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Matthew McConaughey has been, in some form or fashion, in our lives for more than 30 years. During this time, he has transformed himself from affable supporting actor all the way to bona fide leading man – if not an absolute legend. For all his movie and tv fans out there, we have ranked what we consider to be five of his best movies throughout his long career.

1.) The Lincoln Lawyer: The Lincoln Lawyer is considered as one of his better roles because he’s just so damned charming in it. In this movie, he plays Mickey Haller, a lawyer who operates out of a chauffeured Lincoln Towncar. The lawyer generally takes on cases of pretty bad guys, though when the movie starts, we see him in the throes of grief about a case where he had his defendant plead for a life sentence instead of taking the case to trial. The antagonist of the film is Ryan Phillippe, playing a millionaire playboy who has been accused of killing a prostitute. It turns out that he moonlights as a mama’s boy whose mama is all about shooting anyone who threatens to take away her beloved’s good time. In any event, Matthew McConaughey shines in this movie not because of a particularly interesting premise, but because it’s the time in his career where he stepped away from all the romcoms and showed his serious acting chops.

2.) Interstellar Movie: You can’t talk about Matthew McConaughey’s movie list without including the Interstellar. After all, any Chris Nolan film paired with a score by Hans Zimmer is worth talking about! This space opera is a film of duty, fatherhood, and loss. The science fiction film also features megastars Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, and Ellen Burstyn. In the movie, Matthew McConaughey plays Cooper; a retired scientist turned farmer. Facing a mass extinction of Earth due to failing crops, he’s Earth’s last hope of either developing a theory to propel Earth’s population to another planet or colonization of transporting thousands of frozen humans to colonize a planet near Saturn. Due to the nature of space travel, he leaves his children behind who are dealing with abandonment as they try to figure out their lives with their father traversing space and time to find a viable solution for humanity’s survival.

3.) A Time to Kill: A Time to Kill is probably one of his most star-studded films. Made in 1996, it stars Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Oliver Platt, Donald and Keifer Sutherland, and Sandra Bullock. He plays the lawyer Jake Brigance who is defending Samuel L. Jackson, the father of a child who was raped and beaten by white men in Mississippi. Considering the times, Samuel L. shoots and kills the attackers and is on trial for their murder. Matthew McConaughey defends him with a passionate defense, ultimately leading to his acquittal. The film is included on his list because it helped shine a light on the politics and racial tension of small-town Mississippi and the prevalent discrimination faced by African Americans.

4.) Amistad Movie: This Steven Spielberg film stars Matthew McConaughey alongside Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman, Djimon Hounsou, and by the legendary John Williams. Like A Time to Kill, Amistad has Matthew McConaughey once again playing a lawyer. His role is to defend Africans who took control over the slave ship La Amistad. Destined for America, the slaves ardently fought and killed the slavers, ultimately being captured by the American Navy and promptly put on trial for murder and privacy. Matthew McConaughey defends them because they were not slaves at all, as they weren’t rightful Spanish property. This movie is similar to another of Speilberg’s best films, Schindler’s List, and Matthew McConaughey received a wealth of praise for him portraying a role in a movie that spans more than a few genres.

5.) Dallas Buyers Club: Dallas Buyers Club is probably one of his most memorable roles for a few reasons. We get to see the Matthew being in his natural element – a cowboy hat-wearing Texan. This Matthew McConaughey movie is also one where he went under a massive physical transformation, as he is an AIDS patient, and he certainly looks like one. In this film, Matthew plays Ron Woodward, a rodeo cowboy who essentially smuggles AIDs drugs into the US from Mexico and starts a subscription service for those who aren’t getting the treatment that they need to live. This movie is considered by many as one of his best works to date. So much as that he won an Oscar for the movie. It also stars a transgendered Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner, and Steve Zahn.

Matthew McConaughey is nothing short of an actor’s actor. He has made a long career from acting in supporting roles to a good looking loser, or a charming lover in romantic comedies, all the way to a leading man in some super serious roles, and eventually becoming a producer himself. There aren’t very many people who can be pigeonholed twice and ends up as one of the most talented actors in a generation. Read more about Matthew McConaughey movies at https://bloglingo.com/matthew-mcconaughey/