My Favorite Michael Douglas Performances
 

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It's been about 40 years since this second generation performer stepped out of his famous father's shadow and established himself as a major force in the industry, accomplishing some things his famous father never did, including winning two Oscars (One for acting, one for producing), an Emmy, and four Golden Globes. The son of the legendary Kirk Douglas has carved out his own niche in show business history. These are my favorite performances of the talented Michael Douglas:

25.

Uncle Wayne, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

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Douglas was the best thing about this dreadful comic fantasy playing the dead uncle of a handsome player (Matthew McConaughey) who is being visited by ghosts of his sexual past.

24.

Zach, A Chorus Line

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Though initial instincts say that he was miscast, Michael Douglas is surprisingly effective in the film version of the Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical playing a director and choreographer whose latest auditions are disrupted by the appearance of a dancer and former lover (Allyson Reed) looking for a job.

23.

Mr. Bermiester, One Night at McCool's

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Douglas made the most of a thankless role as a hit man involved in taking down a conwoman (Liv Tyler).

22.

Bill Gherson, Last Vegas

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Douglas is a fun as a guy who is planning to celebrate his recent engagement to a much younger woman by reuniting with three childhood pals (Robert De Niro, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline) in Las Vegas.

21.

Mr. Thompson, You, Me, and Dupree

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One of Douglas' first forays into the field of character actor was in this comedy playing a hotshot business executive who loves to make life miserable for his son-in-law (Matt Dillon).

I think I'm one of the few people on the planet who liked the movie version of A Chorus Line, (maybe because I never saw the Broadway show version), and I think Michael Douglas was great in it.

Believe me, if you had seen A Chorus Line onstage, you would have thought a lot less of the film version.

20.

Ben Kalmen, Solitary Man

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Douglas plays an automobile magnate whose business hits the skids because of his business and romantic indiscretions.

19.

Detective Gavin Hatch, Will& Grace

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Douglas did a very funny guest appearance on the NBC sitcom playing a police detective who is in a therapy group with Jack (Sean Hayes) but falls hard for Will (Eric McCormack).

18.

Dr. Mark Bellows, Coma

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Douglas plays a young doctor at a hospital where patients with minor ailments are slipping into comas.

17.

Ben Lewin, It's My Turn

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Douglas plays a pro baseball player who attends his mother's wedding and falls in love with the groom's daughter (Jill Clayburgh).

16.

Charlie, King of California

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Douglas really appears to be enjoying himself in this edgy comedy playing a former mental patient who tries to convince his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) that there is buried treasure under a Costco superstore.

15.

Robert Wakefield, Traffic

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Douglas plays a judge who gets appointed by the President to be the new drug czar, a job that has blinded him to the fact that his own daughter (Erike Christensen) has become addicted to crack-cocaine. Douglas' wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, also appears in the film, though they share no scenes together.

Love Michael Douglas. This is far and away my favorite performance of his. I rewatch this movie every few weeks (a lot of it was filmed near me--and it was mostly filmed on the campus of my alma mater, Carnegie Mellon...plus he uses a SELECTRIC typewriter!)... WONDER BOYS.

Little too early on the list for Wonder Boys

Sorry! I didn't pick up on the fact that you're going chronologically! :D My bad! :) (It's still my favorite.) :D

Not going chronilogically, going from least favorite to favorite.

I'm waiting to chime in when you get you mine lol

14.

Andrew Shepherd, The American President

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Douglas plays the recently widowed POTUS who finds himself attracted to an attractive political strategist (Annette Bening).

13.

Nathan Conrad, Don't Say a Word

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Douglas plays a psychiatrist who must retrieve a six digit number out of the brain of a mental patient (the late Brittany Murphy) in order to rescue his kidnapped daughter.

12.

Steve Tobias, The In-Laws (2003)

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I was surprised how much I enjoyed Douglas' performance in this big budget remake of the 70's comedy playing a mentally unbalanced spy who almost ruins his son's wedding.

I watched The American President recently, and I liked it a lot. It was one of my favorite Michael Douglas performances,

11.

Richard Adams, The China Syndrome

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Douglas was also one of the producers of this nail biter where he played a television cameraman who accidentally films an "accident" at a nuclear power plant that may turn out to have dire consequences for the entire state of California.

10.

Tom Sanders, Disclosure

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Douglas plays a software executive who loses a big promotion to a former lover (Demi Moore) who then forces him to have sex with her and the next day reports him for sexually harassing her.

9.

Oliver Rose, The War of the Roses

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Douglas appears to be having a ball in this black comedy playing a wealthy attorney who battles his wife (Kathleen Turner) for possession of their house after they decide to divorce.

8.

Nichols Van Orton, The Game

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Douglas is solid as a businessman whose life turns into a nightmare courtesy of a birthday gift from his brother (Sean Penn).

7.

Detective Nick Curran, Basic Instinct

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Douglas plays a police detective investigating a brutal murder where a sex-on-legs writer (Sharon Stone) is the primary suspect.

6.

Jack Colton, Romancing the Stone

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Douglas went the pure sex on legs route for the only time in his career playing an adventurer who drops into the life of a spinsterish romance novelist (Kathleen Turner) who has traveled to South America to rescue her kidnapped sister.

5.

Gordon Gekko, Wall Street

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Douglas won the Outstanding Lead Actor Oscar of 1987 for his charismatic performance as a Wall Street tycoon who begins coaching a mentor (Charlie Sheen) on the art of insider trading.

4.

Grady Tripp, Wonder Boys

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Douglas offered one of his most inventive performances as a college professor and writer who is suffering from writer's block, dealing with a troubled new student (Tobey Maguire), and his boss (Frances McDormand) who he has just impregnated.

3.

Liberace, Behind the Candlelabra

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Douglas won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his dazzling performance as the famed gay Las Vegas icon who spent years hiding in the closet until his relationship with a naive young dog trainer (Matt Damon).

2.

Dan Gallagher, Fatal Attraction

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Douglas had one of his most popular roles in the biggest smash of 1987 playing an attorney whose weekend-long affair with a psychopath (Glenn Close) changes his life forever.



Well, that's # 2...and now, My favorite Michael Douglas performance:

Re: My Favorite Michael Douglas Performances
 

This is a really bad guess, but...

Ant-Man?

We better have the same one then, or I'm gonna Hulk out! Lol

D-fens! D-fens!

I was thinking A Perfect Murder.

Maybe... Gideon didn't give it a very good rating but he could have really liked the performance I guess.

My guess is Falling Down (1993). It's a very underrated movie.

Re: My Favorite Michael Douglas Performances
 

Michael Douglas is great in everything he's in. I don't think I would have liked The Sentinel nearly as much if it wasn't for his (as well as Kiefer Sutherland's) performance. I also want to give a shoutout to Black Rain, where he does a nice job playing a detective who acts like a tough guy no-nonsense detective, but with a heart underneath.

I'm glad to see Solitary Man made the list, even if it's early on. He plays a very challenging character who easily could have just been an unlikable assh'ole if the wrong actor played him, but he manages to give him a very complex personality, where he almost feels pitiful because of how much his self-destructive behavior fractures relationships with all the people close to him.

Excellent list. It's been so long since I've seen some of these.

1.

D-Fens, Falling Down

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Douglas was robbed of an Oscar nomination for his bone-chilling performance in this psychological drama about an unemployed defense worker whose dissatisfaction with the state of society and his inability to get to his daughter's birthday party send him on a violent rampage. Douglas has never lost himself in a role the way he loses himself in this one and he completely invests in this sympathetic yet very dangerous character who at times has you turning from the screen and at other times cheering him on.




Hope someone enjoyed the list.

Re: My Favorite Michael Douglas Performances
 

I'm not a big fan of MD, but I love this movie! I thought it was great when I saw it on vhs and watched it fairly recently (as well as many times in between) and was surprised at how much I still enjoyed it. I've got something in my head telling me that it's Kirk Douglas' opinion that it's Michael's best work? I think the military style haircut was MD's idea too.
Props to Robert Duvall too.

I just watched this movie for the first time. Very enjoyable movie. I like Michael Douglas and I look forward to watching more of his movies on your incredible list.

Glad you enjoyed the list...if you watch something on it, please get back to me and let me know what you thought.

I saw this last night. Not a favorite of mine, but I thought it was well made. I was impressed that the movie was co-produced by Michael Crichton, the same man who wrote and directed many earlier SciFi movies and thrillers like Westworld and who also directed and wrote the screenplay for Coma - also starring Michael Douglas. It was a big plus to see Donald Sutherland in it.