Amy Adams Filmography

Amy Adams is one of the most versatile actresses in Hollywood. From comedic roles like Junebug and Enchanted to dramas such as Doubt and American Hustle, she has a knack for playing complex characters.

Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi mind-expander about communication and human fallibility is built four-square around a masterfully nuanced performance from Adams as world-renowned linguist Louise Banks.

Junebug (2005)

After making her debut in the dark comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999) and a few guest appearances on television, Adams caught her first major break playing the naive wife of a Southern hunk in the independent drama Junebug (2005). The movie, which starred her real-life husband, won critical praise and earned her an Academy Award nomination for Adams’s performance.

Director Phil Morrison deftly avoids the obvious cliches of the South, focusing instead on the tensions and misunderstandings that plague even well-intentioned families. Junebug opens in a time of increasing Red-Blue polarization, and the movie examines these divides without becoming preachy or cloyingly phony. Shot in 21 days, the film demonstrates Adams’s innate talent and foreshadows her future success. She would go on to play Giselle in the animated and live-action feature Enchanted (2007), a role that further cemented her status as a leading lady.

Julie & Julia (2010)

A film based on a blog may not sound like the most compelling story in the world, but this light and charming comedy manages to avoid sentimental slushiness. Adams demonstrates her comedic chops as Julie Powell, a stressed civil servant in post-9/11 redevelopment administration who finds a new creative outlet for herself by cooking through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking cookbook in her tiny Queens kitchen.

Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Julia is also a triumph. She nails the physicality of the character as well as her lilting accent and bubbly personality. Streep’s characterization of the legendary chef’s obsession with food is a major highlight of the gomovies film. The only flaw is that the film fails to fully capitalize on the parallel between Powell and Julie.

Doubt (2008)

Doubt, the 2008 film adaptation of John Patrick Shanley’s Pulitzer Prize winning fictive stage play, explores an emotional and moral crisis. It features a Catholic church and school led by Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman), whose jovial manner sets him at odds with the strict Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep).

The drama revolves around doubt, that ambiguous area between right and wrong, black and white. Thematically loaded, Doubt proves that film can take on difficult issues other mediums shy away from.

The movie’s dialogue-heavy approach makes it a talkie and isn’t enhanced by cinematography but by the power of its performances, especially Streep’s and Hoffman’s. Nonetheless, it is a solid drama. Doubt is a compelling story of faith, suspicion and guilt. It is a layered piece that requires viewing and reflection.

The Fighter (2010)

A mashup of sporting glory-hunt, family melodrama and the chronicle of a close fraternal relationship, The Fighter is lifted by knockout performances. Adams, who had previously played naive, optimistic women, plays against type as Micky Ward’s feisty, street-smart half-brother Dicky Eklund.

The film immerses the viewer in Lowell, Massachusetts, where tar spreads on streets lined with sagging three-decker houses and faded storefronts. The movie sometimes veers into Jerry Springer-style family seaminess and a full complement of sports film clichés, but there is also honest sweat and real drama.

Despite some clunky plotting, including a winning montage set to the most predictable music, The Fighter has an authenticity that is hard to resist. Its characters are based on real people, and the actors — especially Wahlberg and Adams — nimbly transmit their personalities to the screen.

American Hustle (2013)

A messy but entertaining heist drama, American Hustle stars Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) and Sydney Prosser as con artists who find themselves in hot water with the FBI after running into trouble while attempting to sell fake art. Jeremy Renner, Bradley Cooper, and Jennifer Lawrence round out the supporting cast.

It’s a film with too many divergent plotlines, all of which require their own build-up and resolution. You can almost imagine director David O. Russell spending countless hours in the editing room, cutting scenes not for the sake of quality but simply to make the movie fit into an acceptable studio running time.

Despite its narrative fumbles, this film is fun, brilliantly acted, and incredibly stylish. Adams’ performance, in particular, has received critical acclaim.

Arrival (2016)

The intellectual excitement of advanced cryptography keeps Arrival awake and alert for most of its duration, while Villeneuve masterfully executes a tingle of dread through awe-inducing visuals. But the script eventually downshifts into a quasi-mystical register that feels rich with emotion but less imaginative than initially promised.

Like Sandra Bullock’s grief-stricken astronaut in Gravity, Adams’ Louise Banks grounds this fantastical drama in human emotion. Her meaty role has earned her Oscar buzz, and she carries the movie with aplomb.

After a brief return to dinner theater, Adams took on more dramatic roles such as the zealous wife of a spiritual leader in The Master (2012) and a repressed nurse in the satirical thriller Sunshine Cleaning (2013). The following year she starred in a pair of high-profile movies: a con artist in American Hustle and the neighbor of a man who falls for a sentient computer operating system in Spike Jonze’s Her.

Vice (2018)

Director Adam McKay’s seriocomic biopic of Dick Cheney focuses on the Vice President’s rise and perhaps abuse of power. However, many critics believe the movie doesn’t deliver its message effectively.

Adams reprised her role as Lois Lane in “Man of Steel.” While critics liked this installment better than its predecessor, it still didn’t please everyone.

As a young man, Cheney (Christian Bale) is a hard drinker and bar brawler who winds up getting thrown out of Yale. Later, he’s approached by George W. Bush (Sam Rockwell) to be his running mate. Ultimately, the movie serves as a genealogy of sinister politics in America. It’s a fascinating movie with excellent performances from Bale and Adams. The film won several Oscar nominations. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe award.