Bradley Cooper’s rise to fame is pretty incredible, particularly given that his early work was in relatively poor comedies such as Wedding Crashers and The Rocker. He broke out though and has since become an award-winning star, destined for an Academy Award.
He’s received enough nominations, and in recent years has stepped up his career again with the likes of A Star Is Born. His range is quite extraordinary, which makes deciding upon his best ever movies quite tricky.
That said, we’ve managed a top 10, so we’re all off to Las Vegas now for a night we definitely won’t remember…
Silver Linings Playbook
Silver Linings Playbook was the film that made us all recognise how good Bradley Cooper actually is. Released back in 2012, the movie saw a wonderful performance from him as Pat Solitano Jr.. Having just been released from a psychiatric hospital following a diagnosis of bipolar, he’s looking to get his life back on track and in the process meets Tiffany Maxwell, played by Jennifer Lawrence.
It’s ultimately a rom com at its core, but a much more complex, sophisticated take on one. Also starring Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver, it’s a wonderfully directed movie that tells a truly heartwarming story.
A Star Is Born
Starring alongside Lady Gaga, A Star Is Born was Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut and produced a real box office smash. The fourth incarnation of the movie, Cooper plays an alcoholic country singer whose career is falling out of control, while at the same time he meets and falls in love with a girl who is on a real ascendancy to stardom.
The movie grossed over $400million worldwide and received eight nominations at the Oscars. The soundtrack also sold over six million copies worldwide, and it helped Lady Gaga become the first woman in history to win an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in a single year.
The Hangover
The Hangover is by no means a great film. It’s about a group of men going a little bit crazy in Las Vegas, spending too much time playing slot games and other casino games like casino777 blackjack, while also partying too hard.
In fact, it’s a Las Vegas story we absolutely all know. But it resonated with the audience hugely, for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was a hugely funny film, and secondly it came at a time when more and more people were getting into gambling, meaning there was a certain resonance with playing at casinos, whether it be enjoying online casino games or heading to the likes of Las Vegas itself.
Ultimately, it boosted Bradley Cooper’s career significantly, transforming him into a movie star, and the work has just come rolling in off the back of it. A gamble well worth taking for him.
Nightmare Alley
Cooper for the first time gets to play a much darker character in Guillermo del Toro’s Nightmare Alley. Released only last year, the Oscar nominated flick sees him play a charming carnival worker, who has a mysterious past as a con man whose soul cannot be reclaimed.
It’s a rather haunting film in which he stars alongside an all-star cast that includes Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe and Ron Perlman.
American Hustle
Following Silver Linings Playbook, Bradley Cooper worked with David O. Russell once again in American Hustle, a dark comedy about the ABSCAM scandal in the 1980s. Starring alongside Christian Bale and Amy Adams, while teaming up with Jennifer Lawrence once again, Cooper plays an undercover FBI cop who teams up with Bale and Adams in order to put together a scheme and bring down the corrupt mayor.
It’s fun, cool and came during a real purple patch for Cooper. In fact, we don’t think he’s out of it yet.
Licorice Pizza
While playing more of a cameo in Paul Thomas Anderson’s recent movie, Licorice Pizza, Cooper plays Jon Peters, the Hollywood producer and former Barbra Streisand, and almost steals the show.
In a hilarious, manic performance, Cooper even said he was going to turn his back on acting before the role came up and you can imagine it was a reather cathartic experience given the amount of destruction he was able to cause.
Screen-time wise, there’s not too much of Cooper, but we love his time in it so much we had to include this movie.
American Sniper
Starring in Clint Eastwood’s huge hit of 2014, American Sniper saw Cooper take the main role of Chris Kyle, a Navy SEAL who had huge success in the Iraq War, but struggled to manage both that and his family and personal life.
It’s an incredible film and if you haven’t seen it, do give it a watch, with Cooper earning Oscar nominations for Best Actor and Best Picture for it.
The Place Beyond The Pines
Released in 2012 off the back of Ryan Gosling’s excellent performance in Drive, Cooper takes the lead in this one as he plays a rookie cop trying to take on Luke Glanton (Gosling), a suspected bank robber.
After tragedy strikes, the story continues a generation later as the pair’s son’s pick up their high-profile clash.
Joy
Copper teamed up with the Silver Linings crew again in 2015, with Robert DeNiro and Jennifer Lawrence also involved in David O’Russell’s next project. A biography of Joy Mangano, an entrepreneur who became a huge success by selling mops on shopping channels, it sees Cooper play a QVC exec who helped launch Joy to stardom.
It’s a witty and fun film, much of the same ilk to Silver Linings Playbook and well worth a watch.
Limitless
We’re going with a Cooper, DeNiro flick once again here, but an altogether completely different movie. The science-fiction thriller sees Copper play Eddie Morra, a writer suffering with a block. He decides to take a nootripic drug, helping the situation and taking his cognitive thinking to new heights, playing in the stock market and changing his lifestyle completely.
It’s certainly a case of be careful what you wish for, though…
