Brendan Fraser’s Best Films (Or Films That He Starred In)

By Gavin Crisp. 22 Jan 2018 1:41 PM

Brendan Fraser’s career has run the gamut of the film industry. He’s done them all: arthouse dramas, box office blockbusters, goofy comedies based on cartoons, ensembles, award winners, and some, you feel, that should have gone straight to video. Perhaps that’s why he’s managed to amass a filmography that saw him consistently work for almost three decades. These are some of the highlights.

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Encino Man (1992)

We could call this Fraser’s debutant ball but that would make this 1992 teen movie sound classier than it is. Fraser played Link, a missing link (see what they did there!) between our Neanderthal ancestors and today’s slightly more developed man who appears in a Los Angeles suburb. A fish-out-of-water story ensues. A memorable introduction if not for his being overshadowed by another debutant, MTV alum Pauly Shore. Not many times you can say that.
‘School Ties’ (1992)

With a cast comprising a veritable who’s who of emerging male talent, ‘School Ties’ introduced the world to Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O’Donnell, and a serious Brendan Fraser. It was released only a few months after ‘Encino Man’, causing audiences of both films to do a double-take when Fraser was able to string together a sentence as a 1950s star quarterback who, in order to attend a prestigious prep school, must hide his Jewish background from his teammates. Fun Fact: ‘School Ties’ was written and directed by ‘Law & Order’ mogul Dick Wolf.
With Honors (1994)

Fraser returned to the classroom two years after “School Ties” to work with Oscar winner Joe Pesci who, in the early ‘90s, was at the height of his powers. Despite the film’s rather predictable plot and frustrating vacillation between comedy and drama, as Monty, Fraser was convincing as the thesis student whose real education takes place outside the classroom.
Airheads (1994)

Probably more notable for being Adam Sandler’s big-screen break, ‘Airheads’ stars the SNL alum alongside Steve Buscemi and Fraser as a grunge band (as was the style at the time) who take a radio station hostage with plastic guns. Comedic chaos ensues. As Sandler, who would be the biggest star in Hollywood within a few years, brought buddy Buscemi along for the ride, we can’t help but wonder what trajectory Fraser’s career would have taken had he too rode the Sandler Express.
'George of the Jungle' (1997)

Considering it's based on a cartoon of a guy who swings into trees, this flick wasn't exactly going to set the cinema world ablaze. So we can forgive Fraser for any transgressions committed by playing this poor man's Tarzan. We're just going to assume he grew up watching the silly show and by taking on the role, scratched some nostalgia-inspired itch. Notwithstanding, many (critics anyways) were pleasantly surprised by the guffaws this live-action cartoon could elicit. You have a bulked-up but no less goofy Fraser to thank.
Gods and Monsters (1998)

Probably the best film on this list (sorry, 'Crash' fans) sees Fraser play the gardener to Ian McKellen’s James Whale, the real-life homosexual director of “Frankenstein”. At this point in time McKellen was a relative newcomer – at least to North American audiences. Though he was years away from playing a wizard or supervillain, the soon-to-be knighted one still had the talent to earn an Oscar nom. For his part, Fraser knew well enough to stay out of the older actor’s way and let him do his thing. Fraser would be nominated for a Chlotrudis Award. After a brief Google search, I learned these are given to the best and brightest in international independent cinema.
The Mummy Trilogy (1999, 2001, 2008)

The first “Mummy” flick was obscenely successful, with favourable comparisons to “Indiana Jones” being made. Unfortunately the comparison began and ended with this, the first one. That Fraser stuck with the franchise as it quickly descended into mediocrity suggests where his career was in 2008. Nevertheless, as buccaneering hero Rick O’Connell (not as cool a name as Indiana Jones), he kicks butt a lot and looks rather dashing in his adventurer/tomb-disturbing outfit.
'Dudley Do-Right' (1999)

Well, he was already on the 'Rocky & Bullwinkle' payroll sooo why not do another live-action adaptation of a marginally popular cartoon? Fraser does our boys in red justice by solving crime in spite of his own ineptitude (i.e., he pulled a 'Homer'). He executes the slapstick with aplomb, which should endear him to the preschool set.
‘Blast From The Past’ (1999)

If you can leave your disbelief at the door for 112 minutes, you will get a kick out of this 1999 Alicia Silverstone (Eve) vehicle that puts Brendan Fraser (Adam… yep, you read that right), dad Christopher Walken, and mom Sissy Spacek in a bomb shelter for 35 years, so sure were they the world was going to be nuked. Fraser does the “wide-eyed newbie” really well and charms viewers of this one.
Bedazzled (2000)

In what can only be called a “very loose” adaptation of the classic “Faust” tale about a man who sells his soul to the devil, Fraser played opposite Liz Hurley who, as Beelzebub, had more costume changes than a fashion show. The actor was in his wheelhouse as the down-trodden everyman who finally gets all his heart desires. Not sure that’s a compliment.
'Crash' (2004)

Fraser contributed to the all-star cast of this Oscar winner, playing a district attorney who, along with his wife (Sandra Bullock) is carjacked. The ensemble would win a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, so, in a way, Fraser is an award-winning actor.
'Extraordinary Measures' (2010)

When Fraser realized that the downward trajectory of the 'Mummy' films meant that he would not be the next Indiana Jones, he did the next best thing and starred with the man himself, Harrison Ford. With Ford bringing home (assuming he went to the ceremony) (assuming there IS a ceremony) a Yoga Award for Worst Foreign Actor, the pressure was on Fraser to redeem the drama in which he plays a father who seeks out the one enterprising doctor who could save his children.

Brendan Fraser’s Best Films (Or Films That He Starred In)

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