Starting his career as a child, Jake Gyllenhaal has continued to be successful as an adult and made a name for himself in the movie industry. TechTrends put together a list of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time to help you decide which ones you want to watch.
The fact that he had Hollywood parents, director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, had definitely helped him at the beginning of his career. However, he was able to establish himself as a talented actor in a series of movies that came out in the 90s. He has gone on to deliver impressive movies, getting his first Oscar nomination for Brokeback Mountain. Along the way, he has had controversial matters pushing him to take smaller roles but he rebounded. Despite being more interested in independent films, he performed in Marvel’s Spider-Man: Far from Home, as villain Mysterio. He has most recently appeared in Ambulance. Making a short list of the best must-see Jake Gyllenhaal performances was not an easy task, but we narrowed down the list and here are the 12 greatest ones, ranked in order of their ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
Best Jake Gyllenhaal Movies of All Time
Jake Gyllenhaal is a very versatile actor and has done both films and plays. He is always eager to take on roles that are unexpected and challenging. Moreover, he has been nominated for many awards over the years. Without further ado, let’s get to the list of the best Jake Gyllenhaal films of all time.
11. Ambulance 2022
- Genre: Action/Crime
- Director: Michael Bay
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Eiza González, Garret Dillahunt, Keir O’Donnell, Moses Ingram, Jose Pablo Cantillo, and Kayli Tran
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 69%, IMDb 6.2
One of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time, Ambulance, shows director Michael Bay in his best action movie mindset. The Armageddon and Transformers franchise filmmaker comes back with a ride about two robbers who hijack an ambulance to escape. They also take a critically-injured cop as a hostage. This intense movie follows the story of a vet, Mateen, who needs a great amount of money for the surgery of his wife. He decides to join in on a bank robbery with his friend.
Read more: Best Action Movies in 2022
10. Nocturnal Animals 2016
- Genre: Thriller/Drama
- Director: Tom Ford
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Isla Fisher, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Armie Hammer
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 74%, IMDb 7.5
In the movie Nocturnal Animals, Jake Gyllenhaal had a dual role. This thriller revolves around the novelist Edward, played by Gyllenhaal, as he gets together with his former wife Susan, played by Amy Adams, giving her a copy of his novel. She is intrigued by the book and finds out that many parts of the book reflect on their marriage. Gyllenhaal and Adams also play the characters in the book in real life. The movie is quite engaging and interesting. We highly recommend it as one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time.
9. Prisoners 2013
- Genre: Thriller/Crime
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Maria Bello, David Dastmalchian
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 81%, IMDb 8.1
This thought-provoking, mystery movie questions why it takes so long to rescue kidnapped children by families and law enforcement. It also shows how different parties have various responsibilities and emotions. The tension grows gradually in this film as the children’s lives are in danger. Keller Dover and his wife Grace, played by Hugh Jackman and Maria Dover, are celebrating thanksgiving when their child and her friend go missing. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of Detective Loki, and he finds a suspect and starts talking to the families. This is yet another one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time.
Read more: Best Daniel Craig Movies of All Time
8. The Sisters Brothers 2018
- Genre: Western/Drama
- Director: Jacques Audiard
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Joaquin Phoenix, John C. Reilly, Riz Ahmed
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 87%, IMDb 6.9
This is indeed one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time and one of the greatest western films. Although the movie revolves around the world of gunslingers and bounty hunters, it is a quite sensitive movie that shows how vulnerable the masculine characters are. Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reily play the role of Charlie and Eli Sisters, respectively. They are bounty hunters that are tasked to go after the inventor Hermann Kermit Warm, played by Riz Ahmed. Hermann is said to have found a way to detect gold, which is highly lucrative. Warm and investigator John Morris, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, form a bond and the later wants to protect him and get on his mission to make a paradise city in Dallas. When the two brothers get to them, they come to a decision to join them.
Read more: Best Joaquin Phoenix Movies of All Time
7. Donnie Darko 2001
- Genre: Sci-fi/Fantasy
- Director: Richard Kelly
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Seth Rogen, Jena Malone
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 87%, IMDb 8
One of the most interesting directorial debuts ever is when Richard Kelly directed Donnie Darko. A time travel narrative is seen through the eyes of a lonely teenager who a masked figure named Frank visits. The audience need to pay close attention to the film, but the character makes this movie very special. Jake Gyllenhaal performed impressively well, being crucial to the success of the movie. The main character’s attitude is dismissive but Gyllenhaal was able to show his isolation in a way that the audience become sympathetic towards him. As the isolation goes on, Gyllenhaal shows Donnie’s increasing paranoia masterfully. In addition to all that, the character is amusing as well. Therefore, it is also in the list of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time.
6. Brokeback Mountain 2005
- Genre: Romance/Drama
- Director: Ang Lee
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 88%, IMDb 7.7
Gyllenhaal won his sole Oscar award for his incredible performance in the Brokeback Mountain, which was a well-deserved part. The story follows two cowboys and it challenges preconceived notions regarding western masculinity. If it wasn’t for the impressive performance of the two main characters, this movie would not have been so impactful. Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger played the relationship that grows between Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, respectively. The fact that their romance cannot go beyond the remote mountain disturbs them. This is yet another one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time.
5. Stronger 2017
- Genre: Drama
- Director: David Gordon Green
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, John Pollono, Miranda Richardson, Clancy Brown
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 90%, IMDb 6.9
Another one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time is Stronger, which revolves around the story of a survivor who is struggling with anguish, showing the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing. Jeff Bauman, played by Gyllenhaal, lost his legs in that explosion as she was going to the race to cheer his former girlfriend, Erin. Not only did he have to learn how to walk with prosthetic legs, he has to get over his post-traumatic stress disorder. When he meets other people like himself, he comes to the conclusion that his narrative is only one victim’s. Therefore, he grows awareness. This movie captures bravery’s complexity. Despite not thinking that he is a hero, Jeff knows that his recovery can be a motivation for those that are going through a difficult time. This is indeed one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal films of all time.
Read more: Best Drama Movies of All Time
4. Spider-Man: Far from Home 2019
- Genre: Action/Sci-fi
- Director: Jon Watts
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Marisa Tomei, Jacob Batalon, Samuel L. Jackson, Marisa Tomei, Jon Favreau
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 90%, IMDb 7.4
Another one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time is Spider-Man: Far from Home, the second Spider-Man movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie was a box office success as it grossed more than $1 billion. In addition, it was the highest-grossing film for Sony Pictures until the next Spider-Man movie dethroned it. The movie continues the story of Peter Parker and his friends when they go on a school trip to Europe. When he is there, he has to help defeat a number of villains that are causing mayhem across the world and risking his classmates’ lives. The events in this movie are after the Avengers blip back half of the universe, who disappeared. Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of the villain in this MCU movie, Mysterio, and he goes on to showcase a wonderful performance. Therefore, this is yet another one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies ever.
3. Zodiac 2007
- Genre: Mystery
- Director: David Fincher
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Chloë Sevigny, John Carroll Lynch, Brian Cox, Dermot Mulroney
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 89%, IMDb 7.7
One of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time is Zodiac, directed by David Fincher. The movie tells the story of fear pervading San Francisco in the 1960s and early 1970s when a serial killer named Zodiac was terrorizing the people in the city. Investigators and journalists became dedicated to find out who this murderer is and bring him to punishment. While they are doing that, Zodiac keeps taking victims, tormenting police with messages and clothes soaked with blood as well as newspaper ciphers.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays the role of Robert Graysmith, the political cartoonist, and starts working with Robert Downey Jr.’s Paul Avery, who is a real-life journalist of the same name. When Paul gets a letter that threatens his life, he becomes paranoid and starts taking drugs and alcohol to an addiction level. Moreover, another MCU star actor Mark Ruffalo, Hulk, feature in the movie. Therefore, it is a rare treat for the fans who really want to watch these actors together but not in an MCU movie.
Read more: Best Robert Downey Jr. Movies of All Time
2. Wildlife 2018
- Genre: Drama
- Director: Paul Dano
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Carey Mulligan, Ed Oxenbould, Travis Bruyer, Zoe Kazan
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 94%, IMDb 6.8
Paul Dano has his debut directing Wildlife, and it features Jake Gyllenhaal as Jerry Brinson. He is a professional golf player at a Montana country club and gets fascinated by the firefighters who take on blazes in the local forests. He gets a job in fighting those fires but his job is low pay. This leads to him being forced to leave his wife Jeannette and son Joe behind. His wife then gets into an affair with a man named Warren Miller, who not only provides for her family, but fills her loneliness. When Gyllenhaal’s character goes back home and finds out about the affair, he becomes devastated. Despite not being the most upright character, Gyllenhaal was able to deliver a great insight into the reasons behind his actions. Therefore, this is one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time.
1. Nightcrawler 2014
- Genre: Thriller/Crime
- Director: Dan Gilroy
- Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton, Ann Cusack
- Rating: Rotten Tomatoes 95%, IMDb 7.8
One of the darkest yet most acclaimed roles of Jake Gyllenhaal is when he acts as Louis Bloom in Nightcrawler. He plays the role of a petty thief who sees an accident and freelance journalists working around the aftermath. When he realizes that stringers get a lot of money by cashing in on their footage and giving it to local TV news shows, he gets a camcorder and starts selling his footage to a local station in LA. The news producer Nine Romina, played by Rene Russo, starts to rely on the footage Lou provides to get ratings. That reliance is then used against her by Lou as he threatens not to give her the footage if they do not have sex. Gyllenhaal got nominations for Best Actor for the Golden Globes as well as the Screen Actor Guild. This is indeed one of the best Jake Gyllenhaal movies of all time.