Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Since launching his movie career back in 1992 Joseph Gordon Levitt has mixed and matched his roles, moving from the teen comedy to hard hitting drama, war movie and blockbuster, making him one of the most versatile performers currently working in Hollywood.
He returns to the big screen with quirky romance movie 500 Days of Summer with the lovely Zooey Deschanel. So here at Femalefirst we take a look at the essential Joseph Gordon Levitt movies that should be in your collection.
- 10 Thing I Hate About You
Released in 1999 10 Things I Hate About You teamed Levitt up with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles for an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
Bianca Stratford is pretty and popular, but her strict family won't allow her to date until her older sister does: the problem is that sister Kat is an outsider who tries to alienate any guy who might be interested in her.
So Bianca's would-be boyfriend Cameron (Levitt) bribes fellow outsider Patrick to ask out Kat, thinking that this sullen young man with a mysterious past might tempt Kat to rise to the challenge.
The movie launched the careers of Levitt, Stiles and Ledger and Levitt received a YoungStar Award nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Film.
- Manic
Manic was the first of a string of strong drama roles for the actor kicking off in 2001. The film was Jordan Melamed's directorial debut and followed a disturbing and violent fight at school, Lyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is admitted, against his will, to Northwoods Mental Institution.
There he joins a group of troubled teens: withdrawn Tracey (Zooey Deschanel); bipolar Chad (Michael Bacall); rebellious Sara (Sara Rivas); confrontational Michael (Elden Henson); and fragile Kenny (Cody Lightning).
At Northwoods, Lyle must decide if he will allow his rage to rule his life, or if he is willing to find the source of his anger and work through it. Like all of the patients, he is on a painful journey of self-discovery that may ultimately save him from himself.
- Mysterious Skin
Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the story follows two teenage boys living in small-town Kansas: Brian (Brady Corbet), a clunky and awkward fellow with no discernable social life; and Neil (Gordon-Levitt), a rebellious gay youth whose fragile beauty and cruel indifference make him a successful hustler to the area's older men.
Having suffered from blackouts as a child, Brian believes that these voids were actually alien abductions, and goes on a quest to confirm this. As his memories become increasingly vivid, Brian convinces himself that Neil, the star player on his childhood Little League team and a regular presence in his dreams, knows the truth.
Neil does, in fact, know exactly what happened: the boys were sexually abused by their Little League coach. While Brian has suppressed the incident, Neil has held it deep within him like a treasure, considering it to have been a loving relationship of respect and tenderness, the absence of which has left him emotionally empty.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 the movie was met with critical acclaim and brought further notice to Levitt's career.
- Brick
He followed up his Mysterious Skin performance with Brick in 2006 that further showed off his versatility as an actor.
When loner Brendan Frye (Levitt) gets a desperate-sounding call from his ex-love Emily (Emilie de Ravin), he feels compelled to help her, plunging himself into the seedy world of teenage crime that pulled her away from him in the first place.
More critical acclaim came the way of Levitt and the film as it won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
- Stop Loss
Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) has just returned to Texas after a harrowing final tour in Iraq. He's accompanied by the remaining men from his unit, all of whom are more than a little shell-shocked.
Welcomed home as a hero, Brandon is awarded a Purple Heart by a visiting state senator. But the homecoming quickly turns sour, as each of the soldiers struggles to assimilate back into society.
Tommy (Joseph Gordon Levitt) can't lay off the booze, and Steve (Channing Tatum) roughs up his fiancée. Brandon is eager to put the war behind him, but that dream quickly fizzles when he learns that he has been "stop-lossed," or ordered back for another, involuntary tour of duty.
Stunned by the news, he goes AWOL and forms a plan to get help from the senator who so recently honoured him. He hits the road for D.C., all the while trying to cope with PTSD and battle flashbacks.
Torn between his fierce patriotism and what he believes to be outright betrayal by the U.S. Army, he doesn't know where to turn or what to do. He is ultimately faced with the harshest of choices: Iraq, or a life in exile.
The film really does delve into what happens to soldiers when they return from tours of duty and are left to integrate back into society without help from the military. Joseph Gordon Levitt portrays the troubled Tommy perfectly he really is one of the industry's most underrated actors as he struggles with losing comrades in the war and turns to drink.
Despite not doing well at the box office the movie was a hit with the critics and remains one of the best Iraq war movies that have been released.
- G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
This summer has seen a change of pace for Levitt as he tackled the big budget blockbuster in the form of G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra.
When a case pf warheads is stolen from a military convoy Duke (Tatum) and Ripcord (Wayans) find themselves thrust into the middle of a secret military unit call The Joes, and they immediately want in.
But when a blast from Duke's past and weapons designer McCullen, who was supposed to be one of the good guys, appear to be involved and release one of the warheads is released in Paris destroying the Eiffel Tower the new team must come together and put personal feelings aside.
Under heavy prosthetics Levitt takes on the role of Rex Lewis / The Doctor, a former mild-mannered U.S. Soldier who was thought to be killed during an operation - instead, he became the insane disfigured MARS head scientist.
The movie was a big box office hit and a sequel looks set to go ahead.
500 Days of Summer is out now.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Since launching his movie career back in 1992 Joseph Gordon Levitt has mixed and matched his roles, moving from the teen comedy to hard hitting drama, war movie and blockbuster, making him one of the most versatile performers currently working in Hollywood.
He returns to the big screen with quirky romance movie 500 Days of Summer with the lovely Zooey Deschanel. So here at Femalefirst we take a look at the essential Joseph Gordon Levitt movies that should be in your collection.
- 10 Thing I Hate About You
Released in 1999 10 Things I Hate About You teamed Levitt up with Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles for an adaptation of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.
Bianca Stratford is pretty and popular, but her strict family won't allow her to date until her older sister does: the problem is that sister Kat is an outsider who tries to alienate any guy who might be interested in her.
So Bianca's would-be boyfriend Cameron (Levitt) bribes fellow outsider Patrick to ask out Kat, thinking that this sullen young man with a mysterious past might tempt Kat to rise to the challenge.
The movie launched the careers of Levitt, Stiles and Ledger and Levitt received a YoungStar Award nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Film.
- Manic
Manic was the first of a string of strong drama roles for the actor kicking off in 2001. The film was Jordan Melamed's directorial debut and followed a disturbing and violent fight at school, Lyle (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is admitted, against his will, to Northwoods Mental Institution.
There he joins a group of troubled teens: withdrawn Tracey (Zooey Deschanel); bipolar Chad (Michael Bacall); rebellious Sara (Sara Rivas); confrontational Michael (Elden Henson); and fragile Kenny (Cody Lightning).
At Northwoods, Lyle must decide if he will allow his rage to rule his life, or if he is willing to find the source of his anger and work through it. Like all of the patients, he is on a painful journey of self-discovery that may ultimately save him from himself.
- Mysterious Skin
Based on the novel by Scott Heim, the story follows two teenage boys living in small-town Kansas: Brian (Brady Corbet), a clunky and awkward fellow with no discernable social life; and Neil (Gordon-Levitt), a rebellious gay youth whose fragile beauty and cruel indifference make him a successful hustler to the area's older men.
Having suffered from blackouts as a child, Brian believes that these voids were actually alien abductions, and goes on a quest to confirm this. As his memories become increasingly vivid, Brian convinces himself that Neil, the star player on his childhood Little League team and a regular presence in his dreams, knows the truth.
Neil does, in fact, know exactly what happened: the boys were sexually abused by their Little League coach. While Brian has suppressed the incident, Neil has held it deep within him like a treasure, considering it to have been a loving relationship of respect and tenderness, the absence of which has left him emotionally empty.
Premiering at the Venice Film Festival in 2004 the movie was met with critical acclaim and brought further notice to Levitt's career.
- Brick
He followed up his Mysterious Skin performance with Brick in 2006 that further showed off his versatility as an actor.
When loner Brendan Frye (Levitt) gets a desperate-sounding call from his ex-love Emily (Emilie de Ravin), he feels compelled to help her, plunging himself into the seedy world of teenage crime that pulled her away from him in the first place.
More critical acclaim came the way of Levitt and the film as it won the Special Jury Prize for Originality of Vision at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival.
- Stop Loss
Brandon King (Ryan Phillippe) has just returned to Texas after a harrowing final tour in Iraq. He's accompanied by the remaining men from his unit, all of whom are more than a little shell-shocked.
Welcomed home as a hero, Brandon is awarded a Purple Heart by a visiting state senator. But the homecoming quickly turns sour, as each of the soldiers struggles to assimilate back into society.
Tommy (Joseph Gordon Levitt) can't lay off the booze, and Steve (Channing Tatum) roughs up his fiancée. Brandon is eager to put the war behind him, but that dream quickly fizzles when he learns that he has been "stop-lossed," or ordered back for another, involuntary tour of duty.
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