8 Underrated Movies From 2019 That Deserve A Second Chance

Each year comes, and each year goes. And as each year ends, we promptly write about the best movies of the year.

Oh, and the worst movies of the year.

I have to admit: during my entire 10-year career as a movie critic, I’ve always found myself on a strange end of that spectrum. Typically my favorite movies of the year don’t align with other critics’ top picks. But what also seems to often happen is that many of my favorite movies of the year…end up on several critics’ list of the year’s worst movies.

That’s partly due to the fact that I’m strangely attracted to movies I’ve been told I shouldn’t like. But I also think it’s because I have a very different expectation of art and what art should do. I believe that many critics like movies to adhere to certain rules and placate to what they’ve deemed makes a movie “good.”

I, on the other hand, like a movie that breaks the rules.

Sometimes when a movie breaks the rules, it goes horribly awry. But other times, those movies strike a chord and we experience something new and transcendent and wonderful—which brings us to this list.

Here I will list eight movies from 2019 that I believe were either severely underrated or downright treated unfairly. These are all movies that I love for very specific reasons—reasons that clearly aren’t in line with the critical consensus. My hope is that we can all give these movies a second chance.

6 Underground

Might as well start with the most controversial one, right? As I’ve detailed in the past: I love Michael Bay. And I believe that his latest film—which might very well be his best project to date—was an absolute masterpiece for the action genre. Despite all of the Bay-ish tropes that critics seem to despise (the movie currently owns a 36% on Rotten Tomatoes), I loved the groundbreaking and inventive choreography that floods each and every gunfight, car chase and fight scene in 6 Underground.

It might also be the year’s most misunderstood movie. Even if the action isn’t for you, the very emotional heart of the movie is captivating. Ryan Reynolds’ character, One, had to fake his death so he could live as a ghost. He then, effectively, becomes a manifestation of Death and recruits other people to become “ghosts.”

But each of those characters soon comes to discover: they want to live life. Real ghosts can’t reverse the decision to move beyond the mort earth…but the characters of 6 Underground can. And you watch them grapple with that conflict throughout the movie.

The Beach Bum

Wow, really? A 56% on Rotten Tomatoes for The Beach Bum? That’s a crime for a movie that already wasn’t seen by very many people. Harmony Korine’s follow-up to the hypnotically paced and impossibly colorful masterpiece Spring Breakers was viewed as a meandering, philosophically dull outing that didn’t have much meat on its bones.

But, obviously, I beg to differ. The Beach Bum had the same mesmerizing aesthetic of Spring Breakers that can’t be found in any other movie these days, but then filled out the rest of the story with wildly entertaining and hilarious exploits featuring our main character, Moondog. Matthew McConaughey has churned out several great performances during his career—including one for which he won an Academy Award—but Moondog may be his finest to date.

Isn’t It Romantic

Isn’t It Romantic wasn’t necessarily hated on—after all, the movie carries a 70% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the film also owns a 5.9-out-of-10 rating from IMDB users, meaning the movie never quite struck a chord with either critics or moviegoing audiences like I expected it to.

Today, I’m asking for Rebel Wilson’s most charming performance to date to get a second chance. Plenty of other movies—like Not Another Teen Movie or They Came Together—have spoofed the romantic comedy formula over the years. But where those other movie went for broad commentary and big laughs, Isn’t It Romantic dissects the tragic undercurrent of that age-old genre. The characters in a romantic comedy aren’t adhering to the tropes of romantic comedies—they are bound to them. And stuck because of them. Thus, Natalie’s (Rebel Wilson’s character) struggle is to not just break free from genre conventions, but to shatter them and then grow because of them.

Domino

Ah man, a new movie from Brian De Palma! Was I the only one excited about this?

Apparently, yes. Domino was branded with a dismal 33% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 4.4 rating on IMDB. The movie didn’t receive much marketing from Netflix, and just sort of came and went without much noise.

I encourage you to seek it out, though. I’m a huge Brian De Palma fan and—while this movie certainly wasn’t my favorite from the beloved director—Domino delivers in many respects. The movie owns all of the classic De Palma hallmarks, from the use of split screen to the languid and roving camera to the uncomfortably realistic action—and it’s all awesome and very different that what we’re used to with modern crime thrillers. Domino is very entertaining and enthralling for the entire (and brief) 89-minute runtime.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Big surprise, right? A guy who loves Star Wars.

Here’s the thing though: I’m not a superfan of the franchise or anything. While I certainly enjoy the Star Wars movies, but I’ve never felt a strong nostalgic attachment to them.

But watching The Rise of Skywalker was different for me. I’ve written extensively about why I think Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is such a revolutionary film, so there’s no need to rehash that territory. But in short: The Rise of Skywalker works because it’s not trying to be a Star Wars movie at all. The pacing, the structure, the tone is completely different than anything the franchise has given us so far.

So if you’re a huge Star Wars lover and you judge The Rise of Skywalker as a Star Wars movie? Yeah, you might not like it—hell, you might even hate it. But if you sit back and enjoy this movie for the wild and wacky and illogical story that it is…it’s actually pretty enjoyable.

The Hustle

More Rebel Wilson? What can I say, I believe the woman can carry a movie. And that goes double for The Hustle, which features two actresses at the top of their comedy game. Wilson (per usual) embraces the film’s absurd over-the-top humor while Anne Hathaway is quietly malicious in her catty role.

Critics—who gave The Hustle an embarrassing 14% on Rotten Tomatoes—lambasted the movie for being obvious and formulaic. And you know what? I won’t argue against that. The Hustle certainly follows many patterns seen in buddy comedies. But it transcends those tropes as well thanks to the chemistry between Wilson and Hathaway.

Glass

Ah, the Shyamalan curse. Critics were willing to give the notoriously derided director M. Night Shyamalan one free pass with Split. But the sequel? Nuh-uh—that was too far.

Look: I know Glass is ridiculous, wacky, outrageous stuff. But there are just too many profound and entertaining aspects of the movie to overlook. The explosive acting, the inventive cinematography, the commentary on the superhero genre that’s more present than ever—it’s all doing way too much to be lumped in with Shyamalan’s biggest misses.

Murder Mystery

It wouldn’t be a year at the movies without an Adam Sandler project getting trashed. It should be no surprise that Murder Mystery received a 44% on Rotten Tomatoes. What is surprising, however, is that the film has an emotional core that should resonate with anyone who’s ever been married or witnessed a marriage go through its ups and downs.

Murder Mystery isn’t about the “murder mystery” at hand in the film—it’s a defamiliarized tale of two people fixing their marriage. A lifetime commitment unavoidably comes with many moments of great pain and hardship. But overcoming those odds—even when you’re thrusted into the wildest of adventures—reveals the real strength of a marriage. And Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston capture that universal truth in entertaining and hilarious fashion.