The Best 42 Films of Meryl Streep
The best female actor of all time is featured in this list of remarkable films, each featuring the wonderful Meryl in one of her many breathtaking performances. Meryl has created
many indelible screen characterizations since her debut in
1977. Here are 42 of her very best!
many indelible screen characterizations since her debut in
1977. Here are 42 of her very best!
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- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsMeryl StreepKevin KlinePeter MacNicolSophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live with Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust.
- DirectorJohn Patrick ShanleyStarsMeryl StreepPhilip Seymour HoffmanAmy AdamsA Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepKurt RussellCherA worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.
- DirectorKarel ReiszStarsMeryl StreepJeremy IronsHilton McRaeAnna and Mike portray two characters in a film set in 19th century England who fall in love despite the fact that Mike's character is engaged.
- DirectorMichael CiminoStarsRobert De NiroChristopher WalkenJohn CazaleAn in-depth examination of the ways in which the Vietnam War impacts and disrupts the lives of several friends in a small steel mill town in Pennsylvania.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsDustin HoffmanMeryl StreepJane AlexanderAfter his wife leaves him, a work-obsessed Manhattan advertising executive is forced to learn long-neglected parenting skills, but a heated custody battle over the couple's young son deepens the wounds left by the separation.
- DirectorHector BabencoStarsJack NicholsonMeryl StreepCarroll BakerAn alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsMeryl StreepSam NeillDale ReevesA mother whose child was killed in a dingo attack in the Australian Outback fights to prove her innocence when she is accused of murder.
- DirectorSydney PollackStarsMeryl StreepRobert RedfordKlaus Maria BrandauerIn 20th-century colonial Kenya, a Danish baroness/plantation owner has a passionate love affair with a free-spirited big-game hunter.
- DirectorDavid FrankelStarsAnne HathawayMeryl StreepAdrian GrenierA smart but sensible new graduate lands a job as an assistant to Miranda Priestly, the demanding editor-in-chief of a high fashion magazine.
- DirectorPhyllida LloydStarsMeryl StreepJim BroadbentRichard E. GrantAn elderly Margaret Thatcher talks to the imagined presence of her recently deceased husband as she struggles to come to terms with his death while scenes from her past life, from girlhood to British prime minister, intervene.
- DirectorJerry ZaksStarsMeryl StreepLeonardo DiCaprioDiane KeatonAfter seventeen years, a fiercely independent woman and her rebellious son return home and together they turn the family she left behind upside down.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsClint EastwoodMeryl StreepAnnie CorleyPhotographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsNicolas CageMeryl StreepChris CooperA lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepShirley MacLaineDennis QuaidA substance-addicted actress tries to look on the bright side even as she is forced to move back in with her mother to avoid unemployment.
- DirectorStephen DaldryStarsMeryl StreepNicole KidmanJulianne MooreThe story of how the novel "Mrs. Dalloway" affects three generations of women, all of whom, in one way or another, have had to deal with suicide in their lives.
- DirectorWes CravenStarsMeryl StreepCloris LeachmanHenry DinhoferAfter Roberta Guaspari separates from her husband, she receives encouragement from her mother to take up a job of a music teacher at the Central Park East School in East Harlem.
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepJack NicholsonJeff DanielsShe's a magazine writer who gives up her career for love and family. He's a playboy newspaper columnist who can't quite give up his old tricks. And if that combination doesn't give a relationship Heartburn, nothing will.
- DirectorCarl FranklinStarsMeryl StreepRenée ZellwegerWilliam HurtA career woman reassesses her parents' lives after she is forced to care for her cancer-stricken mother.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsMeryl StreepHugh GrantSimon HelbergThe story of Florence Foster Jenkins, a New York heiress who dreamed of becoming an opera singer, despite having a terrible singing voice.
- DirectorUlu GrosbardStarsRobert De NiroMeryl StreepHarvey KeitelAlthough they live married lives, two strangers keep running into each other, starting a friendship that could blossom into so much more.
- DirectorNora EphronStarsAmy AdamsMeryl StreepChris MessinaJulia Child's story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first book.
- DirectorAlbert BrooksStarsAlbert BrooksMeryl StreepRip TornIn an afterlife way-station resembling a major city, the lives of the recently deceased are examined in a court-like setting.
- DirectorCurtis HansonStarsMeryl StreepKevin BaconDavid StrathairnRafting expert Gail takes on a pair of armed killers while navigating a spectacularly violent river.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenDiane KeatonMariel HemingwayThe life of a divorced television writer dating a teenage girl is further complicated when he falls in love with his best friend's mistress.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsDenzel WashingtonLiev SchreiberMeryl StreepIn the midst of the Gulf War, soldiers are kidnapped and brainwashed for sinister purposes.
- DirectorRobert BentonStarsRoy ScheiderMeryl StreepJessica TandyA Manhattan psychiatrist probes a patient's murder and falls for the victim's mysterious mistress.
- DirectorRobert ZemeckisStarsMeryl StreepBruce WillisGoldie HawnWhen a fading actress learns of an immortality treatment, she sees it as a way to outdo her long-time rival.
- DirectorJerry SchatzbergStarsAlan AldaBarbara HarrisMeryl StreepRespected liberal Senator Joe Tynan is asked to lead the opposition to a Supreme Court appointment. It means losing an old friend and fudging principles to make the necessary deals, as well as further straining his already part-time family life. But it could be a big boost to his career, so he takes it on. Helping him prepare the case is pretty southern researcher Karen Traynor, and their developing relationship further complicates and compromises his life.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsJane FondaVanessa RedgraveJason RobardsAt the behest of an old and dear friend, playwright Lillian Hellman undertakes a dangerous mission to smuggle funds into Nazi Germany.
- DirectorRobert RedfordStarsTom CruiseMeryl StreepRobert RedfordInjuries sustained by two Army rangers behind enemy lines in Afghanistan set off a sequence of events involving a congressman, a journalist and a professor.
- DirectorNancy MeyersStarsMeryl StreepSteve MartinAlec BaldwinWhen attending their son's college graduation, a couple reignite the spark in their relationship. But the complicated fact is they're divorced and he's remarried.
- DirectorGavin HoodStarsReese WitherspoonJake GyllenhaalPeter SarsgaardWhen a terrorist bombing in North Africa kills 19 incl. an American, an Egyptian chemical engineer flying from South Africa to his wife in USA, is arrested upon arriving USA. He disappears. His wife asks senator for help.
- StarsAl PacinoMeryl StreepEmma ThompsonSeveral disparate but connected individuals go through the AIDS crisis in the mid-1980s.
- DirectorBarbet SchroederStarsMeryl StreepLiam NeesonEdward FurlongTwo parents deal with the effects when their son is accused of murdering his girlfriend.
- DirectorSusan SeidelmanStarsMeryl StreepRoseanne BarrEd Begley Jr.A surprisingly resourceful housewife vows revenge on her husband when he begins an affair with a wealthy romance novelist.
- DirectorPhyllida LloydStarsMeryl StreepPierce BrosnanAmanda SeyfriedThe story of a bride-to-be trying to find her real father told using hit songs by the popular 1970s group ABBA.
- DirectorJohn WellsStarsMeryl StreepDermot MulroneyJulia RobertsA look at the lives of the strong-willed women of the Weston family, whose paths have diverged until a family crisis brings them back to the Oklahoma house they grew up in, and to the dysfunctional woman who raised them.
- DirectorRob MarshallStarsAnna KendrickMeryl StreepChris PineA witch tasks a childless baker and his wife with procuring magical items from classic fairy tales to reverse the curse put on their family tree.
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsMeryl StreepKevin KlineMamie GummerA musician who gave up everything for her dream of rock-and-roll stardom returns home, looking to make things right with her family.
- DirectorSarah GavronStarsCarey MulliganAnne-Marie DuffHelena Bonham CarterIn 1912 London, a young working mother is galvanized into radical political activism supporting the right for women to vote, and is willing to meet violence with violence to achieve this end.
- DirectorTommy Lee JonesStarsTommy Lee JonesHilary SwankGrace GummerThree women who have been driven mad by pioneer life are to be transported across the country by covered wagon by the pious, independent-minded Mary Bee Cuddy, who in turn employs low-life drifter George Briggs to assist her.