Jim Caviezelis one of those actors that makes you wonder why he isn’t more famous. That’s really saying something considering the man is known for playing Jesus Christ, but outside a handful of films, he isn’t quite an A-list star. It isn’t for a lack of talent, and he certainly is capable of leading films. However, many of his films weren’t box office hits, although he has starred in some underrated, undiscovered gems. Although apparently Caviezelisn’t done playing the Son of God, he has yet to find another movie role with such a cultural impact.
Caviezel has also done some television in recent years. Most notablyPerson of Interest, which he starred in for five seasons. He played John Reese, an ex-CIA agent who attempts to solve crimes predicted by a mysterious AI, with the help of the equally mysterious Harold Finch (Lost’sMichael Emerson). He also starred in the AMC miniseries reboot ofThe Prisonerwith Ian McKellen.
If the sequel toThe Passion of the Christeventually gets made, Caviezel will likely have another hit, but until then, we picked the top Jim Caviezel movies and ranked them amidst thecontroversy of his new filmSound of Freedom. We only picked films in which he had a leading or significant supporting role, so we won’t include films likeThe Rock(where he briefly played an F-18 pilot) orG.I. Jane(where he had a small part as a Marine).
Updated July 2023: If you’re a fan of Jim Caviezel, you’re in luck. This article has been updated with additional content and entries byFederico Furzan.
16Outlander (2008)
No, not thatOutlander. Jim Caviezel’sOutlanderis the best Viking/alien movie you never saw, as the 2008 film died a quick death at the box office. Caviezel plays a soldier from another planet who crash lands in Norway during the era of Vikings. He teams up with the Vikings to kill an alien, in a film promoted as “BeowulfmeetsPredator.” It never quite rises to the promise of that tagline, but Caviezel makes for a great leading man, playing a stoic alien soldier who thankfully looks human.
Related:The Passion of the Christ and Other Great Easter Movies to Watch
Hellboystars Ron Perlman and John Hurt are also in the film, which was produced byLord of the Ringsproducer Barrie M. Osborne (believe it or not), and while it isn’t particularly good, the cast and special effects make for a good late-night watch of a B-movie. Karl Urban was originally supposed to play the lead, but dropped out after production delays, allowing Caviezel to step in.
15Escape Plan
Who knew that the pairing of Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in an action film would be so…meh? The action legends deserved better thanEscape Plan, a movie with a solid premise and decent performances, but undercut by a lackluster script and uninspired direction. Caviezel plays Willard Hobbes, the cold and ruthless warden of a secret prison where Stallone’s character Breslin is being held. Breslin is actually a security expert and is there to test the prison’s systems.
As it turns out, Stallone has been double-crossed, and he’s being held in a prison that no one can locate. He and Schwarzenegger (who is also held there) team up to break out as they battle the conniving Hobbes. It could be considered a dumb movie, but also a dumb, fun movie.
This indie thriller saw only a limited release in 2020 (the pandemic didn’t help). It’s available on Blu-ray and streaming services, where it should find an audience, asInfidelis a surprisingly good thriller. Caviezel plays an American kidnapped by terrorists and held in Iran, while his wife (Claudia Karvan) works to free him.
Low-budget indie filmsdon’t always have good work, but the script (inspired by true events) is solid, and Caviezel is excellent in the movie. The film is notable for having Natalie Holt as a composer, who went on to score the Marvel seriesLoki, as well as theStar WarsseriesObi-Wan Kenobifor Disney+.
13Pay It Forward
Pay It Forward, from director Mimi Leder (Deep Impact,On the Basis of Sex), isn’t nearly as good as the social movement it helped popularize, but it has agreat ensemble cast. Caviezel joins Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, Jon Bon Jovi, and Haley Joel Osment in the melodramatic movie that everyone spoke about at the time.
Caviezel has a small but pivotal role as a homeless drug addict who is affected by Osment’s Trevor, whose practice of “paying it forward” inspires him to change. While Caviezel and the cast are quite good, the movie itself just doesn’t rise to the occasion.
12When the Game Stands Tall
When the Game Stands Tallis one of those football movies that a lot of good actors do at one point or another in their careers. Like similar football films, it’s entertaining and inspirational, particularly because it’s based on a true story. Caviezel has the perfect vibe as Coach Bob Ladouceur, who turned around the fortunes of the Spartans football team of De La Salle High School in Concord, California. A terrible team that never had a winning season became a perennial state champion, with a 151-game winning streak that broke national records.
While the film relies a bit too much on sports clichés, Caviezel plays Ladouceur with an understated dignity, and the supporting cast, which includesLaura Dern and Michael Chiklis, is decent. If you’re a football fan, you’ll love the film, and non-football fans will at least enjoy the proceedings.
11Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius
Bobby Jones: Stroke of Geniusfinds Caviezel playing the golf legend in this solid biopic, although the pacing is as pedestrian as the game of golf itself. Director Rowdy Herrington also brought us the kinda-sorta classicRoad House, and here, he sticks to the movie formula well enough.
Other than Caviezel’s performance, however, there’s not a lot to put this movie on the green. To his credit, Caviezel captures the volatile Jones without apology, a player who rose to the top of the game before realizing he needed to be, as great a man, as he was a golfer.
Unknownis the best film you never saw. But then again, a few people did when it was released on DVD. It features Caviezel as one of the men who wake up in a warehouse with no recollection of who they are as their memories appear to have been erased. They show signs of distress, and they’re all bruised somehow, even shot. It’sa good enough mystery thrillerfeaturing Caviezel along with a great group of actors that seem trapped (no pun intended!) in a good script that wasn’t as well executed by the film’s director.
In 2012’sTransit, Caviezel plays a husband and father with af fraud-ridden past that he’s trying to get rid of. Nate and his family are on the way to a camping trip when they are handpicked by a gang of thieves that force them to transport the loot from the heist they participated in earlier that day. Caviezel’s performance is okay, but the supporting cast is even better in this underrated action thriller.
8The Final Cut
The Final Cutfeatures a storyline with far too many moral outcomes. It’s the reason why the film ultimately felt inconsistent in the eyes of critics and audiences that felt the story about memory manipulation was weak. However, it’s also one of those movies whose performers save it from being sci-fi trash.
Caviezel stars alongside Robin Williams and Mira Sorvino in the film about professionals editing the memories of shady people to incriminate them in crimes, or cleanse them of their sins.
7Highwaymen
InHighwaymen, Caviezel plays Rennie, a grieving man who aims to hunt down a serial killer that uses his car to kill people. Yes, you read that right. A weaponized car. It sounds cheesy, butHighwaymenis a solid thriller produced by New Line Cinema, that not many people saw back in 2004, but they should have. Stunts are pretty good, but what makes the film get closer to the horror genre is Colm Feore’s performance as the serial killer bound to his Cadillac Eldorado by a mechanism that makes him part of the killing machine.
