My favourite Jennifer Aniston movies so far this century ...

Jennifer Aniston became a fixture in independent American cinema in the 1990s as she simultaneously rose through the ranks of television. This was indicative of her dedication to the creative arts and a strong work ethic. She portrayed uprooted artist Tory Reding in the original 'Leprechaun' (1993) which has spawned five horror sequels and a reboot franchise to date. Superstitious horror supremo Mark Jones fought to have Aniston cast in the lead role, despite his producers' misgivings, and she knocked it out the park in her first substantial film role.

Aniston's work in offbeat ventures like novelist and record company founder Tiffanie DeBartolo's romantic comedy 'Dream For An Insomniac' (1996) and Catholic filmmaker Edward Burns' mature romance 'She's The One' (1996) earned her praise from critics, even if the movies weren't so well received.

When her media profile started to rise rapidly with the growing success of 'Friends' in the mid-1990s, Aniston found work in some handsomely budgeted romantic comedies made in Hollywood, including respected television show creator Glenn Gordon Caron's rom-com 'Picture Perfect' (1997), and distinguished theatre director Sir Nicholas Hytner's rom-com 'The Object Of My Affection' (1998). It's these films that continue to be regularly repackaged as part of 'Jennifer Aniston' dvd/blu-ray box-sets, due in part to their innate charms and inoffensive qualities. Aniston returned to her roots to round out the decade by playing disgruntled waitress Joanna in 'Beavis & Butt-Head' creator Mike Judge's cult favourite, 'Office Space' (1999).

TRIVIA : Directors who expressed an interest in working with Jennifer Aniston early in her film career included Whit Stillman and the Coen Brothers (they later scripted Michael Hoffman's 2012 movie 'Gambit', a project that Aniston got unceremoniously bumped from in favour of her 'She's The One' co-star Cameron Diaz).

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I think this is one of Jim Carrey's best comedy vehicles, steered by a director he trusted in Tom Shadyac. Film critic Roger Ebert was an early vocal supporter of Jennifer Aniston's work in cinema, and he wrote in his review of 'Bruce Almighty' for 'Chicago Sun-Times' : "(Morgan) Freeman plays God with a quality of warm detachment that is just about right, I think. You get the feeling that even while he's giving Bruce the free ride, he has a hand on the wheel, like a drivers' training instructor. (Jennifer) Aniston, as a sweet kindergarten teacher and fiancee, shows again (after "The Good Girl") that she really will have a movie career, despite the small-minded cavils of those who think she should have stayed on television. She can play comedy, which is not easy, and she can keep up with (Jim) Carrey while not simply mirroring his zaniness; that's one of those gifts like being able to sing one song while typing the words to another."

A trusted associate of Weird Al Yankovic, drummer Peyton Reed directed the stylised sports comedy 'Bring It On' (2000) at the turn of the century, which was arguably the finest cheerleader comedy made since the 1980s. Film critic Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote this for 'Chicago Reader' of Reed's next movie, the pastel-coloured, "battle of the sexes" comedy tribute 'Down With Love' (2003) : "If a more interesting and entertaining Hollywood movie than Down With Love has come along this year, I’ve missed it. Down With Love — which has already closed in Chicago — is entertaining thanks to Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake’s clever script, Peyton Reed’s mainly assured direction, inventive production and costume design, a musical number behind the final credits I’d happily swap all of Chicago for, and even a miscast Renee Zellweger pulling off a difficult climactic monologue. But I was knocked out less by these achievements, which are clearly deliberate, than by the film’s authentic weirdness, which is apparently accidental."

'The Break-Up' is an anti-rom-com that caught audiences by surprise. It's extremely bitter, and if it holds up well to repeat viewings, I think this is partly due to the troubled tone it strikes. And it still managed to take in more than $200,000,000 worldwide.

Director Nicole Holofcener is the daughter of artist Lawrence Holofcener, and set decorator Carol Joffe who often worked with filmmakers Alan J. Pakula and Woody Allen (she was once married to Allen's longtime producer Charles H. Joffe). She studied film at Columbia University in New York where her teachers included filmmaker Martin Scorsese. Her movie 'Friends With Money' is a hard film to like but deals with serious issues. It's about a group of female friends, their relationships with money, and how money affects and influences their personal and private relationships.

 

Bringing the dry, minimalistic work fable 'Management' to the big screen was a labour of love for Jennifer Aniston who co-produced it. The story concerns a motel stalker with a distinct lack of virility and his lonely, unsuspecting quarry. This basic idea serves as a leaping-off point for a trip into world-weary existentialism. It's written and directed by playwright Stephen Belber, an associate of Ethan Hawke.

The action adventure 'The Bounty Hunter' is a fast-paced frolic with fun set-pieces that reignites cinema's enduring "battle of the sexes". It more than trebled its production budget in global earnings despite some desperately poor reviews, once again confirming that Jennifer Aniston was a genuine draw at the box-office. I'd watch it in a black comedy treble-bill with with a pair of dizzying road crime pictures starring Aniston's old pal Patricia Arquette - Jeffrey Reiner's 'Trouble Bound' (1993) and Tony Scott's 'True Romance' (1993).

All successful runs come to an end at some point, and the lacklustre comedy 'Wanderlust' (2012) deservedly turned out to be a resounding box-office dud. Released a year later, 'Life Of Crime' is another movie co-produced by Jennifer Aniston. It's an adaptation of a 1970s novel by Elmore Leonard that's connected character-wise to a 1990s novel that inspired Quentin Tarantino's crime drama 'Jackie Brown' (1997). 'Life Of Crime' was a box-office disaster but I really like it. I'd watch it in a double-bill with George Armitage's 'The Big Bounce' (2004), an adaptation of a 1960s Leonard novel that was previously filmed by Alex March as 'The Big Bounce' (1969).

'She's Funny That Way' was co-produced by filmmakers Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach. Quentin Tarantino lent uncredited support and he appears in the movie. It's an example of classic stagecraft put on film, beautifully directed by Peter Bogdanovich. It combines the screwball energy of 'What's Up Doc?' (1972) with the farcical elements of 'Noises Off' (1992), two of my all-time favourite comedies. I believe this movie will be rediscovered one day and come to be recognised as one of its director's finest pictures.