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Because I was unable see every film released during 2000, I thought it would be unfair and misleading to offer up my picks for the best and worst films of the year. Instead, I have ranked those films that I did get to see beginning with my favorite film of 2000, Almost Famous, in the #1 spot. If you’d like to get a better sense of my approach to reviewing films you can refer to the “Behind the Critic” section on the “Movies” page.

1. Almost Famous
This movie will leave you feeling like you have just listened to that one special song that brings back your favorite childhood memories. On its surface, Almost Famous is an affecting coming of age story that is filled with fascinating characters and that moves to the tune of some of the great songs popularized at the dawn of the era in rock now known as “classic.” But at its core, this film, which is very much about family, is a heartfelt tribute to the people who helped shape Cameron Crowe during one of the most important periods of his life.

2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Suspend your disbelief and Ang Lee will win you over with this enchanting Hong Kong import that features an elegant script, superb cast (Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, and newcomer Zhang Zi Yi), magnificent fight sequences and a stirring musical score.

3. Wonder Boys
Curtis Hanson, who’s skillful direction brought Jack Vinsennes & Company to life in the must-see film noir L.A. Confidential does it again with Wonder Boys. For the most part, Steve Kloves’ screenplay, adapted from the 1995 novel Wonder Boys by Michael Chabon, is terrific. The main characters are richly developed and Kloves is able to create a truly engaging film by weaving together several mini stories that become tightly intertwined but never tangled. The film is well cast and equally well acted, with Michael Douglas as the stand out, giving a thoroughly convincing performance in his role as the wayward academic.

4. Gladiator
Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, offers two and a half-hours of action-packed and drama-filled entertainment on an epic scale. Most everything works quite well in this film, from Russell Crowe’s earnest performance to the well choreographed and at times rousing scenes of combating gladiators. Even the film’s three different screenwriters managed to cobble together a fine enough script to ensure that there was some substance behind all of the film’s style.

5. Traffic
Brilliantly directed by Steven Soderbergh, Traffic offers a unique look at “the war on drugs” by weaving together three loosely related stories from inside the world of drugs. To be fair, although at times riveting, the screenplay is not without its flaws. But, Soderbergh’s direction, a superb performance from Benecio Del Toro, and strong acting from Don Cheadle, Luis Guzman, and Erika Christensen make this film a must see. ** Curiously, Catherine Zeta-Jones has been receiving rave reviews for her rather uninspired turn as the wife of a wealthy drug dealer.

6. Erin Brockovich
Julia Roberts is at her best in this remarkable true story of a blue-collar divorced mother of three, who pleads her way into a job as a law office filing clerk and then takes on a public utility company in a multi-million dollar class action law suit. Albert Finney gives a convincing performance as a personal injury lawyer who reluctantly puts the livelihood of his modest practice on the line to assist Brockovich in her crusade.

7. Thirteen Days
Sure, in this film Kevin Costner is about as easy to take as a tablespoon of Robitussin, but convincing performances from Bruce Greenwood (JFK) and Steven Culp (RFK) are compensation enough. Given the relative stability around the world for much of the past decade, this film serves as a stark reminder of a moment in our history when the world literally teetered on the brink of total annihilation.

8. State and Main
Witty dialogue from playwright David Mamet and a strong, eclectic cast make this film about the invasion of a sleepy New England town by a film production’s cast and crew one of the year’s best. Standout performances from William H. Macy, David Paymor, Philip Seymour Hoffman and even Rebecca Pidgeon (Mamet’s wife) help make this film as charming as it is hilarious.

9. Chocolat
Despite all of its strengths (a charming-albeit somewhat unoriginal-screenplay, strong acting, scenic French village setting), Chocolat cannot escape the fact that, at its core, it is simply the latest movie in a tiring genre of films that have made use of food as a central plot device. The most recent wave of these “food films” began with 1987’s Babette’s Feast, and has included such other films as Like Water for Chocolate, Eat Drink Man Woman, Big Night (all terrific), Woman on Top (not so terrific), and Simply Irresistible (just plain awful).

10. High Fidelity
Thankfully, the folks at Disney were smart enough to look to John Cusack to play the lead role in this near perfect adaptation of the thoroughly amusing cult novel of the same name by Nick Hornby.

11. Love and Basketball
Were it not for its ludicrous title and accompanying tagline (”All’s fair in love and basketball”), this utterly heartfelt story about the evolving relationship between once childhood friends-who happen to play basketball-would have received the attention that it deserved. Gina Prince’s deserves much praise for her touching script and casting directors should take note of Sanaa Lathan’s genuine performance.

12. Boiler Room
First-time writer-director Ben Younger has created a thoroughly entertaining film in Boiler Room. It is with great reluctance, however, that I say this. For, I couldn’t help walking out of the theater thinking I had just witnessed nothing more than a skillfully crafted rip-off of Wall Street (1987) and Glengarry Glen Ross (1992).

13. American Psycho
An amusing satire of 80’s excess. Christian Bale is riveting as Patrick Bateman, a delusional sociopathathic investment banker, who specializes in “murders and executions.”

14. The Perfect Storm
While the film version of this true story is not nearly as enlightening as Sebastian Junger’s detailed narrative, the spectacular and otherwise unimaginable storm sequences that unfold on screen more than compensate for the film’s lean script.

15. Bounce
Contrived, but Affleck and Paltrow make it work. Sure, the film’s premise is contrived and the plot contains little in the way of risks. But, director Don Roos manages to pull it off surprisingly well by creating characters with depth and casting the film with a group of strong leading and supporting actors.

16. Shanghai Noon
While there are some downright silly moments in the story, and the script is certainly not going to win any awards for originality, the comic chemistry between Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson is more than enough to carry this film. Shanghai Noon is a “buddy film” that truly works because Wang (Jackie Chan) and O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) are so believable as friends despite the fact that their personalities differ as much as the worlds from which they come.

17. Mission: Impossible 2
It’s of little consequence that the plot is inane, since it is meant to serve as nothing more than the glue that holds together the real substance of this film: a series of wonderfully choreographed action sequences that are as much fun to watch as they are impossible to believe. In fact, the film’s screenwriter Robert Towne admits to having had to write the story around the action instead of the action around the story. This is what makes MI-2 so easy to enjoy. The film’s creators don’t pretend to believe that the story is what will drive filmgoers into the theaters to see a film such as this.

18. Chicken Run
Charming and amusing, Chicken Run is the first feature length film from Aardman Studios, the makers of the Oscar-winning Wallace and Gromit series of animated short film.

19. The Whole Nine Yards
Surprise! It’s actually funny. Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry prove to be a highly amusing comic duo. Perry’s gift for physical comedy plays extremely well off of Willis’s deadpan comedic style. Stepping up big time from her role on the WB television show “Jack and Jill,” is Amanda Peet, who plays the part of Oz’s enterprising dental receptionist to perfection.

20. Frequency
Frequency, from Primal Fear director Gregory Hoblit, offers a refreshing take on the classic thriller by incorporating the concept of time travel into the story. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable film, particularly if you see it with no higher expectations than to simply be entertained.

21. Proof of Life
Despite lukewarm reviews from many professional critics, Russell Crowe, David Morse and what is for the most part a gripping story help make Proof of Life a surprisingly entertaining film. Proof of Life screenwriter Tony Gilroy has crafted a compelling drama. Throughout the film the action ebbs and flows, but Gilroy’s story never looses its hold on the audience. The script, however, might not have held up nearly as well were it not for the efforts of a terrific cast that features a surprisingly convincing performance by David Morse

22. Waking the Dead
The much-underappreciated Billy Crudup is the reason to see this film about a congressional candidate who questions his sanity after seeing the love of his life, presumed dead, suddenly emerge. Crudup, who was so terrific as guitarist Russell Hammond in Almost Famous and as long-distance runner Steve Prefontaine in Without Limits, has somehow managed to remain in virtual public obscurity while winning significant critical praise for his acting work on stage as well as on screen.

23. Charlie’s Angels
While your average thirty-second beer commercial has a more intriguing plot than does Charlie’s Angels, the film succeeds by offering up generous portions of both humor and excitement. From super slow motion flips of the hair to perfectly placed close-ups of cleavage, the amusing spoofs of the television show that inspired the phrase “jiggle T.V.” flow freely throughout the film. Audiences are also treated to several high-energy, Matrix-like fight scenes in which the angels admirably display their kung fu skills. While the fight-scene choreography is not nearly of Jackie Chan caliber, the sequences pack enough punch to keep audiences energized.

24. Coyote Ugly
Lest you think that I am recommending Coyote Ugly because I found the story to be so utterly riveting, it should be noted that I probably would have enjoyed the film just the same had it been in a foreign language without subtitles. Clearly, when making this film it was not the minds of filmgoers that Mr. Bruckheimer was looking to stimulate. Not only does the film’s cast feature three gorgeous models (Tyra Banks, Izabella Miko, and Bridget Moynahan), who make the otherwise ordinary act of popping open a beer bottle look seductive, but Coyote Ugly’s soundtrack consists of a wonderfully eclectic, albeit somewhat dated, mix of rousing music. That being said, this film would not have been the surprising delight that it was, were it not for the thoroughly enjoyable performance of the adorable Piper Perabo. She plays her part to perfection, making use of some obvious acting talents to create a character that is both alluring and endearing.

25. Dr. T and the Woman
Director Robert Altman places an upper crust Dallas community under a microscope (perhaps with a somewhat distorted lens), and offers audiences a highly amusing exploration into the roles of and the relationships between high society men and women.

26. Unbreakable
Perhaps expectations for M. Night Shyamalan’s follow-up to The Sixth Sense were unfairly high. That may explain my total disappointment with Unbreakable. While I appreciate Shyamalan’s efforts on this film-his direction was terrific and the screenplay at least represented an attempt to create something original-I ultimately couldn’t see this story of an “unbreakable” security guard to be anything other than tedious and laughable.

27. Shaft
Were it not for the hilariously outrageous performance by Jeffrey Wright as a repugnant and egomaniacal Dominican drug dealer named Peoples Hernandez, there would be little reason to see John Singleton’s update of the 1971 film Shaft. With his involvement as writer and/or producer/director in such films as Boyz N the Hood, Rosewood and even Higher Learning, John Singleton has more than proven himself adept at exploring race-related issues in his films. With Shaft, however, the idea for which Singleton had been shopping to potential backers since the mid-1990’s, it appears that the director may have succumbed to the ills of Hollywood in the process of finally getting this picture made. Singleton collaborated with Richard Price, author of the novel Clockers, to produce a surprisingly thoughtless and at times shoddy script, particularly given the provocative subject matter with which the film deals.

28. What Lies Beneath
Robert Zemeckis has created a film that lacks much originality beneath its slick veneer. The film’s few bright moments are dampened by its many shortcomings and What Lies Beneath ends up being almost as silly as it is scary. Michelle Pfeiffer gives a convincing and, at times, thoroughly delectable performance. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said of Harrison Ford, who proves once again that he can be as dull as he was enjoyable in such films as Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Witness.

29. Where the Money Is
Despite showcasing the still vibrant acting talents of Paul Newman, this film left me unsatisfied. The clever plot could have been cleverer and the interesting characters could have been more interesting, or at least more fully developed. And, with such a clever underlying premise, the film should have been much more engaging. Even with a mere 90-minute running time I found myself becoming a bit restless as this film wore on

30. Bring It On
Bring It On has a slick cast (Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Bradford, Gabrielle Union, and Eliza Dushku) and a few bright moments. But ultimately, the film’s screenwriter, Jessica Bendinger, has created little more than Clueless with pep but little smarts.

31. The Family Man
If during Christmas time you just can’t bare to watch It’s A Wonderful Life one more time than this film may suffice. Although the story is mildly entertaining, Nicholas Cage and Don Cheadle should have left this holiday schlock to lesser actors.

32. Woman on Top
Penelope Cruz stars in this cross between a charming foreign romantic comedy and a bad NBC sitcom.

33. Eye of the Beholder
By just about any measure this film falters. It was the most unthrilling of thrillers. There was something about Eye of the Beholder, however, that kept me from wanting to walk out on it even as I questioned writer/director Stephan Elliot’s inspiration for creating such a mess. Perhaps it is because this film is not your standard Hollywood cookie-cutter suspense movie. Eye of the Beholder has a unique, surreal and perverted feel to it, giving it a distinctive style. Elliot attempted to walk that fine line that sometimes exists between creativity and absurdity and unfortunately lost his balance and landed on the wrong side.

34. Rules of Engagement
It is quite unfortunate that Rules of Engagement did so well at the box office, because it is quite obvious that the makers of this formulaic military courtroom drama didn’t feel the need to put forth any creative effort in bringing their production to the big screen. The film is nothing more than a poorly written collection of cliches and unbelievable characters. Although at times engaging, the film’s screenplay, written by Stephen Gaghan and based on a story by James Webb, former U.S. Secretary of the Navy, is riddled with flaws. The characters were either painfully unoriginal, or they were so poorly written that their actions often seemed contradictory or just plain nonsensical.

35. Return to Me
Predictable, formulaic and painfully contrived, this film is the most unromantic and humorless of romantic comedies. David Duchovny is actually not bad in his role, but little chemistry exists between he and Minnie Driver.

By: Craig Ettinger