The 50 Best Peter Gallagher Movies

Reference
Updated April 25, 2024 51 items
Ranked By
499 votes
86 voters
Voting Rules

Vote for your favorite movies & TV shows, regardless of critic reviews or how big the role was.

Latest additions: Humane
Most divisive: Titanic
Over 80 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The 50 Best Peter Gallagher Movies

List of the best Peter Gallagher movies & shows, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. Peter Gallagher's highest-grossing movies and shows have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. The order of these top Peter Gallagher movies and shows will be decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Peter Gallagher movies or shows will be at the top of the list. Peter Gallagher has been in a lot of films and TV shows, so people often debate each other over what the greatest Peter Gallagher movie or show of all time is. If you and a friend are arguing about this, then use this list of the most entertaining Peter Gallagher films and shows to end the squabble once and for all.

If you think the best Peter Gallagher role isn't at the top, then upvote it so it has the chance to become number one. The greatest Peter Gallagher performances didn't necessarily come from the best movies and shows, but in most cases they go hand in hand.

Items include everything from Adam to The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez.

"This list answers the questions, "What are the best Peter Gallagher movies and shows?" and "What are the greatest Peter Gallagher roles of all time?"

Peter Gallagher is no stranger to working with popular directors, including Robert Altman, Steven Soderbergh and John Fortenberry.

  • In While You Were Sleeping, Lucy Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) is a lonely token collector for the Chicago Transit Authority. Secretly admiring a handsome commuter, Peter Callaghan (Peter Gallagher), she saves him from an oncoming train after he falls onto the tracks. Unconscious in the hospital, Peter's family mistakenly believes Lucy to be his fiancée. Jack Callaghan (Bill Pullman), Peter's brother, is skeptical yet drawn towards Lucy. As Peter recovers, Lucy finds herself entangled in a comical and unexpected romantic dilemma. This charming 1995 rom-com won the hearts of many, earning Bullock a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress.
  • American Beauty, a drama directed by Sam Mendes, unravels the life of Lester Burnham (Kevin Spacey), a depressed suburban father in the throes of a mid-life crisis. The narrative pivots around his infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend, Angela Hayes (Mena Suvari). His wife Carolyn (Annette Bening), an ambitious realtor, and their alienated daughter Jane (Thora Birch) are significant characters in this introspective tale. The film earned numerous accolades, including five Academy Awards. It explores themes of love, freedom and self-discovery amidst the mundanity of American suburban life.
  • The Player
    3
    13 votes
    The Player is a satirical drama that plunges viewers into the murky depths of Hollywood. At its heart is Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins), a studio executive caught in the ruthless grip of the film industry. Mill's life takes a sinister turn when he starts receiving death threats from a disgruntled writer. Director Robert Altman masterfully navigates the labyrinth of power and deceit, infusing irony and suspense at every twist and turn. The movie, noted for its star-studded cast and audacious opening sequence, won critical acclaim and bagged three Golden Globe Awards.
  • Short Cuts
    4
    9 votes
    Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot (Lily Tomlin) accidentally runs into a boy with her car. Soon after walking away, the child lapses into a coma. While at the hospital, the boy's grandfather (Jack Lemmon) tells his son, Howard (Bruce Davison), about his past affairs. Meanwhile, a baker (Lyle Lovett) starts harassing the family when they fail to pick up the boy's birthday cake.
  • Center Stage
    5
    A dozen adolescents have begun their training at the renowned American Ballet Academy, where they encounter tremendous physical and mental stress while vying for a coveted spot in a celebrated dance company. Jody Sawyer (Amanda Schull) has talent but the wrong proportions, the fiery Eva Rodriguez (Zoe Saldana) can't seem to get along with her instructors and Maureen (Susan May Pratt) is having a hard time enduring the emotional highs and lows that accompany ballet school.
  • Music producer and songwriter Vincent Vacarri (Ray Sharkey) believes that it takes good looks, not talent, to become a teen idol in 1950s America. So when he discovers handsome-faced Tomaso (Paul Land), he sweet-talks him into losing his saxophone and instead becoming a singer. Soon after, Tomaso is transformed into the newest pop star -- Tommy Dee. But when Vacarri takes on a second protégé, Caesare (Peter Gallagher), the rivalry between the two egotistical performers spirals out of control.
  • They were the literati of the Jazz Age, but their lives weren't as glamorous as the society pages made them seem. Dorothy Parker (Jennifer Jason Leigh), Robert Benchley (Campbell Scott), Charles MacArthur (Matthew Broderick) and the other regulars of the New York City salon known as the Algonquin Round Table publish celebrated pieces of writing and while away hours over boozy lunches. But for Parker, an endless string of droll commentary is a veneer hiding her emotional and romantic troubles.
  • Bob Roberts
    8
    Millionaire conservative Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins) launches an insurgent campaign against incumbent senator Brickley Paiste (Gore Vidal), firing up crowds at his rallies by singing '60s-style acoustic folk songs with lyrics espousing far-right conservative social and economic views. Investigative journalist Bugs Raplin (Giancarlo Esposito) shadows the Roberts campaign, trying to connect Roberts to a drug-trafficking scheme, but an assassination attempt lays suspicion on both men.
  • Malice
    9
    10 votes
    Suburban Boston professional couple Andy (Bill Pullman) and Tracy (Nicole Kidman) become entangled with cocky trauma surgeon Dr. Jed Hill (Alec Baldwin), an old classmate of Andy's whom they invite to become their tenant in the large Victorian home they're renovating. Things become even more tangled when college dean Andy becomes implicated in a campus serial rape investigation and Jed performs an emergency surgery on Tracy with unforeseen complications that disrupt all their lives.
  • Ann (Andie MacDowell) is trapped in a sexually and emotionally unfulfilled relationship with her husband, John (Peter Gallagher), a successful but unpleasant lawyer who is sleeping with her sister, Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo). The underlying tensions in the couple's marriage rise to the surface when Graham (James Spader), a friend of John's from college who's been drifting for nine years, returns to town and videotapes Cynthia and Ann as they talk about their sexual desires.
  • Gambling addict Michael Chambers (Peter Gallagher) returns to Texas for the wedding of his mother and soon becomes engulfed in the wreckage of his past. He has an affair with his ex-wife, Rachel (Alison Elliott), who is now seeing thug Tommy Dundee (William Fichtner). When Dundee discovers the two lovers together, Chambers finds himself at the center of an armored car heist involving an old flame (Elisabeth Shue) and his new stepfather (Paul Dooley).
  • In London to celebrate his birthday with James (Peter Gallagher), his rich younger brother, hapless American Wallace Ritchie (Bill Murray) gets signed up to participate in an elaborate role-playing theater performance. However, when Wallace accidentally receives a call intended for an actual hit man, he gets caught in a web of intrigue, completely unaware that the action unfolding around him is real. Luckily, the lovely Lori (Joanne Whalley) is around to help the clueless guy out of tight spots.
  • Mr Deeds
    13
    12 votes
    Mr. Deeds is a 2002 American comedy film directed by Steven Brill and starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder. The movie is a remake of the 1936 Frank Capra film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, and also stars Peter Gallagher, John Turturro, Allen Covert, and Steve Buscemi. The movie was produced by Happy Madison and New Line Cinema and was distributed by Columbia Pictures.
  • Burlesque
    14
    7 votes
    Ali (Christina Aguilera), a small-town gal with a great voice, leaves a troubled life behind and follows her dreams to Los Angeles. She lands a job as a cocktail waitress at the Burlesque Lounge, a once-majestic theater that houses an inspired musical revue led by Tess (Cher), the proprietor. Ali vows to perform there and, with the help of a savvy stage manager and a gender-bending host, she makes the leap from bar to stage, helping restore the club's former glory.
  • How to Deal
    15
    For teenager Halley (Mandy Moore), love seems like an alien concept. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), and father, Len (Peter Gallagher), are divorced. Lydia doesn't date, and Len is now seeing a younger woman. Halley's sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is about to get married and doesn't realize that her fiancé (Mackenzie Astin) is not the man of her dreams. But, when Halley meets edgy Macon (Trent Ford), she learns what love is really all about.
  • Two years ago, David Lewis' (Peter Gallagher) wife, Gillian (Michelle Pfeiffer), fell from their sailboat and died, and since then he's been uninterested in other relationships. Rachel (Claire Danes), their daughter, has been suffering during this period, as David ignores her and goes walking on the nearby beach, where he communicates with Gillian's ghost. Gillian's sister, Esther (Kathy Baker), brings a friend to the house in hopes of sparking his interest, but that only leads to complications.
  • Mother's Boys
    17
    Sexy but unstable wife and mother Jude (Jamie Lee Curtis) walked out on her family three years ago. Now, just as suddenly, she is back. But her husband, Robert (Peter Gallagher), has fallen in love with Callie (Joanne Whalley-Kilmer), an assistant principal at his sons' school. He asks Jude for a divorce. She responds by trying to turn her three boys against Callie, then by slashing herself and blaming her rival and finally by drawing her 12-year-old, Kes (Luke Edwards), into a murderous plot.
  • Conviction
    18
    6 votes
    When her older brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) is convicted of murder and sentenced to life in 1983, Betty Anne Waters (Hilary Swank) vows to get the conviction overturned. Beginning an 18-year quest to exonerate Kenny, Betty Anne puts herself through college and law school. With the help of her best friend (Minnie Driver), Betty Anne pores over piles of suspicious evidence and retraces the steps that led to Kenny's arrest in the hope of finally winning her brother's freedom.
  • Last Dance
    19
    7 votes
    A young lawyer (Rob Morrow) is assigned to a clemency case for Cindy Liggett (Sharon Stone), a woman on death row for first degree murder. As he investigates her case the two develop a friendship. Her execution date draws closer and he uncovers errors in her trial that his bosses would rather he ignore.
  • A millionaire with theatrical tendencies, Stephen Price (Geoffrey Rush) invites a number of people to stay in a vast creepy building that used to be an insane asylum. Stephen, accompanied by his bitter wife, Evelyn (Famke Janssen), offers a million dollars to anyone who can stay the whole night without leaving out of fear. When Stephen and Evelyn become trapped with their guests, they quickly realize that the house really is haunted -- and the spirits dwelling within are very angry.
  • High Spirits
    21

    High Spirits

    7 votes
    Irish hotelier Peter Plunkett (Peter O'Toole) attempts to fill the chronic vacancies at his castle by launching an advertising campaign that wrongly portrays the property as haunted. Unfortunately, he fails to scare a single American tourist with his hokey and dreadfully unconvincing effects. When two actual ghosts, Mary (Daryl Hannah) and Martin (Liam Neeson), show up to add some authenticity, they end up falling for two guests, Sharon (Beverly D'Angelo) and Jack (Steve Guttenberg).
  • Perfume
    22
    5 votes
    Perfume is a 2001 film about the fashion industry in New York City.
  • Summer Lovers
    23
    Michael Pappas (Peter Gallagher) and his girlfriend, Cathy (Daryl Hannah), are enjoying the white sand beaches of a Greek island as well as the freewheeling nature of the locals. When Michael meets Lina (Valerie Quennessen), who is in Greece from Paris doing archaeological work, he is enamored with the beautiful foreigner. Cathy, unhappy about Lina getting close to Michael, confronts the woman -- only to be unexpectedly wooed by her charms as well.
  • Center Stage 2: Turn it Up or Center Stage 2 is the official sequel to the 2000 dance drama film Center Stage. The film was directed by Steven Jacobson and written by Karen Bloch Morse, based on characters created by Carol Heikkinen. It was broadcast on Oxygen on November 1, 2008, making it a television film, unlike its predecessor. It stars Rachele Brooke Smith as Kate Parker and Kenny Wormald as Tommy Anderson, and also features Sarah Jayne Jensen as Suzanne Von Stroh, with Peter Gallagher and Ethan Stiefel returning from the first film as Jonathan Reeves and Cooper Nielson, respectively. No other characters, or plot lines, return from the first film, making this an unusual sequel.
  • Titanic
    25
    10 votes
    Titanic is a made-for-TV dramatization that premiered as a 2-part miniseries on CBS in 1996. Titanic follows several characters on board the RMS Titanic when she sinks on her maiden voyage in 1912. The miniseries was directed by Robert Lieberman. The original music score was composed by Lennie Niehaus.
  • Newly arrived in Miami, young dancer Emily (Kathryn McCormick) dreams of becoming a professional. She soon meets and falls in love with Sean (Ryan Guzman), the leader of a dance crew called "the Mob." When a rich businessman's plans to develop the dancers' historic neighborhood threatens to displace thousands of people, Emily must join forces with Sean and the Mob to turn their performance art into protest art, even though doing so may place her dreams in jeopardy.
  • Adam
    27
    6 votes
    Adam is an American romantic drama film written and directed by Max Mayer, starring Hugh Dancy and Rose Byrne. The film follows the relationship between a young man named Adam with Asperger syndrome, and Beth. Mayer was inspired to write the film's script when he heard a radio interview with a man who had Asperger's. Filming took place in New York in December 2005. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, and was released in the United States on July 29, 2009. The release date in Canada and the UK was 7 August 2009 in Australia, and everywhere else after Labor Day.
  • White Mile
    28
    5 votes
    White Mile is a 1994 American film directed by Robert Butler and starring Alan Alda and Peter Gallagher.
  • Brotherhood of Murder is a 1999 drama TV movie directed by Martin Bell.
  • In an effort to give something back to society, wealthy socialite Franny Bettinger (Mary Stuart Masterson) takes a position at a center for troubled youths. There she meets a group of hard-luck teens, many of whom don't take kindly to a little rich girl sticking her nose into their lives. Despite an initial culture clash, Bettinger soon finds herself becoming emotionally invested in the plight of several teens, despite the disapproval of her mother, Delly (Pamela Payton-Wright).