 1999’s Being John Malkovich, Woody Harrelson role in 1993’s Indecent Proposal, Patrick Swayze role in 1990’s Ghost and Jeff Bridges role in 1984’s Starman.
9. Footloose (1984) trivia: (1) Kevin Bacon based his hairstyle on rocker Sting’s spiky hairdo as he was a big fan of The Police at the time. (2) Tom Cruise and Rob Lowe were also considered for Bacon’s role. (3) Kevin Bacon broke out in hives around his midsection when he had to film the City Council scene where he makes the case for holding a prom dance. The actor says he is uncomfortable when speaking in public, but has never had a reoccurrence of hives.
10. Check out Kevin Bacon’s career compared to current and classic actors. Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.
If you do a comment….please ignore the email address and website section.
A name I know…”Thank you sir, may I have another?” As I was scrolling through counting how many movies I have seen, I saw Animal House. At first I was like, he was in that? Then it hit me…lol. Really surprised I haven’t seen more of his movies, now I’m sure there were more not listed but oh well. On to the data…
Seen: 12/36 or 33%
Favorite Top 10: Real close between Apollo 13, A Few Good Men and Crazy, Stupid, Love.
UMR Snub (Too High or Too Low): Balto, way too low, although animated, lots of memories watching this as a kid, and now I live in Alaska.
Guilty Pleasure: Hollow Man and let’s not forget punch dancing in a warehouse.
Loverboy is listed twice.
Hi Bruce,
Interesting and comprehensive look at Kevin Bacon’s career in the movies. He strikes me as one of these actors who can be as equally effective playing the hero or a menacing villain. He seems to have become a bit less active in films in recent years but has had success on TV with his series, The Following.
It’s true that while Bacon has been a leading man since the early 80s, in his biggest and most successful films, he has usually been a second lead or supporting player, with the important exception of his breakthrough role in Footloose, and a few others. The best films I remember him in are: A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, Mystic River, and X-Men: First Class, where I think he was delightful as the super villain.
Among his leading roles, I think one of his best and most critically acclaimed performance was in The Woodsman, though I see from your list that it bombed at the box office. One film I’ve been wanting to see for a while is Sleepers – seeing Bacon, de Niro, Hoffman and Pitt together in the same film should be interesting. If I can borrow a phrase…vote up as well!
Hey PhilHoF17
1. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Mr. Kevin Bacon.
2. I agree he excels in both hero and bad guy roles….I really liked his bad guy role in River Wild.
3. The Woodsman is a very dark movie…which is why it is barely remembered…..but I agree with you that it is a quality movie. Critically it ranks 10th….which is pretty impressive.
4. I like Sleepers…..but it was more for seeing all these stars together…than the story which was not as impressive.
Thanks for the vote up.
HI BRUCE
1 Kevin Bacon has played many leading roles according to Wiki’s posters and cast lists but
I have always tended to regard Kevin Bacon as predominately a supporting actor and can personally recall seeing him in just 6 movies in which he could be said to have had the lead role or an equal leading part to other main performers– Wild Things, Tremors, Stir of Echoes, Hollow Man, Sleepers and my personal favourite Criminal Law.
2 However my very favourite Bacon role was in the supporting part of prosecuting military lawyer “Smiling” Jack Ross [as Cruise nicknamed him] in A Few Good Men. He was also in a delicious little cameo at the start of Planes, Trains and Automobiles where he beats Steve Martin to a scarce taxi that Steve thought was his and Kevin smirks at Martin as he does so. In fact Kevin’s role is described in cast lists as Taxi Racer.
3 However one defines Bacon’s star status it can certainly not be argued that he was ever a vertiginous box office performer in the Hanks/Willis league but again your site earns my admiration for nevertheless recognising the work of undoubtedly talented performers who have given great service to the cinema down the years. Accordingly I welcome this new page and have pinched a Lensman “Voted up” to award to it.
Hey Bob Roy
1. Thanks for checking out our new Kevin Bacon page.
2. I would say….in his high profile movies he is in a supporting role in most of them….but he has been the main star in many movies.
3. Of his UMR Top 20…..I would say he has one leading man role….Footloose….but when looking at his remaining 35 movies….I would say he was the leading man in 19 of the movies…..so that would be 20 leading man and 35 supporting roles.
4. I debated about including Planes, Trains and Automobiles….but since I love that movie so much …and like his scene….it got included.
5. I agree with you about Bacon compared to Willis and Hanks….especially Hanks.
6. Thanks for the vote up.
HI BRUCE
1 I pondered long and hard over how to phrase my own perception of Kevin’s star status so thanks for the very interesting breakdowns of supporting/lead roles.
I think it is safe to say…..when it is low budget movies….Bacon makes a good leading man….but when the budget is higher and expectations are higher……then Bacon is a good character actor.