Best Roles of Michael Douglas As He Turns 80
Happy 80th Birthday to Michael Douglas — and his wife, Catherine Zeta Jones, who apparently shares the same birthday, but was born 25 years earlier. Which makes Douglas old enough to be her father, but hey; age is just a number, right?
With his recent return to the small screen, playing the titular Benjamin Franklin in the historical drama series Franklin on Apple TV+, the two-time Oscar-winning actor is still going strong in Hollywood and seems far away from retirement. From playing Liberace to the greedy Wall Street bro Gordan Gekko, the son of legendary Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas also been in some great iconic films during his career. Lets take a look back at some of Douglas’ best roles over the years.
Wonder Boys
Courtesy of Everett
Unpopular opinion upfront: My favorite Douglas movie is a lesser known, underrated 2000 drama called Wonder Boys, which costars Tobey Maguire and is based on an excellent Michael Chabon novel. In this film, which also costars Katie Holmes, Robert Downey Jr. and Frances McDormand, Douglas plays a has-been author/professor of a small Pennsylvania college, where he teaches writing and has been working unsuccessfully on his 2,600-page second novel for nearly a decade. The best scene in the film is watching the pages of this 2,600-page novel fly away in a huge gust of wind, and having Grady (Douglas) realize that this is for the best — because it doesn’t matter how good of a writer you are, your book should not be 2,600 pages long (or even 1,000 pages long — yes, I’m talking to you, the ghost of David Foster Wallace). But the entire movie is great; Maguire portrays the super-weird writing prodigy James Leer perfectly, and the oddball collection of characters adds both humor and realism to the story. Plus, there’s a cameo from future Gilmore Girls matriarch Kelly Bishop!
Falling Down
Courtesy of Everett
This 1990s version of Taxi Driver was — again, probably an unpopular opinion — quite an upgrade from the original man-goes-insane-because-society scenario. Douglas plays Bill Foster, an ordinary middle-aged white man on his way to see his daughter who gets stuck in a traffic jam and loses his mind. (Very relatable!) He decides to walk across Los Angeles, and it only goes downhill from there, as just about everything on his way annoys him. Eventually this turns violent, because of course it does. But who hasn’t wanted to stop and interrogate a construction crew about why they’re fixing an entire road that seemed fine two days ago and is now causing your commute to work to take twice as long? (Me, every day.) It’s a thriller with some real existential angst.
Basic Instinct
Courtesy of Everett
This 1992 neo-noir thriller stars Michael Douglas as Detective Nick Curran and Sharon Stone as Catherine, a mystery author and the prime suspect in a murder case Curran is investigating. This movie is now more known for the erotic interrogation scene involving Stone crossing and uncrossing her legs. But Douglas was there too!
The War of the Roses
20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved.
Not to be confused with the War of the Roses, a series of 15th-century battles fought between the houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne — on which George R.R. Martin’s epic Game of Thrones novels were loosely based — this 1989 film adaptation of the novel by Warren Adler follows a married couple fighting over their house in a vicious divorce battle. Directed by Danny DeVito, who also costars, the film features Michael Douglas as Oliver Rose against Kathleen Turner‘s Barbara Rose. It may make you never want to get married.
Wall Street
20th Century Fox Film Corp./Courtesy: Everett Collection
This Oscar-winning 1987 film directed by Oliver Stone had the whole world questioning if “greed is good.” And it got Douglas his first Oscar for Best Actor!
Fatal Attraction
Paramount Pictures/Courtesy: Everett Collection.
Of course, we can’t forget about Fatal Attraction, a film about a deadly affair that involves a poor pet rabbit getting boiled in hot water for no good reason. Glenn Close does such a good job playing a mentally unhinged woman that one has to wonder how Dan Gallagher didn’t notice it before he got involved with her!
Romancing the Stone
Courtesy of Everett
Another film that featured Douglas getting tangled up with an author was this 1984 feel-good romance opposite his War of the Roses costar Kathleen Turner. When Joan Wilder (Turner) winds up in Colombia searching for her kidnapped sister with only Jack Colton (Douglas) to help her, the romance is just inevitable. Just like one of her novels! This film also inspired a 1985 sequel called Jewel of the Nile.
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