Want to know the best Robert Downey Jr. movies? How about the worst Robert Downey Jr. movies? Curious about Robert Downey Jr.’s box office grosses or which Robert Downey Jr. movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Robert Downey Jr. movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences and which got the worst reviews? Well you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.
Robert Downey, Jr. (1965-) has been starring in movies for over 30 years. His career has been one heck of a rollercoaster ride. The early part of his career, Downey appeared in the comedies Weird Science and Back to School. His performance in Less Than Zero, provided him the opportunity to star in big budget, high profile films like Air America and Soapdish. He received his first Oscar® nomination as Best Actor for the film Chaplin in 1992. Things began to fall apart after he appeared in the Oliver Stone film, Natural Born Killers. From 1996 through 2001, Downey was arrested numerous times on drug-related charges. After five years of substance abuse, arrest, rehab, and relapse, Robert Downey, Jr. was finally ready to work toward a full recovery from drugs. Throughout his career, Downey had never appeared in a blockbuster. All that changed when in 2008, Downey appeared as Tony Stark in Ironman. Since then he has become one of the most dependable box office stars working today.
His IMDb page shows 82 acting credits from 1970-2017. This page will rank 56 Robert Downey Jr. movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information. Television shows, shorts, cameos and movies that were not released in theaters were not included in the rankings.
Robert Downey Jr. 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
2023
Oppenheimer (2023)
AA Best Picture Win
AA Best Supp Actor Win
2008
Iron Man (2008)
2019
Avengers: Endgame (2019)
2018
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
2012
The Avengers (2012)
2016
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
2017
Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
2015
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
2013
Iron Man 3 (2013)
1986
Back to School (1986)
2010
Iron Man 2 (2010)
2009
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
2008
Tropic Thunder (2008)
AA Best Supp Actor Nom
2008
The Incredible Hulk (2008)
2011
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011)
1999
Bowfinger (1999)
2005
Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)
AA Best Picture Nom
1994
Natural Born Killers (1994)
2007
Zodiac (2007)
1991
Soapdish (1991)
2010
Due Date (2010)
2000
Wonder Boys (2000)
2014
Chef (2014)
1993
Short Cuts (1993)
1998
U.S. Marshals (1998)
1995
Richard III (1995)
1989
True Believer (1989)
2005
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
2014
The Judge (2014)
2020
Dolittle (2020)
1985
Weird Science (1985)
2009
The Soloist (2009)
1995
Home for the Holidays (1995)
2006
A Scanner Darkly (2006)
1989
Chances Are (1989)
1995
Restoration (1995)
1993
Heart and Souls (1993)
2006
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006)
1994
Only You (1994)
1992
Chaplin (1992)
AA Best Actor Nom
2003
Gothika (2003)
2006
The Shaggy Dog (2006)
1987
Less Than Zero (1987)
1998
The Gingerbread Man (1998)
2007
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
1987
The Pick-Up Artist (1987)
1997
Two Girls and a Guy (1997)
2005
Game 6 (2005)
1988
1969 (1988)
1990
Air America (1990)
1984
Firstborn (1984)
1999
Black & White (1999)
2004
Eros (2004)
2007
Lucky You (2007)
2006
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)
2003
The Singing Detective (2003)
1988
Johnny Be Good (1988)
1985
Tuff Turf (1985)
1995
One Night Stand (1995)
1999
In Dreams (1999)
1990
Too Much Sun (1990)
1997
Hugo Pool (1997)
1999
Friends & Lovers (1999)
Robert Downey Jr. 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 Robert Downey Jr. movies by co-stars of his movies
- Sort Robert Downey Jr. movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Robert Downey Jr. movies by worldwide domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost
- Sort Robert Downey Jr. movies 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 Robert Downey Jr. movie received.
- Sort Robert Downey Jr. movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score. UMR Score 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 | Oppenheimer (2023) AA Best Picture Win AA Best Supp Actor Win |
Emily Blunt & Directed by Christopher Nolan |
329.90 | 329.9 | 975.8 | 5 | 88 | 13 / 07 | 99.9 | |
| 2 | Iron Man (2008) | Jeff Bridges | 318.40 | 478.1 | 878.6 | 2 | 89 | 02 / 00 | 98.9 | |
| 3 | Avengers: Endgame (2019) | Chris Evans & Paul Rudd |
858.40 | 1,010.2 | 3,290.8 | 1 | 89 | 01 / 00 | 98.8 | |
| 4 | Avengers: Infinity War (2018) | Chris Evans & Josh Brolin |
678.80 | 803.3 | 2,421.6 | 2 | 87 | 01 / 00 | 98.6 | |
| 5 | The Avengers (2012) | Chris Evans & Mark Ruffalo |
623.40 | 844.2 | 2,047.3 | 1 | 86 | 01 / 00 | 98.5 | |
| 6 | Captain America: Civil War (2016) | Chris Evans & Chris Hemsworth |
405.10 | 504.8 | 1,433.6 | 3 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 98.2 | |
| 7 | Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) | Tom Holland & Michael Keaton |
334.20 | 401.6 | 1,057.8 | 6 | 83 | 00 / 00 | 98.1 | |
| 8 | Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) | Jeremy Renner & Chris Hemsworth |
451.00 | 576.7 | 1,787.0 | 3 | 77 | 00 / 00 | 96.8 | |
| 9 | Iron Man 3 (2013) | Ben Kingsley | 397.10 | 526.5 | 1,593.4 | 3 | 75 | 01 / 00 | 96.7 | |
| 10 | Back to School (1986) | Rodney Dangerfield & Written by Harold Ramis |
91.30 | 265.2 | 265.2 | 7 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 96.5 | |
| 11 | Iron Man 2 (2010) | Mickey Rourke & Scarlett Johansson |
312.40 | 426.9 | 852.5 | 3 | 71 | 01 / 00 | 95.6 | |
| 12 | Sherlock Holmes (2009) | Jude Law & Mark Strong |
209.00 | 300.4 | 753.2 | 10 | 70 | 02 / 00 | 95.3 | |
| 14 | Tropic Thunder (2008) AA Best Supp Actor Nom |
Ben Stiller & Matthew McConaughey |
110.50 | 165.9 | 282.4 | 24 | 78 | 01 / 00 | 94.9 | |
| 13 | The Incredible Hulk (2008) | Edward Norton & Liv Tyler |
134.80 | 202.4 | 395.5 | 18 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 94.8 | |
| 15 | Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011) | Jude Law | 186.80 | 254.0 | 741.5 | 9 | 65 | 00 / 00 | 93.7 | |
| 16 | Bowfinger (1999) | Eddie Murphy & Steve Martin |
66.40 | 141.4 | 210.0 | 34 | 75 | 00 / 00 | 91.0 | |
| 17 | Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) AA Best Picture Nom |
George Clooney | 31.60 | 53.2 | 92.0 | 91 | 87 | 06 / 00 | 89.5 | |
| 18 | Natural Born Killers (1994) | Woody Harrelson & Tommy Lee Jones |
50.30 | 132.9 | 132.9 | 25 | 68 | 00 / 00 | 88.1 | |
| 19 | Zodiac (2007) | Jake Gyllenhaal & Mark Ruffalo |
33.10 | 51.8 | 132.8 | 80 | 85 | 00 / 00 | 84.6 | |
| 20 | Soapdish (1991) | Sally Field & Kevin Kline |
36.50 | 93.4 | 93.4 | 35 | 69 | 00 / 00 | 83.2 | |
| 21 | Due Date (2010) | Jamie Foxx | 100.50 | 137.4 | 289.4 | 29 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 82.6 | |
| 22 | Wonder Boys (2000) | Michael Douglas & Frances McDormand |
19.40 | 38.8 | 66.9 | 97 | 79 | 03 / 01 | 81.1 | |
| 23 | Chef (2014) | Scarlett Johansson & Dustin Hoffman |
31.40 | 41.5 | 60.7 | 95 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 80.3 | |
| 24 | Short Cuts (1993) | Julianne Moore & Directed by Robert Altman |
6.10 | 15.9 | 15.9 | 132 | 87 | 01 / 00 | 79.3 | |
| 27 | U.S. Marshals (1998) | Tommy Lee Jones & Wesley Snipes |
57.20 | 131.4 | 235.3 | 35 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 76.7 | |
| 25 | Richard III (1995) | Ian McKellan | 2.70 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 166 | 85 | 02 / 00 | 76.3 | |
| 26 | True Believer (1989) | James Woods | 8.70 | 23.7 | 23.7 | 86 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 76.2 | |
| 28 | Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005) | Val Kilmer | 4.20 | 7.1 | 26.6 | 165 | 81 | 00 / 00 | 71.2 | |
| 29 | The Judge (2014) | Robert Duvall | 47.10 | 62.2 | 111.4 | 73 | 60 | 01 / 00 | 67.7 | |
| 30 | Dolittle (2020) | Antonio Banderas & Tom Holland |
77.00 | 90.5 | 260.0 | 4 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 66.8 | |
| 31 | Weird Science (1985) | Directed by John Hughes | 23.80 | 72.4 | 72.4 | 37 | 57 | 00 / 00 | 66.1 | |
| 32 | The Soloist (2009) | Jamie Foxx | 31.70 | 45.6 | 55.1 | 88 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 64.8 | |
| 33 | Home for the Holidays (1995) | Holly Hunter & Directed by Jodie Foster |
17.50 | 43.4 | 43.4 | 87 | 64 | 00 / 00 | 63.7 | |
| 34 | A Scanner Darkly (2006) | Keanu Reeves & Woody Harrelson |
5.50 | 9.0 | 12.5 | 184 | 74 | 00 / 00 | 62.7 | |
| 35 | Chances Are (1989) | Cybill Shepherd | 16.30 | 44.2 | 44.2 | 60 | 61 | 01 / 00 | 60.9 | |
| 36 | Restoration (1995) | Meg Ryan | 4.00 | 9.9 | 9.9 | 150 | 67 | 02 / 02 | 58.1 | |
| 38 | Heart and Souls (1993) | Tom Sizemore | 16.60 | 43.2 | 43.2 | 84 | 60 | 00 / 00 | 57.8 | |
| 37 | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006) | Channing Tatum & Shia LaBeouf |
0.50 | 0.8 | 3.3 | 247 | 73 | 00 / 00 | 57.7 | |
| 39 | Only You (1994) | Marisa Tomei | 20.10 | 53.0 | 53.0 | 70 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 55.8 | |
| 40 | Chaplin (1992) AA Best Actor Nom |
Milla Jovovich | 9.50 | 24.7 | 24.7 | 97 | 62 | 03 / 00 | 55.3 | |
| 41 | Gothika (2003) | Halle Berry & Penélope Cruz |
59.70 | 106.7 | 253.1 | 50 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 54.3 | |
| 42 | The Shaggy Dog (2006) | Tim Allen | 61.10 | 100.1 | 142.8 | 48 | 39 | 00 / 00 | 52.4 | |
| 43 | Less Than Zero (1987) | James Spader | 12.40 | 34.2 | 34.2 | 78 | 56 | 00 / 00 | 45.6 | |
| 44 | The Gingerbread Man (1998) | Robert Duvall & Directed by Robert Altman |
1.70 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 180 | 63 | 00 / 00 | 39.6 | |
| 45 | Charlie Bartlett (2007) | Anton Yelchin | 4.00 | 6.2 | 8.2 | 180 | 62 | 00 / 00 | 39.2 | |
| 46 | The Pick-Up Artist (1987) | Molly Ringwald | 13.30 | 36.6 | 36.6 | 74 | 52 | 00 / 00 | 38.3 | |
| 47 | Two Girls and a Guy (1997) | Heather Graham | 2.10 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 172 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 34.5 | |
| 48 | Game 6 (2005) | Michael Keaton | 0.10 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 289 | 61 | 00 / 00 | 31.2 | |
| 49 | 1969 (1988) | Keifer Sutherland | 6.00 | 15.7 | 15.7 | 118 | 55 | 00 / 00 | 30.0 | |
| 50 | Air America (1990) | Mel Gibson | 31.10 | 79.1 | 85.3 | 36 | 35 | 00 / 00 | 29.3 | |
| 51 | Firstborn (1984) | Peter Weller | 6.30 | 20.1 | 20.1 | 101 | 45 | 00 / 00 | 14.7 | |
| 52 | Black & White (1999) | Scott Caan | 5.30 | 11.2 | 12.2 | 144 | 47 | 00 / 00 | 14.2 | |
| 53 | Eros (2004) | Robert Downey Jr. & Alan Arkin |
0.20 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 256 | 51 | 00 / 00 | 14.0 | |
| 54 | Lucky You (2007) | Drew Barrymore & Robert Duvall |
5.80 | 9.0 | 13.1 | 165 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 13.7 | |
| 55 | Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006) | Nicole Kidman | 0.20 | 0.4 | 3.8 | 280 | 49 | 00 / 00 | 12.4 | |
| 56 | The Singing Detective (2003) | Mel Gibson | 0.30 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 220 | 48 | 00 / 00 | 11.2 | |
| 57 | Johnny Be Good (1988) | Anthony Michael Hall & Judd Nelson |
17.60 | 46.0 | 46.0 | 58 | 33 | 00 / 00 | 10.8 | |
| 58 | Tuff Turf (1985) | James Spader | 9.40 | 28.5 | 28.5 | 88 | 38 | 00 / 00 | 9.6 | |
| 59 | One Night Stand (1995) | Wesley Snipes | 2.60 | 6.5 | 6.5 | 168 | 43 | 00 / 00 | 8.0 | |
| 60 | In Dreams (1999) | Annette Bening | 12.00 | 25.6 | 25.6 | 110 | 37 | 00 / 00 | 8.0 | |
| 61 | Too Much Sun (1990) | Eric Idle | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 248 | 35 | 00 / 00 | 1.8 | |
| 62 | Hugo Pool (1997) | Sean Penn | 0.10 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 265 | 32 | 00 / 00 | 1.1 | |
| 63 | Friends & Lovers (1999) | Alison Eastwood | 0.00 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 333 | 25 | 00 / 00 | 0.3 |
Possibly Interesting Facts About Robert Downey Jr.
1. Robert Downey Jr. has been nominated for two Oscars®. His first nomination was as Best Actor in 1992’s Chaplin and his most recent nomination was for Best Supporting Actor in 2008’s Tropic Thunder.
2. Robert Downey Jr. has been nominated for three Golden Globes®. He was nominated for Chaplin and Tropic Thunder. He won the Golden Globe® for Best Actor in 2009’s Sherlock Holmes.
3. Robert Downey Jr.’s first movie appearance was in 1970’s Pound. Pound was directed by his father, Robert Downey Sr., a director who mostly made underground films.
4. Robert Downey Jr. has been married twice. First first marriage was to Deborah Falconer from 1992-2004….they had one child, a son Indio Falconer Downey. He married Susan Levin in 2005 and they have two children.
5. Robert Downey Jr. either turned or was seriously considered for the following movies: Cry-Baby, Pretty In Pink, Say Anything, Wild Things, and Edward Scissorhands.
6. Robert Downey Jr. is the first regular cast member of Saturday Night Live to earn an Oscar® nomination. He won the nomination for Chaplin. Since his nomination Joan Cusack and Dan Aykroyd have joined that small group of performers.
7. Robert Downey Jr’s most famous role is in Iron Man. He has acted opposite 3 of the 4 most recent Batmans. He was in Game 6 with Michael Keaton, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang with Val Kilmer, and Good Night and Good Luck with George Clooney. I guess he does not like Christian Bale.
8. Check out Robert Downey Jr.‘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.
Good work Bruce, I’m looking forward to Sherlock 2, I enjoyed the last one. It’s not Basil Rathbone but it was fun.
Iron Man still his top film eh, hopefully the third one is better than the second.
Meanwhile we have The Avengers to look forward too in a few months time.
I count 18 Downey films seen from your main list, 9 from the box office chart, never seen Shaggy Dog. And 6 from the critics chart.
Was he in Gothika? I saw the film but can’t remember him in there, was he the villain?
Hmmm I want to see Zodiac again, I’ve got the dvd. I’ll watch it later.
Did Downey play Chewbacca? I missed that one. 🙂
Hey Steve….I am looking forward to Sherlock Holmes 2 myself….I just watched the first one again a couple days ago….the London Bridge has a pretty big part in that movie…I do not think his part in the Avengers is going to be very big and yes please let Iron Man 3 be better than 2.
I have seen 30 of his movies so far…I have seen 9 of his top 10 box office hits….luckily Sherlock 2 will knock off the only one I have not seen….soon….as I can not think The Shaggy Dog is one of the movies that he is really proud he made. He was the red herring in Gothika….a supporting role that ended up really having nothing to do with the main plot of the movie. Thanks for the revisit…hard to believe that 8 months have passed since you first commented.
Oh, Robert Downey Jr., I remember you when you were forced to take a drug test before every scene you had to do. Boy oh boy have times changed.
Personally I don’t mind Downey Jr., he’s done some roles that I love and some roles that I hated, but all in all he has fun with every character he plays.
Great Movie Page as always Bruce, Voted Up and Everything Else.
P.S. that picture of him in “Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus” made me laugh so hard I fell out of my chair.
Hey Carl…I am so glad that he has gotten his life together…it would have been a tragedy if drugs would have ruined his career…..I just hope he can remain on the clean and sober path.
I have actually watched Fur….it is a very strange movie with very little humor and very hard to get all the way to the end….but hey not all of movies can be good movies.
I always look for your movie pages now, well both you and Stevennix, for solid, knowledgeable movie reviews. I enjoyed Air America even with its double standard (mentioned above). It’s always great to see a talented fella getting it together.
Hey RedElf….thanks for checking out my updated Robert Downey Jr. hub. Thanks for the compliment, especially linking me with Stevennix2001 as he is indeed a very knowledgeable person when it comes to movies. I liked Air America as well. I remember when Downey was having all of his issues, Gibson was one of the ones sticking up for him….and then later when Gibson was having all his problems….Downey returned the favor for Gibson as well. Thanks for the comment it is greatly appreciated.
I didn’t like Air America because the general was a bad guy for smuggling drugs yet mel gibson and Robert Downey were good guys while smuggling Rifles. WTF.
I remember when Downey had all the drug issues and was kinda diaappointed in him, then I discoverd his father would get him high when he was a child. That is why I try not to judge people.
Thanks for the comments ruffridyer….good points on Air America….Mel Gibson was very supportive of Downey during all his downs with drugs….I wonder if Downey will be as supportive of Gibson, now that Gibson is having his downs with….fill in the blank. I am glad that it looks like Downey has turned the corner…and he is bigger than ever….thanks for stopping by.
I very much enjoyed the pleasure of perusing your Hub. I like his acting and most of his films. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang I gave four stars�excellent –
Hey James…..thanks for the nice compliment. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is awesome.