(Clockwise from top left:) Halloween (Photo: Compass International Pictures), Trading Places (Screenshot: Paramount Pictures), Everything Everywhere All At Once (Photo: Allyson Riggs/A24), True Lies (Screenshot: 20th Century Fox)Graphic: The A.V. Club
Jamie Lee Curtis invented horror cinema. Okay, not really, but she did pioneer an important slasher movie trope, starting with the 1978 classic Halloween. And she may as well have invented effortless sultriness (in True Lies), self-deprecating comedy (from Freaky Friday to Everything Everywhere All At Once), and the concept of being horny for foreign languages (A Fish Called Wanda). There’s seemingly very little the actor, producer, activist, and screen legend can’t do.
With so many varieties of films and performances under her belt, and with the arrival of Halloween Ends, the conclusion to the long-running horror franchise, we at The A.V. Club decided the time was right to take stock of Curtis’ best work. So read on to see where the likes of Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda and, of course, the Halloween franchise rank.
14. Perfect (1985)
[HQ] Jamie Lee Curtis & John Travolta Fitness Scene in “Perfect (1985)“ Director: James Bridges
The 1985 romantic drama is based on a series of articles published in Rolling Stone about the Los Angeles health club scene and how singles embraced it. The movie was released during the height of that 1980s exercise craze and stars Jamie Lee Curtis as Jessie Wilson, a ridiculously fit aerobics instructor who has some trust issues with journalists. This makes her initially wary of Adam Lawrence (John Travolta), a Rolling Stone reporter who wants to interview her about singles and the fitness scene. Jessie agrees and even becomes romantically involved with Adam, which causes him to lose his objectivity. She is furious when the heavily edited article is published, but she eventually comes to believe that Adam didn’t do her dirty and that his original article is not what ended up in the magazine. Perfect is far from perfect and didn’t give the box office a workout. But memes of when both actors were in peak physical condition are so common today that you would think the movie was a blockbuster. [Robert DeSalvo]
These recent Halloween movies have been hot garbage. You can have the first one at the top but get the rest out of here. She had had much better roles.Road Games is really good, should be higher.
Ah, no. I can’t really give it away without…. oh, heck, it’s still a good movie.Keach’s truck driver character chased the baddie into a narrow alley, while being pursued by the police. The baddie’s car stalled before it could get out. Keach’s truck found itself in a space so narrow he couldn’t even open the doors, and moving forward was out of the question because a catwalk across the alley didn’t give him enough clearance. And he couldn’t back up, because the police car chasing him got too close and jammed itself under his rear bumper!A car chase – where none of the vehicles can move!
Even the first one is a victim of its own success as other slasher franchises became more incentive in terms of kills or style the Halloween series are just dull.
Well it COULD be because Halloween wasn’t initially intended to be a series with Meyers, it was supposed to be an Anthology type series, but when Halloween 3 Season of the Witch did poorly they went back with Meyers for the rest of the series.
I like Halloween H20, shame they had to undo all that with Resurrection.
FWIW I’d have put Wanda and Trading Places in top 2, though not sure which one is absolute best.
I agree with the point made about how regressive Helen Tasker’s role is in True Lies, before coming into her own. Despite that it’s a great film, if slightly overlong.
For me, AFCW, it’s a meatier / starring role and she’s just amazing, don’t get me wrong, she’s terrific in TP, but Wanda has:“Yes they do, Otto, they just don’t understand it! Now let me correct you on a couple things, okay? Aristotle was not Belgian! The central message of Buddhism is not “Every man for himself!” And the London Underground is not a political movement! Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked ‘em up.”:D
I’m going to have to rewatch A Fish Called Wanda (not a hardship) to be certain, but I’m pretty sure every time Otto yells “asshole” at a Brit, he’s driving. That is, he’s driving on the right, not left, side of the road. I think you don’t really see that, but it’s implied. I think. Otto would never think he should drive on the left, why would you drive on the left??? It’s a hilarious movie, and each time I see it a different character is the funniest in the film for me…
Hahaha, yes, he’s so angry AND so wrong, there’s at least one scene where you can see – pretty clearly – he’s on the wrong side of the road. Otto is one of the greatest characters ever, love Kevin Kline, glad we at least get to hear more of him on Bob’s Burgers. 🙂
Did you know the ridiculous “it was actually a paramedic wearing Myers’ mask” retcon was actually planned all along? That obviously wasn’t known to audiences in 1998, but it was filmed with that in mind as a compromise to keep both Curtis (who only wanted to make the film if she got to kill Myers) and Moustapha Akkad (who very much did not want Myers explicitly dead) happy. They admitted this a few years ago and, if you watch the scene knowing that, it checks out.
I know no one has seen Love Letters (1983), but it’s a really good movie and Jamie Lee’s first non-horror dramatic role. Leaving it off the list was…typical.
Glancing at the thumbnail(s) atop the article, I saw the one (unbeknownst to me) from “Trading Places”, and was all,“When did Jamie Lee Curtis do Rocky Horror cosplay?”
I rewatched Prom Night last year and it isn’t as good (like at all) as I remembered it. But I still love the start and the end of it.I need to rewatch the Fog as well, that scared the shit out of me as a kid as They played it at least 1 time a year on ABC Sunday night movies.
Yeah, The Fog is up there on my list of favorite John Carpenter movies. I just don’t really consider it a JLC movie, though. She was just in this weird position of being ‘this other character swept along for the ride’. The focus and agency leaned more on Adrienne Barbeau’s Lighthouse keeper/radio DJ.
The Fog and the Thing were two horror movies showed on Sunday Night TV in the 80’s that gave them both so much more life after being pulled from the theater.
Not sure if it’s held up over time, and it’s not a film, but her timing on Anything But Love playing off of Richard Lewis’ neurotic energy was really good if my memory holds. She’s so fantastic in Trading Places.
In one of Curtis’ most memorable scenes, she dresses up as a backpacker “from Sveden” in order to help the guys pull off a heist on a train.I read this as “the most memorable scene” and was expecting what we all know is the most memorable scene, perhaps of her entire career. When I finished the sentence, I had to re-read and yeah, OK, the backpacker is one of the most memorable.
Given how iconic she is I was thinking there had to be more quality options for this list, but looking at her IMDB she looks to have filmed about a movie per year for most of her career (and a bunch are cruddy Halloween sequels). I might add her role in Tailor of Panama but it was admittedly a pretty quiet performance.Really between Halloween, Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda, True Lies and now Knives Out she’s been part of so many modern classics that it keeps her profile elevated.
The Tailor of Panama was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I almost walked out, it was so boring. Even JLC’s boobs couldn’t make it worth the $1o I paid.
It’s not as strong of a character as in A Fish Called Wanda, but I love Fierce Creatures as well. It’s very much the same farce but with a different skin.
I’m still hoping she cameos in a Christopher Guest comedy, seeing as they’ve been married for 38 years. I also think she’d kill at that sort of deadpan improv character-tic style – could easily imagine her as a minor character in Best in Show, for example.
I’m still hoping she cameos in a Christopher Guest comedy, seeing as they’ve been married for 38 years. That would be great – I wonder why they’ve never worked together.I sort of met them both once – at a bookstore when her mom (Janet Leigh) was signing her autobiography. Guest and Curtis entered quietly and sat in the back of the room. They didn’t want to be noticed and I think I was the only one who did notice them. I just said hello and nothing else – Jamie was just beaming, and said “isn’t this great?”
Fun fact: she’s actually an English baroness though marriage – her full title is Jamie Lee Curtis, Baroness Haden-Guest. (Although she and her husband have both said they don’t care about silly peerage stuff and don’t use the titles)
Reading about Perfect makes me think of Moment by Moment, where the very gay John Travolta and the very lesbian Lily Tomlin struggle to summon some tiny spark of romantic chemistry between them. But going over these examples, it feels like Curtis has spent a lot of her career stuck in roles unworthy of her or only drawing on a certain aspect of her craft. It feels like there’s a parallel universe somewhere where she’s got a Meryl/Cate Blanchett prestige-level career. She’s certainly got the talent for it.
effortless sultriness (in True LiesIt’s not supposed to be effortless in-universe.
Despite having to wear a god-awful wig to try to match Laurie’s hair
from the first film, Curtis cemented her scream queen status in 1981’s
Halloween II.
She’s hardly in that movie, spending her time in a hospital bed.
Since this is performances, not just film performances, I’d like to add Jess’ mother from New Girl. Whether she’s being parent trapped, hit on by her daughter’s infatuated room mate, or wrangling with her ex-husband, she was a perfect choice.
Oh, “Perfect” is her worst performance, eh? Okay, let’s see how bad this i-… … … i don’t see how people who are into women couldn’t give that movie an immediate pass o_o… and let’s face it, if you’re into guys, you’ll give it a pass too
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These recent Halloween movies have been hot garbage. You can have the first one at the top but get the rest out of here. She had had much better roles.Road Games is really good, should be higher.
Agreed on Road Games, which, by the way, has one of the most unusual car chases you will ever see…..
Was there “hot merging action”?
Ah, no. I can’t really give it away without…. oh, heck, it’s still a good movie.Keach’s truck driver character chased the baddie into a narrow alley, while being pursued by the police. The baddie’s car stalled before it could get out. Keach’s truck found itself in a space so narrow he couldn’t even open the doors, and moving forward was out of the question because a catwalk across the alley didn’t give him enough clearance. And he couldn’t back up, because the police car chasing him got too close and jammed itself under his rear bumper!A car chase – where none of the vehicles can move!
Even the first one is a victim of its own success as other slasher franchises became more incentive in terms of kills or style the Halloween series are just dull.
Well it COULD be because Halloween wasn’t initially intended to be a series with Meyers, it was supposed to be an Anthology type series, but when Halloween 3 Season of the Witch did poorly they went back with Meyers for the rest of the series.
The problem was making Halloween 2 in between. You don’t shift to anthology mode in the third film after a normal sequel!
Very true.
Her significance to the Halloween franchise has been inflated after the fact. Trading Places made her a name.
I like Halloween H20, shame they had to undo all that with Resurrection.
FWIW I’d have put Wanda and Trading Places in top 2, though not sure which one is absolute best.
I agree with the point made about how regressive Helen Tasker’s role is in True Lies, before coming into her own. Despite that it’s a great film, if slightly overlong.
For me, AFCW, it’s a meatier / starring role and she’s just amazing, don’t get me wrong, she’s terrific in TP, but Wanda has:“Yes they do, Otto, they just don’t understand it! Now let me correct you on a couple things, okay? Aristotle was not Belgian! The central message of Buddhism is not “Every man for himself!” And the London Underground is not a political movement! Those are all mistakes, Otto. I looked ‘em up.”:D
That’s weird I tweeted that quote earlier, because it was stuck in my head after going through this slide show.
I’ve worn dresses with a higher IQ!
I’m going to have to rewatch A Fish Called Wanda (not a hardship) to be certain, but I’m pretty sure every time Otto yells “asshole” at a Brit, he’s driving.
That is, he’s driving on the right, not left, side of the road. I think you don’t really see that, but it’s implied. I think. Otto would never think he should drive on the left, why would you drive on the left???
It’s a hilarious movie, and each time I see it a different character is the funniest in the film for me…
Hahaha, yes, he’s so angry AND so wrong, there’s at least one scene where you can see – pretty clearly – he’s on the wrong side of the road. Otto is one of the greatest characters ever, love Kevin Kline, glad we at least get to hear more of him on Bob’s Burgers. 🙂
Resurrection is the prime example of a sequel so wretched, it legitimately damages the previous film.
Did you know the ridiculous “it was actually a paramedic wearing Myers’ mask” retcon was actually planned all along? That obviously wasn’t known to audiences in 1998, but it was filmed with that in mind as a compromise to keep both Curtis (who only wanted to make the film if she got to kill Myers) and Moustapha Akkad (who very much did not want Myers explicitly dead) happy. They admitted this a few years ago and, if you watch the scene knowing that, it checks out.
Knowing that is somehow worse than not knowing. Man alive Hollywood is stupid.
Trading Places—showing off her great rack.
I know no one has seen Love Letters (1983), but it’s a really good movie and Jamie Lee’s first non-horror dramatic role. Leaving it off the list was…typical.
Turns out that Eugene Hunt (actor/activist Ron Silver) witnessed the shooting
In my head canon, Jamie Lee Curtis’s character in The Fog is Laurie from Halloween, on the run trying to start a new life & using a fake name
Glancing at the thumbnail(s) atop the article, I saw the one (unbeknownst to me) from “Trading Places”, and was all,“When did Jamie Lee Curtis do Rocky Horror cosplay?”
Despite what you may have heard, Jamie Lee Curtis is not a sweet transvestite from Transexual… Transylvania… a-ha.
“I’ll start by spreading a destructing rumor about her, like the famous one I made up about Jamie Lee Curtis.” – Jenna Maroney
…says *you*. 😉
I loved Prom Night as a kid (and the Fog as well). Can’t wait for Friday, even though Halloween Kills sucked.
The Fog is still great fun. I don’t think Prom Night has held up as well.
I rewatched Prom Night last year and it isn’t as good (like at all) as I remembered it. But I still love the start and the end of it.I need to rewatch the Fog as well, that scared the shit out of me as a kid as They played it at least 1 time a year on ABC Sunday night movies.
Yeah, The Fog is up there on my list of favorite John Carpenter movies. I just don’t really consider it a JLC movie, though. She was just in this weird position of being ‘this other character swept along for the ride’. The focus and agency leaned more on Adrienne Barbeau’s Lighthouse keeper/radio DJ.
The Fog was on TV Sunday as part of a Halloween kick-off. Still amazing.
The Fog and the Thing were two horror movies showed on Sunday Night TV in the 80’s that gave them both so much more life after being pulled from the theater.
Halloween Kills was so bad it’s hard to believe the same people made the previous movie.
100% this. The drop off between the two movies is as big as the drop off between H20 and that sack of shit that came out after it.
Not sure if it’s held up over time, and it’s not a film, but her timing on Anything But Love playing off of Richard Lewis’ neurotic energy was really good if my memory holds. She’s so fantastic in Trading Places.
In one of Curtis’ most memorable scenes, she dresses up as a backpacker “from Sveden” in order to help the guys pull off a heist on a train.I read this as “the most memorable scene” and was expecting what we all know is the most memorable scene, perhaps of her entire career. When I finished the sentence, I had to re-read and yeah, OK, the backpacker is one of the most memorable.
Given how iconic she is I was thinking there had to be more quality options for this list, but looking at her IMDB she looks to have filmed about a movie per year for most of her career (and a bunch are cruddy Halloween sequels). I might add her role in Tailor of Panama but it was admittedly a pretty quiet performance.Really between Halloween, Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda, True Lies and now Knives Out she’s been part of so many modern classics that it keeps her profile elevated.
The Tailor of Panama was one of the worst movies I have ever seen. I almost walked out, it was so boring. Even JLC’s boobs couldn’t make it worth the $1o I paid.
Its true. In the whole movie the tailor manages to make like one suit. More tailoring should have occurred.
It’s not as strong of a character as in A Fish Called Wanda, but I love Fierce Creatures as well. It’s very much the same farce but with a different skin.
I’d flip-flop the top two
I’m still hoping she cameos in a Christopher Guest comedy, seeing as they’ve been married for 38 years. I also think she’d kill at that sort of deadpan improv character-tic style – could easily imagine her as a minor character in Best in Show, for example.
I’m still hoping she cameos in a Christopher Guest comedy, seeing as they’ve been married for 38 years.
That would be great – I wonder why they’ve never worked together.I sort of met them both once – at a bookstore when her mom (Janet Leigh) was signing her autobiography. Guest and Curtis entered quietly and sat in the back of the room. They didn’t want to be noticed and I think I was the only one who did notice them. I just said hello and nothing else – Jamie was just beaming, and said “isn’t this great?”
There might be a clue as to why they haven’t at the end of this interview.https://www.avclub.com/christopher-guest-1798207867
The secret to a long and happy marriage is to brusquely hang up the phone any time someone asks about your wife.
The end of this AV Club interview with Christopher Guest might give an inkling as to why that isn’t the case, perhaps.https://www.avclub.com/christopher-guest-1798207867
Fun fact: she’s actually an English baroness though marriage – her full title is Jamie Lee Curtis, Baroness Haden-Guest. (Although she and her husband have both said they don’t care about silly peerage stuff and don’t use the titles)
Baroness Haden-GuestIf these two are in the next Dune, I’m writing Denis a very strongly-worded letter.
Her part of “Rona Mace”. No more needs to be said.
I was going to complain that A Fish Called Wanda is underappreciated on this list… but that is not the case. Carry on, AVClub.
What, no Beverly Hills Chihuahua?
Curtis removing her glasses in Wanda is the most attractive any human being has ever been.
Reading about Perfect makes me think of Moment by Moment, where the very gay John Travolta and the very lesbian Lily Tomlin struggle to summon some tiny spark of romantic chemistry between them.
But going over these examples, it feels like Curtis has spent a lot of her career stuck in roles unworthy of her or only drawing on a certain aspect of her craft. It feels like there’s a parallel universe somewhere where she’s got a Meryl/Cate Blanchett prestige-level career. She’s certainly got the talent for it.
Honorable mention: The Tailor Of Panama (1999)
effortless sultriness (in True LiesIt’s not supposed to be effortless in-universe.
Despite having to wear a god-awful wig to try to match Laurie’s hair
from the first film, Curtis cemented her scream queen status in 1981’s
Halloween II.
She’s hardly in that movie, spending her time in a hospital bed.
A bad decision Halloween Kills decided, you know what, let’s repeat!
She’s hardly in that movie, spending her time in a hospital bed.
Just like Halloween Kills“It’s like poetry, it rhymes.”
She’s in a lot of that movie, being chased through the hospital through most of the second half.
Screw the movies, I’d like to offer up Dean Munsch as her best performance. You can tell she absolutely loved it too.
No Fierce Creatures? It might be a lesser Fish Called Wanda, but that means it’s still incredible.
Since this is performances, not just film performances, I’d like to add Jess’ mother from New Girl. Whether she’s being parent trapped, hit on by her daughter’s infatuated room mate, or wrangling with her ex-husband, she was a perfect choice.
Oh, “Perfect” is her worst performance, eh? Okay, let’s see how bad this i-… … … i don’t see how people who are into women couldn’t give that movie an immediate pass o_o… and let’s face it, if you’re into guys, you’ll give it a pass too
Honorable mention: Anything But Love her sitcom co starring Richard Lewis, Holly Fulger and Ann Magnuson.Excellent show.