Channing Tatum's Best Movies, Ranked by Metacritic
From strippers with hearts of gold to family heist dramas, here are Channing Tatum's best 10 films, ranked by Metascore.
Channing Tatum
Jeff Kravitz/Getty ImagesChanning Tatum started his career as a dancer and a model, with some of his earliest work being in music videos, including Ricky Martin's "She Bangs." But it wasn't long before more involved acting roles started, well, rolling in.
In 2006, he appeared in two films that would prove to be essential for his career: Step Up, which is widely considered his breakout role, showed off his dance moves while also placing him as a romantic leading man; She's The Man centers him as another love interest but also puts him in the comedy world, the start of some great performances to come.
Tatum caught attention for a number of dramatic roles, including war films Stop-Loss and Dear John. He also starred in the new G.I. Joe franchise and Western The Hateful Eight. Most recently, he took on the role of a war veteran on a road trip with a dog in the aptly titled Dog. But the deeper he got into his career, the more he was able to play a bit more, as well, making a cameo as himself in This Is the End, leaning into the comedic relief role in 21 Jump Street, playing the larger-than-life video game character Revenjamin Buttons in Free Guy, and voicing a number of animated characters from Superman in The Lego Movie franchise, to Migo, a yeti, in Smallfoot.
Some of Tatum's best work, based on critical acclaim, has come from teaming up with director Steven Soderbergh. The duo have collaborated on everything from Logan Lucky and Side Effects to the Magic Mike franchise.
Here, Metacritic highlights Tatum's top 10 movies, ranked by Metascore.
The LEGO Movie
Metascore: 83
Best for: Fans of adventures with high stakes, multiverses, and creative animation
Where to watch:
Runtime: 100 minutes
Everyone's favorite building toys come to life in this 2014 CGI-animated film that follows Emmet (voiced by Chris Pratt), an ordinary man/minifigure who becomes a hero when he helps stop Lord Business' (voiced by Will Ferrell) plan to glue everything in his world together. Through a series of adventures and near-death experiences, Emmet learns that his world is only one piece of a larger universe, but that he can have a great impact on it nonetheless. Tatum voices DC Comics' superhero Superman, who is a Master Builder (a character who builds based on creativity) in this world.
"The visuals are spectacular, the 3D technology is artfully used and the storyline is jam-packed with so many funny lines." — Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times
Foxcatcher
Metascore: 81
Best for: Fans of sports dramas, controversial male protagonists, and complicated sibling relationships
Where to watch:
Runtime: 129minutes
This Oscar-nominated drama tells the story of the real-life John du Pont's (Steve Carell) relationship with the Schultz brothers, Mark and Dave (Tatum and Mark Ruffalo, respectively). The brothers are Olympic gold medalists and wrestlers who du Pont recruits as coaches, first bringing aboard Mark before Dave gets involved to help his brother. The film explores a complex sibling dynamic between Mark and Dave, as well as du Pont's negative influence on their relationship, leading to a murder.
"Hypnotic and haunting ... Steve Carell, Channing Tatum and Mark Ruffalo give the performances of their lives." — Peter Travis, Rolling Stone
Logan Lucky
Metascore: 78
Best for: Fans of heist movies and complex family dramas
Where to watch:
Runtime: 118 minutes
Tatum stars in this heist drama as Jimmy Logan, a man who gets fired from his job at the speedway and decides to rob it during the biggest race of the year. He recruits his own family members (Adam Driver and Riley Keough), as well as a safe-cracker who is currently in prison (Daniel Craig) and his brothers (Jack Quaid and Brian Gleeson), to carry out the job, which includes explosions, a prison break, and misdirects with the money.
"The sort of breezy, unpretentious, just-for-fun film that scarcely exists anymore." — Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter
The LEGO Batman Movie
Metascore: 75
Best for: Fans of DC Comics characters, superhero (and supervillain) team-ups, and found family dramas
Where to watch:
Runtime: 104 minutes
The sequel to The LEGO Movie takes the DC Comics' superheroes that appeared as Master Builders there and puts them firmly in the spotlight. The story centers on Batman (voiced by Will Arnett), who has to stop the Joker's (voiced by Zach Galifianakis) latest plan of destruction. In doing so, he learns a valuable lesson about the importance of being surrounded by a support system, and works with a new team to defeat the Joker and his own merry band of villains. Tatum reprises his role as Superman.
"The Lego Batman Movie looks and feels like it could only have been put together by a roomful of mad geniuses." — Michael O'Sullivan, The Washington Post
Side Effects
Metascore: 75
Best for: Fans of psychologically complex thrillers
Where to watch:
Runtime: 106 minutes
Soderbergh directs this psychological thriller about a woman named Emily (Rooney Mara) who survives a suicide attempt after her husband (Tatum) is sent to prison and gets prescribed experimental drugs to help her heal. As the title suggests, the film explores side effects Emily experiences from these drugs, including sleepwalking, which leads to other seemingly out-of-character and often downright violent behavior. However, her new psychiatrist (Jude Law) suspects there is more to Emily's story and works to get to the bottom of of what she did, why, and how her previous doctor (Catherine Zeta-Jones) might be involved.
"A sleekly clever murder mystery." — Ty Burr, The Boston Globe
Hail, Caesar!
Metascore: 72
Best for: Fans of witty humor and fictionalized behind-the-scenes explorations of old Hollywood
Where to watch:
Runtime: 106 minutes
Joel and Ethan Coen's send-up of 1950s Hollywood follows a dramatized version of the real Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), who is trying to figure out what happened to a beloved star during the production of the titular religious epic. The star in question, Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) gets kidnapped by Communists during production and is convinced to join their cause, while the group demands a ransom for his return, which Eddie has to facilitate, all while keeping gossip columnists at bay and assuaging miscasting concerns of another actor, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich). The film turns the glamor of Hollywood on its head via some objectively insane situations. Tatum plays Eddie's actor-dancer client Burt Gurney.
"Cracked humor, indelible characters, and cinematography so rich and saturated you want to dunk a cookie in it." — Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly
Magic Mike
Metascore: 72
Best for: Fans of character-driven drama, mentor-mentee relationships, and elaborate dance numbers
Where to watch:
Runtime: 110 minutes
Magic Mike, the first film in what is now a franchise, is loosely based on Tatum's own personal experiences working as a stripper in Florida when he was a teenager. However, in this version of events, he plays the titular, veteran stripper who helps a newcomer named Adam (Alex Pettyfer) enter into the world. As Adam gets deeper involved in his new profession, he succumbs to many of its temptations, including drugs, which Mike then gets involved in too, by association, to help "The Kid" stay out of too much trouble. But Mike has bigger dreams, including a business of his own and a new relationship with Adam's sister, Brooke (Cody Horn), and it is the push-and-pull between different pieces of his life that is at the heart of this drama.
"A frank, funny dramedy that bulges with humor, heart and smarts." — Neil Smith, Total Film
22 Jump Street
Metascore: 71
Best for: Fans of buddy cop comedies and explosive mysteries
Where to watch:
Runtime: 112 minutes
The sequel to 21 Jump Street sees Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Tatum) heading to a college campus as undercover agents looking for a drug supplier. They both get caught up in campus life to various degrees, with Greg falling in with the jock crowd and considering staying longer term, and Morton making a romantic connection with an art student named Maya (Amber Stevens). There is a lot of fun to be had at the expense of these older guys trying to fit into college life, but it all culminates with a spring break-set mission to take down the guy they finally identify as the supplier, balancing the humor with some very serious action.
"The sharp writing and tag-team antics lift 22 Jump Street to a high level." — Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Public Enemies
Metascore: 70
Best for: Fans of true crime dramas
Where to watch:
Runtime: 140 minutes
Michael Mann's adaptation of Bryan Burrough's book of the same title is set during the Great Depression and follows the real-life John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) as he breaks his crew out of jail and sets out to rob several banks, as well as FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale), who is in pursuit of John. The film covers the collateral damage that comes with such violent ways of life, as well as the relationships formed (and severed) along the way. Tatum plays Charles "Pretty Boy" Floyd, another bank robber.
"For people who loved Heat, this is a tour de force." — Cammila Albertson, TV Guide Magazine
21 Jump Street
Metascore: 69
Best for: Fans of buddy cop comedies, witty humor, and unlikely partnerships
Where to watch:
Runtime: 109 minutes
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller direct this comedic feature film adaptation (the first of two, at least so far) of the late-1980s television series of the same title. Hill and Tatum star as polar opposites who become friends in the police academy and end up as partners infiltrating a high school to stop the spread of a new drug. Tatum's Greg Jenko is a former jock, while Hill's Morton Schmidt is a scholar, but they accidentally mix up their new identities, which leads to a lot of surprises as intelligence now makes a kid popular. Although their new school obligations may be just for show, they still begin to interfere with their jobs, and time is ticking on getting to the bottom of who is making the drug.
"A riot of risks that pay off." — Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly