Following the success of The Princess Diaries and Ella Enchanted, Anne Hathaway has gone on to feature in high-budget films and collaborate with some of Hollywood’s most acclaimed filmmakers. As Jake Gyllenhaal’s lover Lureen Newsome in Ang Lee’s gay cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain, she demonstrated her dramatic acting chops.
1. Havoc
Havoc features Anne in a tough role that’s smarter than its treacly trailer suggests. As matter-of-fact Esther Graff, she conveys a real sense of tough love as she pushes her son to dream bigger and achieve more than she did.
The movie does have its problems, including some genuinely irritating characters. But it also has a couple of good scenes and some decent cinematography.
While it’s not the greatest gnula film, Havoc is an important step in Anne’s career. It proves she’s capable of playing edgier roles than the frothy princess stuff that made her famous. It’s also a reminder that she can deliver a powerful performance no matter what kind of movie she’s in. A must-see for Anne fans.
2. The Princess Diaries 2
Anne Hathaway proves that she can still deliver the romantic charms that fans adore her for in this film. She also portrayed a fearless woman with the right mix of emotions in this movie. Her performance in this movie was endearing and it defied the stereotype that all romantic movies heroines have to be bland and simple.
Anne starred as Jane Austen in this film and it explores her love for Thomas Langlois Lefroy. Although this movie may be a bit too fanciful in its depiction of Jane’s life, it is entertaining all the same.
Anne stars alongside Matthew McConaughey in this epic science fiction movie that explores astrophysics and wormholes. It is also one of Anne’s best performances. She was a convincing Catwoman in this movie and even performed all the action scenes herself without a body double.
3. Love & Other Drugs
Hathaway won audiences over as Mia Thermopolis and Ella Enchanted, but it was in the early aughts when she really took off with romantic comedies. In this sexy and smart movie, she delivers a strong performance as a woman with Parkinson disease who loves sex and wants to live life on her own terms.
Jake Gyllenhaal also stars in this film and brings a lot of heat to the role of a pharmaceutical sales dude. His ribald pillow talk adds a verbal tartness to the film’s chemistry.
Director Edward Zwick captures the intimate moments of a relationship with precision and sensitivity. The film has its flaws, including an inability to turn sex and drug jokes into thoughtful commentary on the pharmaceutical industry, but it’s still a solid romance with a talented cast.
4. The Devil Wears Prada 2
Immediately after winning audiences over as socially awkward future Princesses of Genovia Mia Theropolis and Ella Enchanted, Anne Hathaway branched out into more mature roles like Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada. The actress starred alongside Emily Blunt in this dark comedy about fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, a woman with an imperious demeanor and disdain for female employees.
The movie is a satire of the fashion industry, and Hathaway’s performance is as dazzling as ever. Her chemistry with Blunt and supporting cast members like Stanley Tucci make the film a must-see.
As for the plot, it’s all about a naive journalism major who starts as second assistant to Miranda and soon finds herself at her beck and call, running errands and fetching outfits. The most important character is Streep’s Priestly, who’s a bit of a power player in her own right.
5. The Intern
While ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ is the obvious choice for Anne Hathaway fans, 2015’s The Intern is also worth a watch. The movie starred Robert De Niro as Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old widower who decides retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and takes an internship at online fashion site Jules Ostin (Hathaway).
The film was helmed by Nancy Meyers, the writer behind such films as It’s Complicated and Something’s Gotta Give. Hathaway and De Niro make this film a joy to watch, especially considering it’s not exactly a run-of-the-mill rom-com.
The Intern is a delightful comedy that wears its heart on its sleeve. The movie is filled with humor and compassion, and it’s easy to see why so many people love this movie. It also features a cameo from Joseph Gordon-Levitt as well as Adam DeVine and Rene Russo.
