Now onto our list of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies. “Leo” has been one of the biggest movie stars for two decades. Leonardo DiCaprio’s filmography is one of the richest in modern cinema. Yet, although he grew up on screen, in front of viewers’ eyes, there is still an undiscovered quality about the actor.
Like many other actors before him, DiCaprio has spent much of his career trying to upend the expectations we had of him, going from moviegoer idol to sinister poet to tortured soul before to settle, over the past decade, into his comfort zone as the most interesting and ambitious star of the moment.
He’s worked five times with Martin Scorsese, as well as Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Baz Luhrmann, Clint Eastwood, Danny Boyle and Woody Allen, but the movies all seem to be his as much as theirs. Let’s discover Leonardo DiCaprio’s best films together.
Discover our top 15 best Leonardo DiCaprio movies
15) Romeo + Juliette – 1996
We start our list of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies with Romeo + Juliet . By director Baz Luhrmann’s flamboyant standards, this update to Shakespeare’s tragedy provided DiCaprio with one of his best young darling roles, playing Romeo as a beach kid whose head is on fire and whose emotions jump out at you. Early in his career, Leo was particularly good at expressing the essence of young love, with his impossible highs, giddy infatuation and irrepressible sexual urges.
In Romeo + Juliet, the chemistry between him and Claire Danes is tremendous, and their bond is so poignant precisely because we know their fragile and whirlwind romance cannot last. A year later, DiCaprio returned to that film’s melodramatic approach for a short film about two crazed young adults on an ocean liner…
Director: Baz Luhrmann Genres: Drama Casting: John Leguizamo, Paul Rudd, Claire Danes, Paul Sorvino, Christina Pickles, Brian Dennehy, Miriam Margolyes
14) Aviator – 2004
For his second collaboration with Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio starred as famed aviation magnate, filmmaker, and recluse Howard Hughes in the lavish biopic The Aviator . Both bold trailblazer and unstable eccentric, DiCaprio’s Hughes follows in a long line of troubled Scorsese protagonists who strive for greatness while battling self-destructive impulses.
The actor brings a larger-than-life magnetism to the historical figure, whose ambitions were as outsized as his love of women was inextinguishable and his complexes were ultimately crippling. Radiating first with overweening arrogance, then with maniacal madness, DiCaprio captures the greatness of Hughes’ personality and life. Standing confidently in each of Scorsese’s evocative close-ups, it’s arguably his most underrated performance to date. One of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best films.
Director : Martin Scorsese Genres : History, Biography, Drama Cast : Kate Beckinsale, Cate Blanchett, Willem Dafoe, Alan Alda, Jude Law, Ian Holm,…
13) Gangs Of New York – 2002
We continue our top 15 of the best Leonardo DiCaprio films with yet another film by Martin Scorsese, the brilliant Gangs of New York . After achieving superstardom thanks to Titanic , Leonardo DiCaprio wisely chose to partner with some of America’s most illustrious filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese, beginning with the director’s long-in-the-making historical epic, about the clashes between Protestants and Catholics for control of Manhattan in the mid-1880s.
As Amsterdam Vallon, a young man seeking revenge for his father’s murder of Daniel-Day-Lewis’ Bill the Butcher, DiCaprio holds the center of a sprawling and violent saga about the social and religious battles that have to define the future of New York and, by extension, the country. DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz carry out their romantic obligations with aplomb, but it’s the actor’s scenes facing a hulking Day-Lewis that truly matches the brutality of Scorsese’s plays.
Director : Martin Scorsese Genres : Drama Casting : Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent
12) Don’t Look Up – 2021
Leonardo DiCaprio leads an all-star cast in this Adam McKay comedy, where he plays Dr. Randall Mindy, a neutral-minded astronomer caught in a whirlwind of deception and disillusionment when a deadly comet is heading towards Earth. Although the film is ostensibly a comedy, DiCaprio finds tender tones in the story, delivering a tragicomic performance as a good man bewildered by the temptation of the apocalypse.
It’s a more muted performance than you usually see from the actor, but don’t worry, he still finds time for a classic Leo Freakout when he loses his temper over the presenters. of cable newspapers played by Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry. Without being one of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies, you have a great performance by Leonardo DiCaprio.
Director : Adam McKay Genres : Comedy Cast : Jennifer Lawrence, Timothée Chamalet, Ariana Grande, Cate Blanchett, Meryl Streep, Mark Rylance, Chris Evans, Jonah Hill,…
11) The Great Gatsby – 2013
Based on the famous novel of the same name by F Scott Fitzgerald (1925), this Oscar-winning romantic drama revolves around Nick Carraway, a writer and street vendor, who is drawn into the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor Jay Gatsby. Guess that could be said of many of DiCaprio’s roles, but Jay Gatsby seems like a character he was tailor-made for.
Despite all the efforts of the paparazzi, it seems that Leo’s life is full of mysteries that have yet to be revealed. Dressed like a prince. An elegant hairstyle. A bunch of insecurities lurking beneath the surface. It’s no surprise that Leo pulled off this stunt. One of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best films.
Réalisateur : Baz Luhrmann Genres : Drame Casting : Tobey Maguire, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Jason Clarke, Amitabh Bachchan, Carey Mulligan, Lisa Adam
Make way for our top 10 best Leonardo DiCaprio movies
10) Blood Diamond – 2006
We start our top 10 best Leonardo DiCaprio movies with Blood Diamond . With a less important main role than usual, the epic of Edward Zwick would have remained a simple treasure hunt, lost among the other films of the continent which tried it. But with DiCaprio as Danny Archer, a diamond smuggler who has no country or moral compass, the performance became the high point of his (at the time) career.
The film desperately seeks a tale of redemption – DiCaprio refuses. Instead, he plays Archer like the scum he is. It also works, powerfully, against the actor’s own physical form. He won’t let you love him – and that’s, of course, why we love him.
Director : Edward Zwick Genres : Drama, Thriller, Adventure Casting : Jennifer Connelly, Michael Sheen, Djimon Hounsou, Kagiso Kuypers, Arnold Vosloo
9) Once upon a time… in Hollywood – 2019
It’s perhaps no surprise that Brad Pitt has garnered so much attention for director Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film. Newly single and sober, and shirtless for a scene, he delivered his best performance in years. But if he was the headliner, DiCaprio was the heart of the film. He plays the role of Rick Dalton, a fading actor who, drunkenly, clings to his former glory, with real emotion. If Once Upon A Time…Hollywood isn’t Tarantino’s best film, it’s still one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best films.
Director : Quentin Tarantino Genres : Comedy, Drama Cast : Brad Pitt, Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Al Pacino, Rumer Willis, Austin Butler, Margaret Qualley
8) Django Unchained – 2012
We continue our rise in the ranking of the best Leonardo DiCaprio films with another Quentin Tarantino film, Django Unchained . After flourishing under the guidance of Spielberg, Scorsese, Cameron, Nolan, Luhrmann, Boyle, Eastwood and Mendes, DiCaprio gave a unique performance to another author – Quentin Tarantino – in Django Unchained . DiCaprio’s Calvin J. Candie is one of the vilest 19th century Southern plantation owners, and his possession of Kerry Washington’s Broomhilda makes him the primary target of Jamie Foxx’s vengeful freed slave.
With his slicked back hair, devilishly pointed goatee, and carnivorous grin that belies his cold, ruthless sociopathy, Candie is a high-society mobster with low morals and even darker instincts, and he serves as a captivating and detestable counterweight to the Avenger. virtuous of Foxx. It’s stark confirmation that Leonardo DiCaprio, despite being a top man, is perfectly suited for villainy.
Réalisateur : Quentin Tarantino Genres : Western, Drame Casting : Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson, Kerry Washington, Christoph Waltz, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Carradine
7) The Departed – 2006
In 7th place in our top 15 best Leonardo DiCaprio films, we find The Departed . 2006 was a great year for the actor. DiCaprio did much of the work in his other high-profile film that year – Blood Diamond , which we’ve already covered above, and for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. But his best work came from this superb thriller, The Departed (remake of a South Korean film).
In the role of Billy Costigan, an agent of the state who infiltrates the underworld, he brings an animal vulnerability to the screen that, in truth, the role did not need to be appreciated. (With partners such as Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg, no one has had to do a lot of work). We consider Martin Scorsese and DiCaprio to be one of modern cinema’s great and inevitable team-ups, and it’s here, in their third duo, that they really found their creative groove.
Réalisateur : Martin Scorsese Genres : Crime, Drame, Thriller Casting : Mark Wahlberg, Matt Damon, Vera Farmiga, Jack Nicholson, Alec Baldwin, Anthony Anderson, Robert Wahlberg
6) Catch Me If You Can – 2002
How can you not put Catch Me If You Can at the top of our list of the best Leonardo DiCaprio movies? Considering all of the demon roles DiCaprio has played, it’s a treat to see him star as a con man in an underrated film in Spielberg’s filmography. Light on his legs and obviously having a blast, DiCaprio charms you as Frank Abagnale, a teenage con man so adept at his craft you can’t help but get carried away by him.
DiCaprio smartly lends weight to this thug — in no small part due to his heartbroken, sad father, beautifully portrayed by Christopher Walken — and while his portrayal works best when he’s having a good time, DiCaprio still lets the spirit shine through. frightened child hiding behind. (Tom Hanks is his perfect counterbalance in this respect).
Director : Steven Spielberg Genres : Drama, Crime, Biography Casting : Tom Hanks, Jennifer Garner, Christopher Walken, Amy Adams, Martin Sheen, Ellen Pompeo, Elizabeth Banks
5) The Revenant – 2015
Directed by Oscar-winning Birdman Alejandro G. Iñárritu , The Revenant is a brutal tale of survival, in which an 1820s pioneer endures a Native American ambush, a bear attack, and the betrayal of one of his companions (Tom Hardy) who leaves him for dead. Leo’s character is a tight-lipped man, but in such a primitive story, words don’t matter: The Revenant is easily the most physical role of his career, the actor growls, stretches and fights on an unforgiving ground to regain civilization.
His Oscar win is another example of a respected actor receiving his Oscar for being “due” rather than for doing the best work of his life. Still, this might be the movie that will make some people stop complaining that DiCaprio doesn’t have the clout to play tough characters.
Director : Alejandro González Iñárritu Genres : Drama, Adventure, Thriller Cast : Will Poulter, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Forrest Goodluck
4) The Wolf of Wall Street – 2013
As you may have already noticed, many of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best films are works by Martin Scorsese. These are very different interpretations, but they are all great in their own way. DiCaprio plays a truly loathsome character here (Jordan Belfort), but he portrays him with such zest and enthusiasm that it’s perhaps no surprise that young people on Wall Street have completely ignored the subtext and took this film as the story of a hero’s journey to the top.
Leonardo DiCaprio is fantastic from start to finish, but we especially love how he never blinks, never gives in to the idea that this guy is a freak, never shows anything but the absolute certainty that the world was made especially for him to conquer.
Director : Martin Scorsese Genres : Comedy, Drama, Crime, Biography Cast : Matthew McConaughey, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, Jon Bernthal, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau, Joanna Lumley
3) Titanic – 1997
Considering the scale of the film and its technically groundbreaking nature, it took two absolutely charming actors to give this film a human character. That’s exactly what Leo did. Nothing more, nothing less. He is human to the core. And that’s exactly why Jack’s death still hits so hard over two decades later. We want to see it live.
Few young actors of his age or era could have captured our hearts like that. And I have to say that part of what puts this movie so high on this list is the fact that Leo not only overcame the enormous baggage of Titanic, but continued to defy the expectations he premiered in 1997. Welcome to the podium of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best films.
Réalisateur : James Cameron Genres : Drame Casting : Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates, Billy Zane, Bill Paxton, Eric Braeden, Gloria Stuart
2) Shutter Island – 2010
Among the most controversial films of DiCaprio’s career, Shutter Island is an elegantly disturbing portrayal of a man slowly losing his mind. As Marshal Teddy Daniels, who thinks he’s searching for a missing inmate on a criminally insane island, DiCaprio must act out his character’s psychosis, while also hinting at the ugly truth: He’s actually a patient. himself, unable to come to terms with the fact that his wife (Michelle Williams) killed their children.
Whether you like the plot twist of Shutter Island or not , the film is about exploring the depths of misery and denial that riddle this man, and Leonardo DiCaprio is electrifying in that specific feature, conveying all the heartache that gnaws at Teddy. Shutter Island is often compared to Hitchcock movies, which is fitting since Leo delivers a performance that rivals that of Jimmy Stewart or Cary Grant, two former Hollywood stars who bravely opted for darkness while working with a film master.
Director : Martin Scorsese Genres : Thriller Cast : Ben Kingsley, Mark Ruffalo, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams
1) Inception – 2010
Many of the previously listed films could have topped the list of best Leonardo DiCaprio films. But like many, Inception deserves its place. DiCaprio’s biggest hit since Titanic , Inception is the first real event movie he’s been in since sensation James Cameron. Part of the fun of this thriller comes from the fact that it’s at the center of it all, bringing just the right amount of soul and sophistication to its role as a thief who infiltrates people’s subconscious.
Credit to Leonardo DiCaprio for not turning his early stardom into a lame cop series, and in Inception , he found this rare four-part thriller with enough smarts, emotion, and nuance. Dom Cobb isn’t a tragic figure because he lost his wife, but rather because he never came to terms with her, and DiCaprio imbues the character with endless angst that complements the jaw-dropping effects and the twisted sci-fi concept from the film.
Réalisateur : Christopher Nolan Genres : Action, Aventure, Thriller, Science-Fiction Casting : Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Berenger, Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Talulah Riley
