Mark Ruffalo's Top 15 Films: From Spotlight to Zodiac

Mark Ruffalo is one of those rare actors who can exist with equal ease in both independent cinema and the world's biggest film franchise. Metacritic has ranked Ruffalo's top 15 films based on critic scores — we're counting down.

15. Collateral (2004)

Collateral Ruffalo plays LAPD detective Ray Fanning in Michael Mann's tense crime thriller. While his role is small in a film carried by Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, Ruffalo leaves a memorable presence in Mann's nocturnal Los Angeles.

14. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Where the Wild Things Are Spike Jonze's melancholic adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic. On the way to the island of eight-year-old Max, whose imagination is big and emotions even bigger, Ruffalo represents the adult world framing the fragility of childhood.

13. What Doesn't Kill You (2008)

What Doesn't Kill You An underseen but critically acclaimed crime drama. Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke play small-time criminals trying to escape the tough streets of South Boston; their attempts to straighten out their lives don't go as expected.

12. Arco (2025)

Arco The French animation tells the story of 10-year-old Arco, who travels back in time from the utopian world of 2932 to see dinosaurs. The child misses his target and lands in 2075. Ruffalo is in the English voice cast.

11. Mickey 17 (2025)

Mickey 17 In Bong Joon-ho's post-apocalyptic sci-fi comedy, Ruffalo plays Kenneth Marshall, the head of a mission to colonize an ice planet: an arrogant and comical villain, clearly referencing Trump.

10. Dark Waters (2019)

Dark Waters Todd Haynes' legal thriller based on true events. Ruffalo portrays environmental lawyer Robert Bilott, who takes on DuPont for chemical pollution in a years-long battle — he also produced the film.

9. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok Taika Waititi's third Thor film completely shifts the series' tone to comedy. Ruffalo's Hulk here becomes a fully speaking, grumpy, and comical character for the first time.

8. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame The epic finale of the MCU's first decade and, for a time, the highest-grossing film of all time. Ruffalo's "Professor Hulk" is the logical and surprisingly emotional culmination of the character's long journey.

7. Zodiac (2007)

Zodiac David Fincher's film turns his obsessive gaze to the Zodiac murders. Ruffalo plays detective Dave Toschi, who relentlessly pursues the case; one of the most stoic of his "man seeking justice" roles.

6. Foxcatcher (2014)

Foxcatcher The second of Ruffalo's two films related to the du Pont family. He was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Olympic champion wrestler Dave Schultz; his quiet compassion was as much discussed as his physical transformation.

5. You Can Count on Me (2000)

You Can Count on Me Ruffalo's breakout role came in Kenneth Lonergan's independent drama. As Terry, the wayward brother of lonely mother Sammy (played by Laura Linney), he showcases all the future veins of his acting here.

4. The Kids Are All Right (2010)

The Kids Are All Right Lisa Cholodenko's film starring Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a couple with two teenage children. The family balance is disrupted when the children seek out and find their biological father, Paul; Ruffalo received his first Oscar nomination for this role.

3. Poor Things (2023)

Poor Things In Yorgos Lanthimos' Victorian-era comedy, Ruffalo plays the foppish lawyer Duncan Wedderburn, who abducts Bella Baxter (Emma Stone). His most exaggerated, most overtly comedic performance of his career — and another Oscar nomination.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind In Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman's memory-erasing story, Jim Carrey decides to erase all memories of Clementine (Kate Winslet). Ruffalo, as Stan, a technician at the clinic performing the procedure, carries the film's messy human side.

1. Spotlight (2015)

Spotlight Ruffalo's greatest "justice-seeking" role. He plays investigative journalist Michael Rezendes, who, as part of the Boston Globe's Spotlight team, uncovers the Catholic Church's abuse cover-up. The film won the Best Picture Oscar, and Ruffalo was among the nominees again.