The 25 Best Robert Duvall Movies Ranked

It’s easy to take Robert Duvall for granted. With a career that stretches across six decades, Duvall has given understated performances, a quality has retained even as colleagues such as Al Pacino and Robert De Niro devolve into bombastic stereotypes.

While he can bellow a rant with the best of them, Duvall has mastered the art of an incisive look, conveying depths of emotion that rarely come to the surface. As impressive as that skill certainly is, it can be too easy to overlook, making Duvall one of the most underrated great actors of his generation.

With even a quick glance at his best 25 films, it’s easy to see his remarkable range as a performer.

1. The Godfather (1972)

As Irish German Tom Hagen, Robert Duvall might seem out of place in The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola’s epic about a transitional period in the Corleone crime family. But as seen in the anguish he feels over the shooting of godfather Vito (Marlon Brando) and his clashes with hot-head Sonny (James Caan), Hagen acts as the heart and mind of the family. The most human of the big personalities in the movie, Duvall reminds the viewers of the real stakes of the family’s power, whether he’s politely excusing himself from a movie producer’s home or looking with hurt at a betrayal by his brother Michael (Al Pacino).

2. Apocalypse Now (1979)

Even if they don’t know the name “Robert Duvall,” most people know his most famous line, delivered in Apocalypse Now: “I love the smell of napalm in the morning.” But it’s not that line that really shows off Duvall’s talents. Rather, it’s what immediately follows Colonel Kilgore’s declaration of joy in the Vietnam War, his story about a successful napalm attack. “Smells like… victory,” he says and then pauses, the perverse nostalgia in his eyes becoming despair. “Someday this war is gonna end,” he tells Willard (Martin Sheen) before walking away with sadness. With that delivery, Duvall quiets the eccentricities of an absurd and destructive war, showing us the real cost of the battle: the human beings whose minds and bodies are broken in the conflict.

3. The Apostle (1997)

Hollywood loves stories about hypocritical preachers, the subjects of movies such as Elmer Gantry (1960) and The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000). Preacher Sonny Dewey from The Apostle certainly belongs among their number, especially when he interrupts his kid’s little league game to attack the man having an affair with his wife (Farrah Fawcett), killing him. But as the writer and director as well as star, Duvall has no interest in demonizing Sonny and instead explores the humanity of a troubled man but devout man who tries and fails to live up to his beliefs.

4. Tender Mercies (1983)

For such a low-key drama about the fall and rise of a country singer, Tender Mercies feels surprisingly tense. Director Bruce Beresford, who would later go on to make Driving Miss Daisy, wants to steer the movie toward sentimentalism, heightening the emotion in washed-up country singer Mac Sledge’s (Duvall) romance with widowed single mother Rosa Lee (Tess Harper). But Duvall refuses, underplaying even big moments involving his ex-wife (Betty Buckley) and his estranged daughter (Ellen Barkin). Together, the creatives make a remarkably moving film, one that earns its redemption story and gives proper weight to its main characters’ struggles.

5. The Natural (1984)

Of course, Duvall is not the star of The Natural, Barry Levinson’s adaptation of the Bernard Malamud novel of the same name, with a screenplay from Robert Towne and Philip Dusenberry. That honor belongs to Robert Redford, who plays instinctively talented ballplayer Roy Hobbs. Instead, Duvall has a relatively minor supporting part as sportswriter Max Mercy, the man who recognizes Hobbs in his return to the sport in middle age. Small as the part may be, Mercy plays a pivotal role, responsible for showing the audience how special Hobbs truly is. Duvall achieves this not with a clever line or a shouted monologue, but with a simple chuckle after watching Hobbs hit. With that one laugh, Duvall tells the audience that Hobbs has so much talent that he’s made a seasoned sportswriter speechless.

6. The Conversation (1974)

As with The Natural, audiences often forget that anyone but Gene Hackman stars in The Conversation. Hackman’s portrayal of paranoid security expert Harry Caul gets most of the praise, and deservedly so. But Hackman’s performance gains its power in relation to Duvall as “the Director,” who hired Caul to record an exchange between a man and a woman, who may be his unfaithful wife. Duvall must play a character who can believably be the victim or the victimizer, deploying nebulous glances and pregnant pauses. Duvall makes the most of his screen time, playing the audience with a series of subtle gestures.

7. MASH (1970)

Once again, Duvall has a small part in MASH, even among the classic’s ensemble cast. But again, he makes his mark, a task made easier by the fact he’s playing stick-in-the-mud Major Frank Burns, not one of the rebellious military doctors. Given his small part and clear plot function, it would be easy for Duvall to step aside for the other actors. But he manages to truly earn the audience’s dislike for Burns, not relying on the heroes’ disrespect to tell us how to feel. Even better, the glare he gives the main characters stands alongside the most terrifying screen moments.

8. True Confessions (1981)

Most of the movies on this list outclass True Confessions, a pulpy but self-important crime movie from director Ulu Grosbard and married writers Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. Loosely based on the real-world Black Dahlia Murders, True Confessions stars Duvall and Robert De Niro as brothers with very different callings. De Niro plays the popular Monsignor Des Spellacy, a rising star in the Catholic church of New York, while Duvall plays Tom Spellacy, a cruel and untrustworthy vice detective. While De Niro seems lost playing the calm and mysterious priest, Duvall shines as a man with more moral fiber than anyone, even his own brother, can see.

9. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

Although he already had a few TV credits to his name, Duvall introduced himself to most audiences in the most appropriate way possible, with a silent and inscrutable stare. Duvall made his film debut as Boo Radley, the harmless oddball in the Robert Mulligan-directed, Horton Foote-written adaptation of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird. Few other actors could better portray a man who communicates with glances more than words, forcing observers to decide if he’s a harmless idiot, an impending threat, or a human being who deserves the respect that Atticus Finch (Gregory Peck) extends to everyone.

10. Crazy Heart (2009)

It’s easy to dismiss Duvall’s part in Crazy Heart as stunt casting, a cynical attempt by director Scott Cooper to cash in on the reputation of Tender Mercies. After all, he appears as Wayne, an old friend of protagonist Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges), a country singer whose alcoholism and relationship problems torpedoed a once-promising career. But Duvall does more than lend credibility to the project and instead plays Wayne as a fully-formed character. Wayne barely looks up from his fishing rod as he listens to Blake mutter about his estranged son and dispenses sage advice. Where other actors would play up the moment, Duvall lets Wayne be a person with his own story, not just a motivator for someone else.

11. Widows (2018)

Midway through Widows, Duvall’s Chicago political operative Tom Mulligan launches into an expletive-filled tirade against his son, alderman candidate Jack (Colin Farrell). Then in his late 80s, Duvall would have more than earned the right to overdo the scene, going big because no one, not even a director as talented as Steve McQueen, could tell him now. And while Duvall does shout some of his lines, the real power comes in the spaces between, the moments where he lets Mulligan rest and simply watches his son, wondering what the candidate will do next, betraying a man who is more of a political operator than he is a father.

12. Days of Thunder (1990)

As one of the all-time greatest eye actors, Duvall has made a career out of throwing knowning and inquisitive glances at his castmates. But in the Tony Scott movie Days of Thunder, written by Robert Towne, there’s room for nothing but a twinkle in Duvall’s eyes. As Harry Hogge, the pit chief of Tom Cruise’s cocky driver Cole Trickle, Duvall takes on the mentor role for a younger actor, something he’ll do often over the next several decades. But here, he’s more interested in being playful than wise, openly laughing at Cole’s bravado and reminding the audience that whatever ups and downs our protagonist might encounter, race car driving should always be fun.

13. Rambling Rose (1991)

Duvall has played some villains over the course of his career, but rarely has he sounded as devious as when his Rambling Rose character Mr. Hillyer allows a little chuckle when he and a male doctor decide to perform surgery on his young servant Rose (Laura Dern). An inflexible moralist, Hillyer sees Rose as a woman whose wild ways threaten her potential as a wife, an irritant he resents for the attraction toward her he feels. But Duvall never lets Mr. Hillyer slip into fire and brimstone extremities, making him something all the more frightening: a cruel and uncaring person convinced that he’s a good man.

14. The Great Santini (1979)

The same year that he made movie history as crazed cavalry pilot Col. Kilgore, Duvall also appeared as a very different type of airman, Lt. Col. Bull Meechum, aka the Great Santini. In a performance that earned him a Best Actor nomination, Duvall plays the intractable Meechum as something between a war hero with no war to fight and a pathetic disciplinarian who takes out his frustrations on his son (Best Supporting Actor nominee Michael O’Keefe). Between these extremes, Duvall embodies the respect for Meechum that author Pat Conroy breathed into the novel The Great Santini, based on the writer’s relationship with his own father. Director and screenwriter Lewis John Carlino never ignores the tougher parts of living with Meechum, but he gives Duvall space to do what he does best, shading a character with just a few gestures and glances.

15. Falling Down (1993)

The infamous Joel Schumacher movie Falling Down seems an odd choice for an actor as nuanced as Duvall. After all, it follows the rampage of put-upon middle-class divorcee William Foster (Michael Douglas), who cuts a violent path across Los Angeles after being denied breakfast at McDonalds. Duvall’s Sergeant Martin Prendergast must hunt down Foster, even though he shares his frustrations with his overbearing boss, the service workers who don’t show him the respect he thinks he deserves, or the immigrants whose presence he resents. Through Prendergast, writer Ebbe Roe Smith presents the most chilling part of Falling Down: not that one bad day can unleash the hatred within the otherwise nondescript Foster, but that America is full of guys like Foster, including Prendergast.

16. The Outfit (1973)

The crime picture The Outfit pairs Duvall with frequent Mystery Science Theater 3000 whipping boy Joe Don Baker. While that might sound like an odd match to people who only know Baker from Mitchell and other lesser works, he and Duvall work together well in John Flynn’s The Outfit, based on the Richard Stark (aka Donald E. Westlake) novel of the same name. Duvall plays enigmatic criminal Eddie Macklin, who goes on a mission of revenge against the seemingly all-powerful cartel called the Outfit. Between Baker’s exploitation instincts and Duvall’s quiet approach, the duo elevates The Outfit into pulpy high art, equal parts slimy action flick and well-observed character study.

17. Secondhand Lions (2003)

Secondhand Lions sounds like an easy paycheck for Duvall and his co-star Michael Caine. In this sentimental flick from writer/director Tim McCanlies, the duo plays gruff uncles who raise the teen son (Haley Joel Osment) of their free-living niece. Duvall and Caine had more than earned the right to simply bark out a few eccentric lines, quietly deliver some words of wisdom, and enjoy craft services. But instead, they put in real performances, especially Duvall as tough guy Hub. He brings a weight to the former soldier that goes beyond the character as written, suggesting an inner life that makes the kindness he gives his great-nephew that much more meaningful.

18. The Rain People (1969)

On one hand, Duvall shows up in the worst part of The Rain People, an early New Hollywood drama from Francis Ford Coppola. On the other hand, Duvall brings genuine pathos to the bombastic ending of the film, saving a heretofore excellent character study from a disastrously overheated conclusion. As a cop who first protects and then tries to seduce runaway housewife Natalie (Shirley Knight), Duvall initially seems like a welcome relief from her normal traveling companion Killer (James Caan), a sweet but mentally disabled former football player. But as the cop grows more threatening, Natalie realizes the danger she’s in, leading to an over-the-top climax. Overheated as it is, Duvall never lets the character feel like anything other than a real person, albeit one who makes terrible decisions with disastrous consequences.

19. The Paper (1994)

As a Ron Howard movie, The Paper tells a slick story that hits all of the expected beats. Reporter Henry Hackett (Michael Keaton) chases stories, competes with his colleagues, and eventually learns a little something about life. Satisfying as it certainly is, the pedestrian screenplay by David Koepp and Stephen Koepp, doesn’t have much life to it. Enter Duvall as editor-in-chief Bernie White. Written as the old man whose disastrous life serves as a warning for the workaholic Hackett, White isn’t the richest role. But Duvall grounds the man’s frustration with the demands of running a newspaper with his passion for telling the truth. Even when White shows signs of declining health, a clear ploy to tug on the audience’s heartstrings, Duvall sells the editor’s embarrassed comments to his team with clear compassion for the character, earning sentiment that the movie tries to yank from viewers.

20. The Handmaid's Tale (1990)

Today, most people know The Handmaid’s Tale as the hit television series starring Elisabeth Moss, and maybe as a novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. But between those two works, it was a 1990 film directed by Volker Schlöndorff and written by Harold Pinter. By most accounts, the movie ranks the worst of the three versions of the story, its themes undone by studio interference. But few could take issue with Duvall’s interpretation of the Commander, the cruel head of the household in which Handmaid Kate (Natasha Richardson) is forced to serve. It would be easy to play the Commander as just a simple monster, given his repellant nature. Duvall refuses to let him off that easy, using his uncaring stare and growled commands to reveal a human being who revels in the power given to him.

21. Open Range (2003)

Robert Duvall has a face for Westerns. Although he hasn’t appeared in as many Westerns as one would think, at least not on the big screen (he played a key part in the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove), he always feels at home on the range. By casting him as a haunted cattleman and Civil War vet Boss Spearman, director/co-star Kevin Costner gets instant production value, lending credibility to his often stuffy adaptation of the novel The Open Range Men by Lauran Paine (screenplay by Craig Storper). By just breathing heavily between his lines or looking around with his mouth half-open, Duvall brings the Old West to life, more effectively than any of the movie’s sets or costumes.

22. A Civil Action (1998)

There’s no beating around the bush: A Civil Action isn’t very good. A lesser version of the glossy legal thrillers popular in the 1990s, A Civil Action leans into grandstanding, and writer/director Steven Zaillian, adapting the non-fiction book by Jonathan Harr, allows his cast of character actors to indulge their worst instincts. Most often, this approach leads to loud and unconvincing scenes, especially involving star John Travolta. And to be sure, Duvall chews the scenery as much as any of his co-stars, glowering his way through courtroom scenes as a corporate attorney. But where many of the cast members struggle to marry the cartoon performances with the film’s stately tone, Duvall finds the right balance, letting just a boisterous laugh be at once ridiculous and genuinely threatening. 

23. Tomorrow (1972)

Though not a Western, Tomorrow understands the power of Duvall’s face, which had a weathered look even before he reached middle age. Based on a William Faulkner story adapted by Horton Foote, Tomorrow stars solitary farmer Fentry, who reluctantly gives shelter to a pregnant runaway (Olga Bellin). Before she dies, he agrees to care for her son. Director Joseph Anthony switches between the past and the present day, showing how the odd Fentry raised the child and how he behaves on the jury for a murder trial. Tomorrow plays to Duvall’s strengths as an actor, limiting his lines and asking him to convey internal drama with facial expressions and body language, aided only by the striking, almost impressionistic, cinematography from Allan Green. 

24. Newsies (1992)

Like A Civil Action, Newsies finds Duvall at his biggest. Even by the standards of a movie musical, in which striking paper boys make their demands to the newspapers through song and dance, Duvall threatens to break the film when he arrives as mogul Joseph Pulitzer. But what a glorious performance it is. He does not sing, but Duvall does find a musical quality to his voice when Pulitzer shouts in indignation at the kid (Christian Bale) who dared to challenge his authority. By going as big as possible for director Kenny Ortega, working from a script by Bob Tzudiker and Noni White, Duvall builds the heroism of the striking newsies, showing the pure arrogance and power of the opposition.

25. THX 1138 (1971)

Casual fans might recognize the name THX 1138 for its elevated place in popular culture, referenced in Star Wars and Pixar Films, as well as creating high-definition sound for theatrical and home video releases. What audiences may not know is that THX 1138 is a surprisingly difficult film, a cold and thoughtful debut picture from the man who would make Star Wars. Set in a dystopian future very similar to the one Aldous Huxley portrayed in Brave New World, the movie follows the title character (Duvall), who begins to have religious feelings. Most wouldn’t call THX 1138 anything more than an interesting first project from a filmmaker who would go in a very different direction, but Duvall and co-star Donald Pleasance make it an entertaining watch despite its sterile direction.