Ryan Gosling's ability to embody a diverse variety of memorable characters has made him one of Hollywood’s most celebrated and sought-after actors and earned him the role of Ken in Barbie. Well, his classic good looks also came in handy in that regard, of course.
But, seriously, there are not many actors who can switch from being a charming romantic, like Noah in The Notebook, to an intimidatingly stoic, violent badass, such as the nameless hero from Drive, like the actor has managed to do so easily at various moments in his career. Thus, you will find plenty of variety in our collection of Ryan Gosling’s best movies, along with a quick reference of where to find them.
Barbie (2023)
Director: Greta Gerwig
Starring: Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling
What it's about: Barbie journeys from her idyllic fantasy land to the real world to understand the origin of her sudden identity crisis.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies: Ryan Gosling earned a 2024 Academy Award nomination for his performance as the Barbie cast's Ken – a role he was perfect for, not just for his looks, but his sharp comedic timing and musical talents, which are demonstrated beautifully in this funny, visually stunning, and moving blockbuster.
The Fall Guy (2024)
Director: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
What it's about: Longing to reunite with his former girlfriend, a retired stunt performer agrees to be involved with her directorial debut, but is then tasked with finding its missing star.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies: Gosling's action-hero reputation and comedic skills coerce beautifully in the feature adaptation of '80s TV show The Fall Guy — a love letter to Hollywood stunt coordination available with a Peacock subscription in its theatrical and extended forms.
- Stream The Fall Guy on Peacock
- Stream The Fall Guy (Extended Cut) on Peacock
- Rent or buy The Fall Guy on Amazon
- Buy The Fall Guy on Blu-ray on Amazon
Remember The Titans (2000)
Director: Boaz Yakin
Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Gosling
What it's about: The newly appointed coach of a high school football team attempts to break racial barriers among his players in 1970s Virginia.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies: One of Gosling’s earliest breakout roles was young athlete Alan Bosley in one of the best sports movies of its time, Remember the Titans – a true story about how something as simple as playing football can make a difference.
How to watch Remember the Titans
- Stream Remember the Titans on Disney+
- Rent or buy Remember the Titans on Amazon
- Buy Remember the Titans on Blu-ray on Amazon
Murder By Numbers (2002)
Director: Barbet Schroeder
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt
What it's about: An unlikely pair of teenagers believe they have achieved the perfect crime until they discover that an experienced detective is hot on their trail.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best movies: Murder By Numbers is a clever, underrated crime thriller that sees the actor give one of the darker performances of his early career.
How to watch Murder By Numbers
Half Nelson (2006)
Director: Ryan Fleck, Anna Boden
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Shareeka Epps, Anthony Mackie
What it's about: A Brooklyn middle school history teacher and girls basketball coach forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret drug habit.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Half Nelson is a dark, brutally honest character study that turned Ryan Gosling into an Oscar darling with his 2007 Best Actor nod.
La La Land (2016)
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
What it's about: A struggling musician and a struggling actress fall in love despite their respective career aspirations getting in the way in modern-day Hollywood.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Gosling’s second Oscar-nominated performance and third collaboration with Emma Stone was in writer and director Damien Chazelle’s exhilarating 2016 musical masterpiece, La La Land, for which the actor actually learned to play piano – according to Variety – to great effect.
Crazy Stupid Love (2011)
Director: Glenn Ficarra, John Requa
Starring: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone
What it's about: A hapless middle-aged man is mentored in how to recover from his recent divorce by a young womanizer who ends up experiencing a life-changing meeting with a young woman in an unhappy relationship of her own.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Gosling’s first collaboration with Stone was in Crazy Stupid Love, which is widely considered to be one of the best romantic comedies in recent memory for its clever, honest, and surprisingly timeless analysis of what it really takes to make romance work.
How to watch Crazy Stupid Love
First Man (2018)
Director: Damien Chazelle
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Claire Foy
What it's about: Neil Armstrong struggles to ensure that his maiden voyage to the Moon will be a safe one while also struggling to hold his family together in the wake of a heartbreaking tragedy.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: First Man is a revealing, visually stunning, Oscar-winning inside look at the private life of astronaut Neil Armstrong, whom the actor prepared to play by meeting with NASA.
The Big Short (2015)
Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Brad Pitt
What it's about: An eccentric fund manager suspects that the housing market is in trouble, which banking executives and financial investors selfishly try to take advantage of.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Gosling’s aforementioned classic looks were toned down a bit for The Big Short – a revealing, comically meta, and Oscar-winning inside look at the days leading to the housing market crisis in 2005.
- Stream The Big Short on Paramount+
- Stream The Big Short on Pluto TV
- Rent or buy The Big Short on Amazon
- Buy The Big Short on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Nice Guys (2016)
Director: Shane Black
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling
What it's about: Two private investigators – one a hardened, no-nonsense professional, the other a bumbling, alcoholic single father – team up to solve dual mysteries of a missing teenager and a murdered porn star in 1977 Los Angeles.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: The Nice Guys – is a fun, subversive, screwball farce disguised as a deconstructive throwback to buddy cop movies that fans hope gets a sequel someday.
Lars And The Real Girl (2007)
Director: Craig Gillespie
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider
What it's about: A man and his wife struggle to be supportive when his introverted brother finds love with a mail-order sex doll.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Another comedy that shows the goofier side of Gosling (but in a more bizarre and heartbreaking way) is the quirky, quasi-rom-com, Lars and the Real Girl – a somewhat dark look at the lengths one will go to feel loved when they cannot already sense it in their life.
How to watch Lars and the Real Girl
- Stream Lars and the Real Girl on MGM+
- Stream Lars and the Real Girl on Tubi
- Stream Lars and the Real Girl on Pluto TV
- Buy or rent Lars And The Real Girl on Amazon
- Buy Lars and the Real Girl on DVD on Amazon
The Notebook (2004)
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, Gena Rowlands
What it's about: An elderly man visits an Alzheimer’s patient in a nursing home, where he reads to her the heartbreaking and heartwarming story of star-crossed lovers Noah and Allie in the 1940s.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: A drama that shows the more charming and romantic side of Gosling, and is also one of the best Rachel McAdams movies, is The Notebook – an instant classic romantic drama that skyrocketed original author Nicolas Sparks into the mainstream.
- Stream The Notebook on Netflix
- Rent or buy The Notebook on Amazon
- Buy The Notebook on Blu-ray on Amazon
Blue Valentine (2010)
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams
What it's about: Outside circumstances – including family upbringings and financial hardships – cause a painful strain on the marriage of a painter and a nurse.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: A drama that shows another romantic, but also far more intense, side of Gosling is Blue Valentine – a bleak, brutal, Oscar-nominee, which is also one of Michelle Williams’ best movies.
- Stream Blue Valentine on Tubi
- Rent or buy Blue Valentine on Amazon
- Buy Blue Valentine on Blu-ray on Amazon
The Place Beyond The Pines (2012)
Director: Derek Cianfrance
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes
What it's about: In order to provide for his lover and their newborn child, a motorcycle rider turns to bank robbery, which then puts him on the trail of a hotshot rookie cop in Schenectady, New York.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: The Place Beyond the Pines – another bleak romance and intense crime drama starring Gosling as a skilled stunt rider living a double life as a criminal – sparked his romance with Mendes, who is now his wife.
How to watch The Place Beyond the Pines
Drive (2011)
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston
What it's about: In order to protect the woman of his dreams, a Hollywood stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway driver agrees to help pull off a seemingly simple job that goes horribly wrong.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Another modern, great film noir movie that sees Gosling play a stoic stuntman with a criminal double life is Drive – a pulse-pounding, beautifully shot, atmospherically unique instant classic.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford
What it's about: A cop who specializes in hunting and “retiring” artificial beings known as Replicants comes across a mystery that could change the world (and his own life) forever in a dystopian Los Angeles.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Another visually and emotionally stunning crime drama that takes great advantage of Gosling’s penchant for stoicism is Blade Runner 2049 – an epic, Oscar-winning sequel to Ridley Scott’s celebrated 1982 sci-fi classic that some argue is the better of the two for its stunning production design and powerfully inventive technological commentary.
How to watch Blade Runner 2049
Fracture (2007)
Director: Gregory Hoblit
Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Ryan Gosling
What it's about: A young, hot-shot lawyer struggles to prosecute a wealthy engineer who confessed to murdering his wife and her lover due to his manipulative ways of working the system.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Another fascinating crime thriller that sees Gosling at odds with corruption is 2007’s Fracture, which puts the actor in a twisted cat-and-mouse game with the great, two-time Academy Award winner, Hopkins.
The Believer (2001)
Director: Harry Bean
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Summer Phoenix
What it's about: A fiercely devout, strongly anti-Semitic KKK member struggles to keep his Jewish upbringing a secret in the 1960s.
Why it’s one of Ryan Gosling’s best: Based on a shocking true story, The Believer is another fascinating thriller that will never allow you to look at Gosling the same way again.
Enjoy all of these films starring your favorite Canadian heartthrob named Ryan (save Ryan Reynolds).
