For those who follow me on Twitter, I went through a bit of a Russell Crowe binge this past month. While I still have a few movies left to find (the earlier stuff from his pre-Hollywood days), I thought I’d share the actual binge with you…just in case you were interested in doing your own binge.
Here is the list of Crowe movies in order that I watched them.
| Movie | Year | Notes | |
| 1 | The Water Diviner | 2014 | This is Crowe’s directorial debut and probably one of the most powerful stories he has brought to the screen. |
| 2 | 3:10 to Yuma | 2007 | Something you will start to notice in the Russell Crowe binge is that there are repeat offenders in his work. In this movie, Logan Lerman (“Noah”) and Kevin Durand (multiple films) are the repeat offenders. Crowe also has a bit of a bromance with Durand. |
| 3 | Broken City | 2013 | In a SNL skit in May 2016, Russell Crowe referenced his co-star Catherine Zeta-Jones’s husband’s (Michael Douglas) tongue cancer (a type of cancer that is ususally caused by HPV, transmitted by cunnilingus). Crowe ran with that in the skit. |
| 4 | A Beautiful Mind | 2001 | We start to see the beginning of the bond between repeat offenders Jennifer Connelly and her spouse, Paul Bettany, in Crowe’s films. This is the film where the two lovebirds met. Connelly won an Academy Award for best actress in a supporting role for this film. |
| 5 | A Good Year | 2006 | This is just one of a handful of collaborations Crowe will have with Ridley Scott. Also, later, Crowe’s connection with this wine film will lead to another good year for wine in the “Red Obsession” 8 years later. |
| 6 | Noah | 2014 | Repeat offenders Jennifer Connelly and Logan Lerman star with Crowe in this artistic rendition of the ancient tale of the Great Flood. |
| 7 | Gladiator | 2000 | The first collaboration between Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott. This movie earned 5 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Actor. |
| 8 | Heaven’s Burning | 1997 | This Australian movie is a bit Tarantino-esque. This was Crowe’s last Australian film before heading to Hollywood. It would be another 17 years before he would make another Australian film (“The Water Diviner”), which he also directed. |
| 9 | Fathers & Daughters | 2015 | Amanda Seyfried is the repeat offender in this film. She starred with Crowe in “Les Miserables.” |
| 10 | Proof of Life | 2000 | Of all the Crowe films, this film is the most difficult to stomach. It is because of what happened off screen. Meg Ryan, Hollywood’s darling, starred in this film post-Gladiator with Crowe. They started an affair, which led to her divorce from Dennis Quaid. She lost a lot of love from the public because of this. This movie was the beginning of her demise. She was rarely cast after this movie. She recently came out with the film “Ithaca,” making her directorial debut. Compared to Crowe, after this film, she has starred in only 10 films to Crowe’s 25 films in the same time period. |
| 11 | The Quick and the Dead | 1995 | This film was Crowe’s introduction into Hollywood. Repeat Offenders: Keith David (“The Nice Guys”) and Leonardo DiCaprio (“Body of Lies”). |
| 12 | Cinderella Man | 2005 | “Cinderella Man” marks the second collaboration between Crowe and director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”). |
| 13 | The Insider | 1999 | This film displays Crowe’s acting talent at its finest. Of all the films he has made, this is the one he should have won an Oscar for. He was nominated for an Oscar for best actor, but that statue went to his “LA Confidential” co-star Kevin Spacey for “American Beauty.” “The Insider” received multiple nominations, but “American Beauty” dominated that year, and rightly so. |
| 14 | Robin Hood | 2010 | The bromance in this film is real. Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand (his “Mystery, Alaska” buddies) reunite in this film. These guys appear in a lot of films together. The bromance is real. Ridley Scott also directed this film. This is the most current of the collaborations between the two. |
| 15 | Winter’s Tale | 2014 | Continuing the “Robin Hood” bromance, both Kevin Durand and Scott Grimes make small appearances in this film. Jennifer Connelly also appears. |
| 16 | The Man With the Iron Fists | 2012 | RZA is the repeat offender in this film. RZA both directed, wrote and starred in this film. RZA appeared in “The Next Three Days” with Crowe. |
| 17 | State of Play | 2009 | |
| 18 | The Nice Guys | 2016 | Probably one of the craziest films Crowe has ever made. He’s found a new bromance with Ryan Gosling. Gosling had Crowe breaking character and laughing so much, the director told Gosling that if he made Crowe laugh again, he would charge him $5 every time he broke character. Repeat Offenders: Kim Basinger and Keith David. |
| 19 | Les Miserables | 2012 | This is the first time the two Australian Hollywood powerhouses would star together in a film. Hugh Jackman takes the lead alongside Crowe for the first time. Many people did not know that Crowe is a singer. He has traveled around the world with his band over the last 20+ years and has a few albums out. This film would make Amanda Seyfried into a repeat offender. Anne Hathaway won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. |
| 20 | Body of Lies | 2008 | Repeat Offender: Leonardo DiCaprio. |
| 21 | Master and Commander | 2003 | Repeat Offender: Paul Bettany. This bromance is one of the favorites among the public. |
| 22 | Man of Steel | 2013 | 18 years prior to making this film, Crowe starred in “No Way Back” with the original Supergirl. Crowe has pitched the idea around in the media that he would like to reprise his role of Jor-El in a prequel. |
| 23 | American Gangster | 2007 | Another Ridley Scott film. The repeat offender is none other than Denzel Washington himself. |
| 24 | The Next Three Days | 2010 | RZA’s small role in this film with Crowe would lead to “The Man With the Iron Fists.” |
| 25 | The Republic of Doyle (3.1) | 2012 | The bromance reappears in this Canadian TV show. Crowe, Grimes and Durand star together in this episode. Stupidity ensues in the form of the Three Stooges. |
| 26 | Virtuousity | 1995 | Once upon a time, Crowe used to get naked in his movies. This is one of those films. This film also stars Denzel Washington. 12 years later, they would reunite in “American Gangster.” |
| 27 | Romper Stomper | 1992 | This is the movie that paved the way for Crowe into Hollywood and would explain why he was perfect for his role in “LA Confidential.” This film is very difficult to watch, so be forewarned. The neo-Nazi violence against Asians is tough to see. [I had to take a break from the binge because of how disturbed I was from the violence.] |
| 28 | The Silver Brumby (Stallion) | 1993 | This is one of the most beautiful and scenic movies you’ll ever see of Australia. Just breathtaking. |
| 29 | LA Confidential | 1997 | One of the most beloved and best movies ever made. Crowe’s role and his character’s anger is reminiscent of his role in “Romper Stomper.” You can see how perfect this role was for him. Kim Basinger would appear 19 years later in “The Nice Guys” as a repeat offender. |
| 30 | Red Obsession | 2014 | “A Good Year” is a great prelude to this film which discusses the wine industry, more importantly the wine industry in China. This film is not listed in Crowe’s IMDb. He is the narrator of this film. |
| 31 | Bra Boys | 2007 | This film is not listed in Crowe’s IMDb. He appears as the narrator in this documentary of the Bra Boys in Australia. |
| 32 | Tenderness | 2009 | This is one of the strangest films ever, especially for Crowe. [At the end of this film, I literally sat there going…”I have no idea what just happened.”] |
| 33 | Proof | 1991 | Hugo Weaving stars in this film with Crowe about a friendship between a young man and a blind guy. Crowe does get naked. |
| 34 | No Way Back | 1995 | As a foreshadowing of things to come, Helen Slater, the original “Supergirl,” stars in this film with Crowe. Crowe would later play Jor-El in “Man of Steel.” |
| 35 | Brides of Christ (TV series) | 1991 | This TV mini-series stars a young Naomi Watts. Crowe appears in a few episodes. This series is mainly about Catholic nuns at a school and the ethical challenges they face in a modern society. |
| 36 | Breaking Up | 1997 | Stars the beautiful Salma Hayek. This movie is basically about a couple that fights all of the time, but then have amazing makeup sex afterward. That is the movie in a nutshell. |
| 37 | Mystery, Alaska | 1999 | This was the beginning of the bromance between Scott Grimes and Kevin Durand. For the next 15+ years, these three would star in one movie after another after another. They are the current day Larry, Moe and Curly…after you see Republic of Doyle, you’ll get that. Crowe = Moe. Grimes = Curly. Durand = Larry. |
Not all of Crowe’s movies were easy to find. There were nine films I was not able to get my hands on and that may have more to do with the fact that it was made in Australia in the early 1990s. Most of the films are still on VHS or not able to be used on USA machines. Many of the films have not been transposed to DVD or digital. While I have seen “The Crossing,” that was 15 years ago and it was on VHS. I have not seen a digital or DVD version of that movie made available. The VHS tape alone fetches for over $80 because of its scarcity.
| Movies Hard to Find | |||
| 1 | Prisoners of the Sun | 1990 | George Takei stars. |
| 2 | The Crossing | 1990 | This is the movie where Crowe met and fell in love with Danielle Spencer. They would later marry and have two sons. They are currently divorced. This movie doesn’t appear to have been transferred to DVD or digital, so it will be difficult to find unless you have a VHS player. |
| 3 | The Efficiency Expert | 1992 | Stars Anthony Hopkins. |
| 4 | Hammers Over the Anvil | 1993 | |
| 5 | Love in Limbo | 1993 | |
| 6 | For the Moment | 1993 | |
| 7 | The Sum of Us | 1994 | |
| 8 | Rough Magic | 1995 | Stars Bridget Fonda and Jim Broadbent. |
| 9 | The Spell of the Yukon | 1996 | He is the narrator in this short. |