I love the idea for this list. It’s one thing to rank our 10 best movies of the year to try to champion some films we love, but a lot of those films are already getting championed widely. What we really want to do is bring attention to some of the great films that really slipped under the radar this year. These don’t have to be the best, but they are worthwhile films that should be part of the 2013 conversation.
Read William Bibbiani’s picks for the most underrated films of 2013.
Read Witney Seibold’s picks for the most underrated films of 2013.
Read Brian Formo’s picks for the most underrated films of 2013.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline and the man behind Best Episode Ever and The Shelf Space Awards. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
Fred Topel Picks the 12 Most Underrated Films of 2013
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12. Pain & Gain
Well, Michael Bay probably doesn’t feel underrated, but his darkly comic “true story” didn’t get him taken seriously like he maybe wanted. In my review, I didn’t claim it’s the bold new vision from a true artiste, but it worked for me. I do wish it paved the way for more human interest scripts for Bay to direct, but it probably didn’t.
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11. 42
I suppose this wasn’t too underrated because it did really well and people liked it, but it was underrated by me. I was going to skip it entirely, but I got an interview for the Blu-ray and ended up watching it. It was a really solid portrayal of civil right issues with minimal heavy-handedness. The kids copying their parents’ racism was a bit much, but the film otherwise avoided that and gave us a reminder of an unfortunate period in our history, much more accurately than a movie like The Help.
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10. Escape Plan
This movie is what it is. I’m not saying it’s great. I feel about the same as Bibbs did, but I think there is a place for a good B movie with our favorite action heroes in it. Escape Plan isn’t the best use of Stallone and Schwarzenegger’s talents, and boy are Arnold’s one-liners a stretch in this, but it’s a solid, fast paced prison break movie that I sure as hell still want to see. As more of a vehicle for Stallone’s character, I would actually like to see a franchise built around him where he has to break out of another prison each sequel. Maybe pair him up with Nicolas Cage next time!
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9. Dallas Buyers Club
Really, the acclaimed drama that’s sweeping the acting awards is underrated? Well, yes. I don’t hear people talking about what a profound and uplifting film it is, and it’s being overshadowed by films with more campaign budgets, so yes, Dallas Buyers Club is being underrated as we speak. What’s so great about Dallas Buyers Club is that as emotional as it is, it never lingers on the emotion. It hits the heart and then gets the hell out. Most of the nominated movies this year are all about lingering on their importance, but we should celebrate the film that makes its point without all that.
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8. Grudge Match
I know, this hasn’t come out yet so how can it be underrated? Well, just you wait, it will be. People will dismiss this as a last gasp of two actors who famously played boxers before. It’s obviously Rocky vs. Raging Bull, and it is entirely predictable, but it was exactly the movie I wanted it to be. It was good fun and this is the type of movie I would go see on Christmas Day if I hadn’t already seen it.
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7. The East
I’ve been a fan of Brit Marling as a screenwriter with the Georgetown buddies Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij but they still haven’t broken out of the arthouse realm. This divisive film by Marling and Batmanglij wasn’t for everyone. I just wanted it to be seen by more people so the debate could be bigger.
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6. Fast and Furious 6
Yes, the $238 million grossing Fast & Furious sequel is still underrated. People are still qualifying their enjoyment of these movies as “they’re dumb but they’re fun.” Don’t feel bad about it. Nothing about these movies is an accident and the sincerity of the family values and commitment to outrageous stunts is unequivocally wonderful.
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5. Planes
Disney’s spinoff of Pixar’s worst franchise got a little buried but I was impressed by how clever and exciting it was. Sure, the story of an underdog who overcomes his fears to win against the odds is old hat, but there’s something to be said for doing it well. The world of Planes is a bit more endearing than the forced pathos of Cars, and certainly superior to the loud obnoxious noise of Cars 2. I got a kick out of all the clever car puns, and I was really into the race. I really wanted Dusty to win.
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4. About Time
I would have thought Rachel McAdams in a Richard Curtis film would be a sure thing but audiences didn’t flock. Even Witney was underwhelmed, and I don’t begrudge him that, but I think About Time is a really solid romance and sci-fi. The brilliant stroke is that it’s not really about Domhnall Gleeson and McAdams. It’s about Gleeson and his father, Bill Nighy.
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3. Peeples
I generally hate dysfunctional family comedies where siblings or parents just abuse each other and we’re supposed to laugh, because that’s just family, man. Peeples is smarter than this movie usually is, and I really thought it would break Craig Robinson out as a leading man. Peeples is not a great movie but it’s well done and entertaining. It shows you can do this formula without triggering post-traumatic dysfunctional issues. It certainly should have been a bigger hit.
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2. Ender's Game
This didn’t quite make my top 10 movies of the year but damn it was a good adaptation of a classic story. Maybe the unfortunate politics of author Orson Scott Card, which he made sure we all knew, turned people off, even though financial stories insisted he would not see residuals from the movie. Maybe the book is just not well known outside of literati circles and it just looked like another space movie. As someone who read all eight books (from the library, so I also didn’t contribute to Card’s profit), I was pleased and impressed that the philosophical theory permeated all the film’s action because that’s what was important.
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1. Jobs
Jobs didn’t quite make my list of the year’s 10 best films, but this list gives me a chance to give it higher praise than I could on a best of list. It’s certainly dismissed by enough people that I can call it the most underrated film of the year. I wrote at length about how the film spoke to me as more of a meditation on the nature of innovation than a die hard historical account, and I find that a legitimate and perhaps more powerful approach to a biopic.
