Laura Dern’s career in film has seen her go from the highest highs of commercial success to the grandest stage of critical praise and everything in between. Starting as a girl-next-door figure, Dern evolved as an actor and has had the chance to show off her tremendous range.
Whether it was in cultural touchstones like Jurassic Park or in modern dramas like Marriage Story, Laura Dern elevates whatever project she is a part of. Even though she has starred in many successful films, some of her work has garnered higher scores with fans than others.
The Tale (2018) – 7.3
Though she has starred in any number of genre films, it is in purely dramatic roles that Dern shines the brightest as an actor. The Tale is the story of a documentary filmmaker who is forced to reexamine her young life when a short story she wrote at 13 resurfaces and shines a light on her first relationship.
The film handles its touchy subject matter with the appropriate amount of tactfulness and never falls into melodrama. Told through flashbacks, Dern’s performance is mirrored by excellent portrayals of her younger self. Though the scope and scale of the film are rather small, it is a tightly plotted personal story that focuses on its character’s internal struggles.
Bastard Out Of Carolina (1996) – 7.4
Sometimes an actor can give an excellent performance without ever once appearing on screen. Bastard Out of Carolina follows a close-knit South Carolina family that is nearly torn apart by the sudden arrival of a new man in the eldest daughter’s life.
Dern only appears as an unnamed narrator, but she still manages to deliver an excellent vocal performance. The story is strong enough to live on its own, but the narration adds important details that help the plot move along smoothly. Though the film is ultimately anchored by brilliant performances from leads like Jennifer Jason Leigh, director Anjelica Huston’s decision to include narration was an artful touch.
A Perfect World (1993) – 7.5
Laura Dern has often partnered with excellent directors and in A Perfect World, she collaborated with Clint Eastwood on one of his best films. The story follows a criminal who escapes from prison and takes a young boy hostage as he continues to flee from the lawman that is hunting him down.
Dern co-stars with director Eastwood as a whip-smart criminologist who acts as a modern foil to Eastwood’s grizzled Sheriff character. Shedding the bubbly personality that had typified her earlier roles, Dern is both intelligent and serious in her portrayal of the young professional. Though it would have been easy to be overwhelmed by personalities like Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood, Dern delivers one of the strongest performances in the film.
I Am Sam (2001) – 7.6
Though retrospect can often tarnish the reception of a film, the strength of performance can still shine through, despite the failings of the source material. I Am Sam is the story of a man with a learning disability who struggles to retain custody of his young daughter.
I Am Sam was quite well received by audiences and most critics upon its release, however, the film has drawn ire in the decades since. Despite its fading reputation, Laura Dern’s portrayal as Randy is one of the bright spots of the entire film. She manages to be a sensitive character without succumbing to the chintzy sentimentality that the rest of the film suffers from, and her performance is genuine.
The Fault In Our Stars (2014) – 7.7
Though the field is crowded, The Fault in Our Stars stands out as one of the best young adult book adaptations of all time. The film follows two teens who are fighting cancer and travel to Amsterdam to meet with a reclusive author.
Though the film can sometimes lapse into sappy melodrama, the acting is strong enough to validate much of the film’s dialogue. Dern plays Frannie, the mother of the main character, and does quite well with the limited material she is given to work with. The role of the supportive mother is perfectly within Dern’s wheelhouse, though she is also more than capable of imbuing her characters with a harder edge, when necessary.
Blue Velvet (1986) – 7.7
Though she has worked with many established filmmakers, it is Dern’s collaborations with director David Lynch that helped to put her on the map. In Blue Velvet, a young college student returns to his picturesque hometown and slowly gets entangled in the town’s seedy underbelly.
Like a dark reflection of a Norman Rockwell painting, Blue Velvet is a film filled with opposites. Though the film is anchored by Jeffrey and Dorothy’s complicated relationship, the presence of girl-next-door Sandy adds the necessary depth to help the film soar. In contrast to the dark and mysterious Dorothy, Sandy, played by Dern, is the naive representation of the small-town life that Jeffrey is slowly leaving behind.
October Sky (1999) – 7.8
The early days of space exploration were a pivotal moment in human history and served to inspire millions to pursue new opportunities. October Sky is the true story of a young man from a small mining town who decides to take up rocketry after being inspired by the launch of the first Sputnik probe in the 1950s.
Entering a new phase of her career as an actor, Dern plays Miss Riley, the lone teacher who believes in Homer’s dream. Though she still maintained flexibility in the roles she played at the time, Dern showed her strength as an actor by transitioning to roles that portrayed more authoritative figures. As a more established performer, Dern added credibility to the younger cast’s performances.
Little Women (2019) – 7.8
Though most of her roles are somewhat modern, Dern showed her flexibility when starring in one of the best modern adaptations of classic literature. Little Women is the classic tale of the March sisters and their quest for independence as re-told by one of the sisters, Jo March.
The strength of the film is the choices that slightly modernized the aged and familiar storyline. Without sacrificing the period elements of the story, the film is injected with enough modernity to make it visually appealing and help it stand out. Dern’s role as the matriarch of the March family is perfect for the recognized star of the screen. Though the story focuses on the struggles of the sisters, Dern is more than just window dressing and represents the generational conflicts within the family.
Marriage Story (2019) – 7.9
Occasionally, a film is a perfect storm of technical excellence and strong performances, which leads to a wonderful cinematic brew. Marriage Story follows the dissolution of a marriage between two show-business professionals and their mutual struggle to maintain normalcy within their family unit.
Not only is the script magnificent and the performances strong, but the inspired score from composer Randy Newman adds another wrinkle. Dern plays divorce attorney Nora Fanshaw and is simultaneously strong and somewhat villainous. The film allows the viewer to make their own decisions about the characters and Dern’s performance is filled with subtly and layering that makes those moral decisions much harder to make.
Jurassic Park (1993) – 8.1
Though Dern’s career has taken her to the heights of critical and commercial success, few films have defined the actor’s career quite like Jurassic Park. The film follows a paleontologist who is invited to an island populated with a myriad of cloned dinosaurs. While there, a power failure allows the dinosaurs to escape and wreak havoc on the island.
Playing a paleontologist herself, Dern is able to portray a character that is both strong and vulnerable at the same time. Faced with difficult odds, Dern’s Ellie character shows her value in several of the film’s best action sequences. Though Dern has only appeared in a handful of blockbusters, Jurassic Park was the perfect confluence of quality filmmaking with a universally appealing story.
