The 18 Best Morgan Freeman Movies of All Time

Whether playing God, wise mentors, or gritty detectives, Morgan Freeman has filled every role with quiet gravitas and depth. Which performance earned his greatest standing ovation?

1

The Shawshank Redemption

Freeman plays Ellis 'Red' Redding, a longtime prisoner whose friendship with a wrongly convicted banker anchors what many call the greatest film ever made.

1000pts

2

Driving Miss Daisy

Freeman plays the dignified chauffeur Hoke Colburn, whose quiet decades-long friendship with his employer crosses racial divides.

777pts

3

Street Smart

Freeman earned his first Oscar nomination playing the menacing and manipulative pimp Fast Black in this gritty crime thriller.

761pts

4

Million Dollar Baby

Freeman won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor as the wise boxing gym manager Eddie 'Scrap-Iron' Dupris.

717pts

5

The Bucket List

Freeman and Jack Nicholson play two cancer patients who escape the hospital to check off their ultimate life wish-list together.

717pts

6

Se7en

Freeman stars as a seasoned homicide detective tracking a serial killer whose crimes follow the seven deadly sins.

717pts

7

Unforgiven

Freeman plays Ned Logan, Clint Eastwood's reformed gunslinger partner in this Oscar-winning revisionist Western.

666pts

8

Outbreak

Freeman stars as an Army general facing impossible choices during a deadly viral outbreak threatening to wipe out an entire town.

666pts

9

Lean on Me

Freeman delivers a powerhouse performance as real-life principal Joe Clark, who transforms a failing New Jersey school with tough love.

666pts

10

Lucy

Freeman plays a neuroscientist whose research becomes central as a woman acquires superhuman cognitive abilities in this sci-fi thriller.

605pts

11

Glory

Freeman plays Sergeant Major John Rawlins in this acclaimed Civil War drama about the first African-American Union Army regiment.

605pts

12

Wanted

Freeman plays the cool, enigmatic leader of a secret ancient fraternity of assassins in this stylized action blockbuster.

605pts

13

Kiss the Girls

Freeman plays forensic psychologist Alex Cross hunting a serial kidnapper in the film that launched his popular thriller franchise.

605pts

14

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Freeman plays the loyal Moorish warrior Azeem, Robin Hood's trusted companion and the film's moral compass.

532pts

15

Bruce Almighty

Freeman plays a perfectly cast God who hands over divine powers to a frustrated TV reporter played by Jim Carrey.

532pts

16

Now You See Me

Freeman plays a sharp-tongued magic debunker on the trail of illusionist bank robbers in this slick heist thriller.

532pts

17

Invictus

Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela using the 1995 Rugby World Cup to unite a post-apartheid South Africa.

532pts

18

The Dark Knight

Freeman plays Lucius Fox, Wayne Enterprises' brilliant tech guru who equips Batman with the tools to fight Gotham's most dangerous villains.

444pts