The Most Underrated Movies of the 2000s

Here’s a repost on a slow weekend.

Last night, The Hot Mic’s John Rocha and Jeff Sneider had a brief segment tackling the most underrated films of the 2000s. It got me nostalgic, and I came up with my own list.

A much stronger decade for film than the 2010s and 2020s, this was a decade coming off the indie cinema boom of the ‘90s, as independent studios were starting to get bought by the likes of Fox and Sony. The definition of an independent movie started to change in the 2000s.

As far as critics go, a good blueprint would be the massive critics’ poll I conducted in the summer of 2020. None of the films in the ensuing top 50 should really be counted as underrated; they all clearly have massive support. So, how about the underrated gems of the 2000s

The term “underrated,” for me at least, means a film that slipped under the radar and is barely acknowledged today. I went through my archives, and if you’re looking for good viewing recommendations, then these 30 should do the trick.

Curtis Hanson’s “Wonder Boys,” Sean Penn’s “The Pledge,” Bill Paxton’s “Frailty,” Jonathan Demme’s “The Manchurian Candidate,” Spike Lee’s “Bamboozled,” Richard Kelly’s “The Box,” Terry Zwigoff’s “Ghost World,” John Dahl’s “Joy Ride,” Joshua Marston’s “Maria Full of Grace,” Jonathan Glazer’s “Birth,” Greg Mottola’s “Adventureland,” Ramin Bahrani’s “Goodbye Solo,” Bernardo Bertolucci’s “The Dreamers,” Tim Blake Nelson’s “The Grey Zone,” Mark Romanek’s “One Hour Photo,” Tom McCarthy’s “The Station Agent,” Gus Van Sant’s “Gerry,” Wes Craven’s “Red Eye,” Scott Frank’s “The Lookout,” Guillaume Canet’s “Tell No One,” Joe Carnahan’s “Narc,” David Mamet’s “Heist,” Steven Soderbergh’s “Solaris,” Duncan Jones’ “Moon,” Mel Gibson’s “Apocalypto,” Tom Tykwer’s “Perfume,” Liliana Cavani’s “Ripley’s Game,” Ridley Scott’s “Matchstick Men,” Mabrouk El Mechri’s “JCVD,” James Foley’s “Confidence,” Wayne Kramer’s “The Cooler.”

Time for some recommendations. What are your undervalued movies of the 2000s?