Reese Witherspoon is the world’s highest-paid actress, one who has carved a legacy of her own ever since her debut. She’s one hell of an actress, and she’s done everything from rom-coms, action, TV dramas, and existential stuff. Reese Witherspoon is known best for Legally Blonde, Big Little Lies, Wild, and the latest, The Morning Show. But there’s way too much to her career that we shall introduce you to.
Her actual name is Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon. She was born on March 22, 1976. She is an American actress, producer, and entrepreneur. Reese has won numerous accolades throughout her career, an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. As of today, Reese is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world as of 2019.
She started off her career in a teenager role in The Man in the Moon (1991). She was then cast opposite Mark Wahlberg in Fear. But her breakthrough performance was in 1999 with a supporting role in Cruel Intentions, followed by her act as Tracy Flick in the black comedy Election.
Here are Reese’s top movies that you will love to watch!
Sweet Home Alabama
The 2003 romantic comedy, Sweet Home Alabama is directed by Andy Tennant. It stars Reese Witherspoon, Josh Lucas, Patrick Dempsey, and Candice Bergen in the lead roles. Reese plays a high-society fashion designer Melanie. She is successful and smart and she has adopted the surname “Carmichael”.
Frankly, she is obsessed with her poor Southern roots. She’s dating a wealthy New Yorker, Andrew Hennings who proposes ho her. But since Melanie is married to her high-school sweetheart, Jake. She has to return to Alabama to announce her engagement to her parents and get a divorce from her estranged husband. She ends up choosing Jake over Andrew because well, Sweet Home Alabama!
The cast of the movie includes Reese Witherspoon as Melanie Carmichael, Dakota Fanning as Young Melanie Carmichael, Josh Lucas as Jake Perry, Thomas Curtis as Young Jake Perry, Patrick Dempsey as Andrew Hennings, Candice Bergen as Mayor Kate Hennings and finally, Mary Kay Place as Pearl Smooter and Fred Ward as Earl Smooter.
A Wrinkle In Time
A Wrinkle In Time isn’t just Reese’s movie, but it’s her finest performance and her most compelling story. So it became a part of this list. The story is about two siblings, and their friend Meg, her brother, Charles, and friend Calvin who go on a quest to find Meg’s dad. The man has disappeared into another realm in space for a scientific breakthrough.
A Wrinkle In Time released in 2018, and it stars Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, Storm Reid, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Michael Peña, Zach Galifianakis, and Chris Pine in the lead roles. Most of you bibliophiles who have read Madeleine L’Engle’s 1962 novel by the same name, know what I am talking about. The genre is a science fantasy adventure film. It is directed by Ava DuVernay and written by Jennifer Lee and Jeff Stockwell.
Best Laid Plans
Best Laid Plans is a 1999 Thriller/Crime movie, starring Reese Witherspoon as Lissa. The story starts when a rich man Bryce (Josh Brolin) returns to his hometown. He pops into a local bar and sees seductive Lissa (Reese Witherspoon) there. Since that Lissa is nothing but a blackmailer. The two end up together that night.
The next morning Lissa claims she’s underage and blackmails him. Not knowing what to do, he ties her up and rings his friend (Alessandro Nivola) for help. Best Laid Plans is just full of deception and lies. It is one heck of a thriller. It is directed by Mike Barker and produced by Sean Bailey, Betsy Beers, Alan Greenspan, and Chris Moore.
Mud
One of Reese’s classic coming-of-age movies is Mud. It is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Mud has Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard, and Reese Witherspoon in the lead roles. Mud was a critically acclaimed movie and it competed for the Palme d’Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.
Mud is Matthew McConaughey, who is from a small island in the Mississippi River. Reese plays his old girlfriend, Juniper. He likes to call her beautiful with bird tattoos on her hands. Parallelly, 14-year-old kids Ellis (Tye Sheridan) and Neckbone (Jacob Lofland), have found a boat stuck on the same Island. It is here they are introduced to Mud.
The cast of this movie includes Matthew McConaughey as Mud, Reese Witherspoon as Juniper, Tye Sheridan as Ellis, Jacob Lofland as Neckbone, Sam Shepard as Tom Blankenship.
Just Like Heaven
Just Like Heaven is an easy-breezy watch for fans of Reese Witherspoon. It stars two of the most fantastic actors to have walked on this Earth. Besides Reese, we are talking of Mark Ruffalo. It came out in 2005 and the genre is a romantic comedy, fantasy film.
The movie was directed by Mark Waters. Jon Heder is in the movie as a supporting actor. It is based on the French novel If Only It Were True (Et si c’était vrai…) credited to Marc Levy.
Water For Elephants
As a Twilight fan, I was most excited for Water For Elephants to come out, for it starred Robert Pattinson. But then you realized Twilight is nothing but a sham. You still watch out for Water For Elephants, though.
Water For Elephants came out in 2011. It is an American romantic drama film. It was directed by Francis Lawrence and written by Richard LaGravenese. The movie is based on one of the critically acclaimed books of all time – Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel, which goes by the same name.
Water For Elephants stars Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson, and Christoph Waltz. The story deals with Jacob who joins a traveling circus as a vet after the death of his parents. Their violent boss keeps a check at everyone. Marlena plays his wife. Soon Jacob and Marlena fall in love with one another. But Waltz isn’t the kind of man who’d let that happen so easily, he knows how to fend off his enemies, Jacob being the biggest of them.
Water For Elephants was a world-wide hit, but critically not so acclaimed. The cast includes Reese Witherspoon as Marlena Rosenbluth, Robert Pattinson as Jacob Jankowski, Hal Holbrook as older Jacob Jankowski, Christoph Waltz as August Rosenbluth, Tai as Rosie, the elephant.
Wild
My personal favorite more so than Legally Blonde is Wild. It is the real-life story, a biographical film based on the life of a recent divorcée Cheryl Strayed. She goes on a hike about some 1,100 miles of the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. This isn’t just an impulsive move, but she is on a journey of self-discovery and healing from the wounds of her past. When therapies fail, her husband leaves her side because she abuses substances and cheats on him. Her childhood trauma continues to haunt her to this day, she packs a haversack and sets off. The journey is essentially back-breaking and soul healing.
She sets off from the Mojave Desert in Southern California. As she finished the trail, she truly heals, finds her true self. It takes her 94 days. Reese received an Oscar nomination for her performance in the movie.
Election
One of the less talked about movies is the 1999 film, Election. Even though it bombed at the box-office, it won critical acclaim, including recognition for Reese.
The story is about a student body election in high school. Politics and high school life are objects of ridicule in the movie. Matthew Broderick stars as Jim McAllister, a popular high school social studies teacher, and Reese Witherspoon plays Tracy Flick, an ambitious student whom he dislikes. Election is directed by Alexander Payne. It is based on Tom Perrotta’s 1998 novel by the same name.
As you may have guessed by now, Tracy runs for student government president, and Jim tries every trick in the book to sabotage her candidacy. From backing the rival candidate to tampering with the ballot count.
This Means War
This Means War is an action flick, interspersed with romance. Reese plays a girl who dates who hot men, who are best friends and CIA Agents. They don’t know and she doesn’t know. But when she knows, she keeps up with her task. And when they know, they fight for her.
This Means War released in 2012. The genre is romantic comedy and spy. It was directed by McG, produced by Will Smith. The movie stars Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, and Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon plays Lauren Scott, a product-testing executive who is coping up with the recent engagement of her ex-boyfriend. Her best friend Chelsea Handler (Trish) has enrolled her on the same online dating website where “FDR” Foster and Tuck Hansen exist. They are immediately paired. Reese settles for FDR in the end.
Legally Blonde
We cannot emphasize how much we love Legally Blonde or how much the world loves it! Elle Woods wins the high profile case and the hearts of audiences when she exposes the big perm lie. Any girl who reads Cosmo would have known it is against the cardinal rules of perm to wash the hair within 24 hours. The point that she made a Harvard law student was that you don’t just need a reason but passion too, in order to make a good lawyer.
Legally Blonde will always be Reese’s number one movie, no matter what she does. She damn near perfect in that. Not to mention the stereotypes she broke!
