Leonardo DiCapriois one of Hollywood’s most recognizable actors, with many of his movies available to watch on various streaming platforms. DiCaprio’s first movie role was in the 1991 direct-to-videoCritters 3. As the decade continued, many of thefeature films starring Leonardo DiCapriogained significant recognition, including his portrayal of Arnie Grape in 1993’sWhat’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which earned him his first Academy Award nomination at only 19 years old. Of course,his biggest movie of the 1990s was James Cameron’sTitanic, which was theall-time highest-grossing movieuntil it was surpassed by Cameron’sAvatar.
This success continued into the 2000s, which featured numerous collaborations betweenLeonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese. From 2002’sGangs of New Yorkto 2023’sKillers of the Flower Moon, DiCaprio and Scorsese have now made six movies together, and their partnership is poised to continue withDevil in the White City. In addition to Cameron and Scorsese, DiCaprio has worked with Baz Luhrmann, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan, resulting in many of the best movies in the actor’s impressive career.
DiCaprio’s first movie with Luhrmann wasRomeo + Juliet. The 1996 movie features DiCaprio as the titular Romeo Montague opposite Claire Danes' Juliet Capulet. Luhrmann’s take on William Shakespeare’s tragic love story has the characters speaking Shakespearean English in a modernized 1990s setting where guns are used instead of swords, and helicopters and overnight mail delivery services exist. Luhrmann’s vibrant and colorful visual style is on display as he brings his vision of the Shakespeare play to life.
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While there have been many adaptations ofRomeo and Juliet,this version starring DiCaprio remains one of the most recognizable and enduring adaptations, and it is still frequently shown in high school English classrooms while studying the original play. DiCaprio delivers a solid performance as the doomed and love-struck Romeo and does his best to make Shakespearean English work in a 1990s context. In addition to seeing DiCaprio and Danes earlier in their careers, it is also enjoyable to see Paul Rudd as Count Paris, Harold Perinneau as Mercutio, and John Leguizamo as Tybalt.
InDjango Unchained, DiCaprio plays Calvin Candie, avillain that Quentin Tarantino hates. Tarantino has explained that while he can sympathize with some of the villains in his movies, or at least understand their point of view,Candie is an antagonist that is despicable and completely irredeemable. DiCaprio has played many heroes and tragic figures throughout his career, which makes it all the more impressive to see him excel at playing the ruthless and vile Candie.
When Django Freeman (Jamie Foxx) and Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) learn that Django’s wife, Broomhilda “Hildi” von Shaft (Kerry Washington) has been sold to Candie, they hatch a daring plan to rescue her. What ensues is one of Tarantino’s most violent movies, but the violence feels justified given the racist and sadistic nature of Candie and those loyal to him. Not being nominated forDjango Unchainedwas one ofLeonardo DiCaprio’s biggest Oscars snubs, even though Candie is not as complex as many other characters in the actor’s career.
Given DiCaprio’s real-life dedication to environmental conservation, it is fitting that he stars inDon’t Look Up, which uses an impending, world-ending comet as an allegory for climate change. DiCaprio plays Dr. Randall Mindy, an astronomy professor who tries to warn the world about the comet while the authorities encourage him to downplay the apocalyptic threat. Despite being divisive among critics, the Netflix original movie received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.
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DiCaprio’s solo performance inDon’t Look Upis not as memorable as many of his other performances. Nevertheless, he is an integral piece of the story and its powerful commentary about the perils of ignoring science for the sake of political power and financial greed.Leonardo DiCaprio’s improvised line“We really did have everything, did we? I mean, when you think about it” also adds more weight to the already emotional end of the movie.
Titanicis one of the most financially successful movies of all time and a defining chapter in DiCaprio’s career. Jack is the most iconic romantic character that DiCaprio has played and there is still discourse about whether there was room for him beside Rose (Kate Winslet) on the floating door. Despite being about the real-life tragedy of theTitanicsinking,the movie became a phenomenon because of the love story between Jack and Roseand because of DiCaprio and Winslet’s performances.
AfterTitanic, DiCaprio greatly diversified his career, playing a wide range of characters who are starkly different from a romantic hero like Jack. DiCaprio’s legacy is much larger than Jack, but it is impossible to discuss his career and his best movies withoutTitanicbeing part of the conversation.Titanic’s three hour and 15 minute runtime required it to be on 2 VHS tapes, but it is now easier to simply stream it on Hulu and Paramount+.
DiCaprio reunited with Scorsese to makeThe Wolf of Wall Street, based on the life of stockbroker Jordan Belfort. In his depiction of Belfort, who engaged in financial corruption and fraud while working on Wall Street, DiCaprio captures the debauchery and self-destruction that is necessary to tell the stockbroker’s true story. A fine line must be walked, as Belfort makes many selfish, ill-advised, and even dangerous decisions in his personal and professional lives, but the movie does not want to demonize him entirely. DiCaprio succeeds at walking this fine line in his performance.
The Wolf of Wall Streetreceived five Academy Award nominations.
DiCaprio is no stranger to starring in long movies, butThe Wolf of Wall Street’s three-hour runtime does feel slightly overlong. Despite a questionably long runtime and knowing where the story is headed, DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Jonah Hill, and the rest of the cast make it an entertaining movie to watch. It can be like a car crash that is difficult to look away from, but that is the point, and the point is effectively made by the timeThe Wolf of Wall Streetreaches its end.
DiCaprio and Scorsese’s first movie,Gangs of New York, is one of their best. After Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson) is killed by William “Bill the Butcher” Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis),Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) becomes obsessed with getting his revenge. When Amsterdam returns to the Five Points years later to take his revenge, his mission becomes complicated as Bill takes him under his wing, and as protests against Civil War conscription escalate further.
Amsterdam is a protagonist who is easy to root for, and DiCaprio does well in the role. However, he is ultimately overshadowed byDaniel Day-Lewis' performanceas Bill the Butcher, which is among the best in Day-Lewis' exemplary career. This leads to an emotional and explosive culmination as the powder keg that is the Five Points is lit on fire, and a final confrontation between Amsterdam and Bill must take place.
After years of being snubbed,DiCaprio finally won his first Academy Award for Best Actor forThe Revenant. The Alejandro González Iñárritu-directed movie is a brutal tale of survival and revenge following fur trapper Hugh Glass (DiCaprio). Glass has to find a way to live despite being mauled by a grizzly bear, being left for dead, and having to helplessly watch as his son is murdered in front of him. The lengths Glass must go to survive and to get his revenge against John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy) makes this one of DiCaprio’s most physical roles.
Some scenes, such as the bear attack, are among the most memorable in DiCaprio’s career, though, and showcase a different kind of acting than what is normally seen by him.
For different reasons thanThe Wolf of Wall Street,The Revenantsometimes feels as though it has an overlong runtime of two hours and 36 minutes. This is largely due to the use of minimal dialogue, as the movie instead largely relies on the cinematography of the natural landscapes to tell its story. Some scenes, such as the bear attack, are among the most memorable in DiCaprio’s career, though, and showcase a different kind of acting than what is normally seen by him.
The only movie to date that DiCaprio and Spielberg have done together isCatch Me If You Can, and it is one of the best movies DiCaprio has ever starred in. He plays the real-life con man Frank Abagnale Jr., who is pursued by FBI agent Carl Hanratty (Tom Hanks).DiCaprio brings charm, confidence, and style to Frank’s various cons, which include him impersonating an airplane pilot and a doctor, the latter of which is responsible for the iconic line,“Dr. Harris, do you concur?”
DiCaprio’s Frank is fun to watch, and his cons lead to some amusing scenarios, but it is also tragic to see him continuing down this criminal path when it will inevitably end poorly. He tries to deny reality, and it is only a matter of time before reality catches up with him.Catch Me If You Canis also agreat Tom Hanks movieand Carl’s determined pursuit of Frank, and what happens when he finally catches up with him, make the movie even better.
DiCaprio and Scorsese’s latest collaboration is also one of their best. It tells the real story of members of the Osage Nation tribe being murdered due to the oil on their land. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, who is the nephew of William King Hale (Robert De Niro). While he appears to be a generous ally to the Osage Nation, Hale is the one behind the murders and uses Ernest’s marriage to Molly Kyle (Lily Gladstone) as a means to gaining her family’s wealth.
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Burkhart is not a straightforward villain likeDjango Unchained’s Calvin Candie, nor is he a hero likeTitanic’s Jack.Ernest is a gullible and fearful man who lets himself be manipulatedby his uncle. He commits horrific deeds, including murder and poisoning his own wife, but he feels tremendous shame and regret that weighs heavily on him, which ultimately influences his actions. DiCaprio nails the complexity of the role, with only one movie that is currently available to stream being better thanKillers of the Flower Moon.
AfterThe Dark KnightandOppenheimer,InceptionisChristopher Nolan’s best movie, and the best DiCaprio movie available to stream. Dom Cobb (DiCaprio) is a skilled thief who is hired to plant an idea in the mind of Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), who is the heir to a vast business empire. The mission is made infinitely more complicated for Cobb and his team due to Cobb’s mind projecting his deceased wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), into the dreams.
Inceptionis a thrilling and deeply imaginative science-fiction heist movie.What grounds the movie is the personal story of Cobb, who is haunted by his late wife, and who is determined to finish the job so he can be reunited with his children. DiCaprio’s performance balances Cobb’s grief and anguish alongside the reality-defying feats he accomplishes within the dreams.Inception’s ambiguous endingis still one of the most-talked about movie endings, not only inLeonardo DiCaprio’s career, but in all of cinematic history.
