Named the ‘most beautiful woman’ by People magazine in 2015, Sandra Annette Bullock is a very successful American actress and producer, born in Arlington County. Having an Academy Award and Golden Globe to her name, along with many other prestigious awards, Sandra Bullock is counted amongst the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood. She started her film career with Bionic Showdown: The Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman and went on to feature in many successful movies. Here we have a list of the 15 best Sandra Bullock movies of all time:
15. The Vanishing (1993)
This horror-thriller, directed by George Sluizer, is an American version of the 1988 French movie of the same name. The movie is based on a novel by the Dutch writer Tim Krabbe named The Golden Egg. The basic story revolves around a guy who has been trying to find leads on his girlfriend, abducted 3 years ago at a gas station.
Jeff is an unrelenting guy who will keep looking for his ex-girlfriend, a character played by none other than the famous Sandra Bullock.
14. Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
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These two hours of drama feature the attractive American actress, Sandra Bullock in the lead role. Sandra fills the shoes of the character, Siddalee, a famous playwright whose comments about her unhappy childhood are published in a magazine following her interview.
This infuriates her mother, who cuts her off completely. A childhood group formed by her mother’s friends, the Ya-Ya sisterhood, kidnaps Siddalee and takes her to the South where her mother is, explaining her mother’s side of the story and trying to make amends between the two. This movie is based on a novel by American author Rebecca Wells.
13. Two Weeks’ Notice (2002)
Written and directed by Marc Lawrence, Two Weeks Notice is a romantic comedy starring two successful Hollywood celebrities, Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant in the lead roles. Predictable as most rom-coms are, the two lead characters, this time Lucy (Sandra Bullock) and George Wade (Hugh Grant) initially do not get along well, and then plot twists lead to a blooming love between them.
Lucy, an environmental lawyer starts working for billionaire George Wade. Not a strong leader, George quickly grows dependent on Lucy’s constant guidance, even for his fashion sense. Lucy, in these unfavorable circumstances, decides to quit and brings in a replacement for herself. However, it’s too late. She has fallen for George and the new girl June makes her jealous.
12. Miss Congeniality (2000)
With a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in the Comedy category and an American Comedy Award for Sandra Bullock’s befitting performance, Miss Congeniality is one of the greatest comedy flicks she has featured in.
Portraying an FBI agent, a rather tom-boyish agent who is anything but ladylike, Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) is assigned to enter a beauty pageant contest to snuff out the contestant who wants to blow up the event. FBI hires a former pageant and a coach to try and make Gracie more like a girl.
11. The Lake House (2006)
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Written by David Auburn and directed by Alejandro Agresti, The Lake House has an intriguing story, an idea that the romantics can feast on. A fantasy genre flick with a decent cast that stars Sandra Bullock opposite the popular Canadian star, Keanu Reeves.
Alex Wyler (Keanu Reeves) is the present occupant of a lakeside house and an architect by profession. He is in correspondence with the house’s former resident Kate Forster (Sandra Bullock) via letters that soon take a dip in the romance. But here’s the catch – both of them are living in different periods, a two-year time gap to be precise. Alex will now try to meet Kate’s last version, the one in his period. But is missing over time a good idea?
10. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)
Based on a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, director Stephen Daldry’s mystery genre movie fields a more than decent cast with the likes of Sandra Bullock and the celebrated actor Tom Hanks.
The story focuses on Oskar Schell, an eleven-year-old child whose father (Tom Hanks) has died in the 9/11 incident. He feels somewhat disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and takes on an adventurous journey, trying to find the secret he believes his father left for him.
He is in pursuit of the lock that fits the key that he found in his father’s possession. And in doing so, he comes to terms with many realities of the world. The movie was nominated for 2 Academy Awards including one for the legendary old-school actor Max Von Sydow.
9. Demolition Man (1993)
An action movie featuring the likes of Sylvester Stallone is enough to keep you glued to the screen. Directed by Marco Brambilla, the story is about a mass murderer and the police cop who caught him, both frozen cryogenic-ally in 1996. The killer gets released into a peaceful society in the futuristic world of 2032 and wreaks havoc, which ultimately results in the reawakening of Sergeant John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) who must recapture him.
John Spartan now must adapt to the new world fast, for everything seems new and unknown to him in this sci-fi-ish world. Sandra Bullock appears as Lieutenant Haxley, with whom the police officer Spartan (Stallone) is attached to get acclimatized to this futuristic world and thus begins an exciting action-packed journey that you simply can’t ignore.
8. The Proposal (2009)
Directed by Anne Fletcher, this flick is a romantic comedy that features a tale of a boss and assistant. However, it breaks the stereotype – the girl (Sandra Bullock) is the boss while the guy (Ryan Reynolds) is her assistant.
Margaret Tate (Sandra Bullock) is an editor and a Canadian national whose visa has expired and now faces deportation. Margaret’s solution is? She asks Andrew (Ryan Reynolds), her assistant who does not like her much, to marry her, promising him a promotion if he agrees.
To make things interesting, an INS agent takes an unusual interest in her case and wants to interview and test the couple. All it takes is a trip to Andrew’s hometown with his family to turn the deal into actual love. Sandra Bullock was nominated for a Golden Globe award for her delightful acting in the lead role.
7. The Blind Side (2009)
This sports biopic is based on a novel by Michael Lewis which is inspired by true events. It is the story of an African-American teenager Michael Oher, homeless, who is taken in by a family.
With full support and guidance from a loving woman and family, the drug addict soon develops into an A-class athlete with grades high enough to merit him a Division I athletic scholarship.
John Lee Hancock’s writing and direction show Sandra Bullock taking center stage as Leigh Anne and Tim McGraw take the role of Sean Tuohy, the couple who take in and raise Michael Oher. Celebrated actress Sandra Bullock won an Oscar based on her moving performance in this movie.
6. The Heat (2013)
An action-comedy based on two cops, both of them women. This is perhaps the simplest way to describe this comic flick that features Sandra Bullock, an ambitious FBI agent who has her eyes set on promotion and is tasked to find an elusive drug lord.
For this assignment, she finds herself paired with a Boston cop, a foul-mouthed ready-for-job cop named Mullins (Melissa McCarthy). Partnership changes to the competition as both try to find the drug lord first to claim the reward.
5. A Time to Kill (1996)
Based on a novel by American bestselling writer John Grisham Jr., this 2 hours and 30 minutes crime thriller fields an impressive cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey of True Detective fame, and Sandra Bullock.
This is a story of an epic courtroom drama involving Carl (Samuel L. Jackson) who has killed her 10-year-old daughter’s two rapists, fearing they might be acquitted by the court in a case a year ago, and the prosecution attorney who wants to charge Carl with murder. An outstanding performance by Samuel got him nominated for a Golden Globe.
4. While You Were Sleeping (1995)
This is another rom-com starring Sandra Bullock who dons the role of a lonely girl Lucy. Call it coincidence or fate, Lucy saves Peter from an oncoming train and he ends up in a coma.
Peter’s family welcomes Lucy as a part of themselves, the lonely girl finally getting company. Lucy and Peter’s younger brother Jack seem to fall for each other as they grow close. But there is only one glitch their family thinks Lucy is Peter’s fiancé.
3. Crash (2004)
The talented all-in-one guy Paul Haggis, who has written and directed this drama has come up with something unique this time. Crash does not have a simple plot and a story rotating around a central character like most conventional movies.
Rather it shows many little happenings with multiple characters involving gender, race, discrimination, victimization, and other stories that all seem to interweave into a single theme our lives and actions are connected in ways we do not perceive.
This highly appreciated movie received 3 well-deserved Oscars including 2 for Paul Haggis in Best Motion Picture and Best Writing categories.
2. Speed (1994)
With two Oscars and a nomination to its name, director Jan De Bont’s action-packed thriller is a guaranteed two-hour entertainment. Keanu Reeves blends in perfectly in his role as a S.W.A.T. cop, Jack, who helps foil a terrorist’s plan to extortion money. The terrorist escapes and seeks vengeance.
A bomb is planted on a public bus that will go off if the bus speed goes below 50mph. Sandra Bullock, disguised as Annie, is a passenger on the bus. They say love happens when you least expect it, and that is exactly what happens with Jack and Annie while Jack plays on his life to get the bus passengers out of danger.
1. Gravity (2013)
With seven Oscar wins and many nominations including one for the lead actress Sandra Bullock and countless other awards, Gravity tops our list of best movies featuring Sandra Bullock. Possibly the biggest blockbuster of the year 2013, Gravity is a science fiction written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Its plot is simple yet intriguing.
A medical engineer Dr. Ryan (Sandra Bullock) and a veteran astronaut (George Clooney) on his last mission, experience an accident that destroys the spaceship and leaves them stranded in space with no communication to Earth. The story follows how these two brave the circumstances to try and survive.
Honorable Mentions
We can’t resist mentioning these great titles as well:
- Infamous (2006)
- The Thing Called Love (1993)
- Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
Did we miss any of the best Sandra Bullock movies on our list? Please let us know in the comments below!
