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Matthew McConaughey began his acting career in the 1990s and established himself as a leading man in romantic comedies after the turn of the century with films such as ‘The Wedding Planner,’ ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,’ ‘Fool’s Gold,’ and ‘Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.’ Between 2009 and 2011, he took a hiatus from acting and returned to take up more dramatic roles, as in ‘The Lincoln Lawyer’ and ‘Dallas Buyers Club.’ While Matthew appeared in his fair share of television shows, he is most popularly known for starring in the crime anthology series, ‘True Detective.’ The Academy Award winner and Primetime Emmy-nominee has also made his mark in the science fiction genre with films like ‘Contact’ and ‘Interstellar,’ as well as lent his voice to animated projects such as ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ and ‘Sing.’ If you are looking forward to checking out his work on Netflix, the following curated list will help you get started.
7. Sing (2016)
‘Sing’ by Garth Jennings is an animated film following a dapper koala, Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey), who runs a grand theater that is threatened with foreclosure by the bank. To save his beloved establishment, he organizes a singing competition at the place and accidentally announces the prize money as $100,000. As the competition gets underway, five contestants emerge from among the crowd: an arrogant mouse, Mike (Seth MacFarlane), a shy elephant, a dreamy pig, Rosita (Reese Witherspoon), a gorilla with a criminal family, Johnny (Taron Egerton), and a punk-rock porcupine, Ash (Scarlett Johansson). You can stream the film surrounding anthropomorphic animals on Netflix.
6. Gold (2016)
Helmed by Stephen Gaghan, ‘Gold’ stars Matthew McConaughey as Kenny Wells, the young head of a prospecting company who is desperate for a big break. He has a dream that leads him to Indonesia, where he meets geologist Michael Acosta (Édgar Ramírez). Kenny convinces Michael to join his venture, and the two overcome the various challenges in their path to get their hands on the gold. However, keeping control over it following intense boardroom negotiations is a greater challenge. You can try the crime drama loosely inspired by the true story of the 1997 Bre-X mining scandal here.
5. Killer Joe (2011)
Based on Tracy Letts’s 1993 play of the same name, ‘Killer Joe’ has McConaughey play Joe Cooper, a hitman who is hired by 22-year-old drug dealer Chris Smith to kill his mother, Adele, and claim the $50,000 insurance policy. Chris plans to use some of the money to clear his debt to his drug supplier, pay Joe, and split the rest among himself, his sister, Dottie, and his step-mother, Sharla. However, things go awry when the beneficiary turns out to be someone else, and Joe finds himself attracted to Dottie. Co-starring Emile Hirsch as Chris, Juno Temple as Dottie, Gina Gershon as Sharla, and Thomas Haden Church as Chris’s father, Ansel, ‘Killer Joe’ is directed by William Friedkin. You can watch the thriller here.
4. The Beach Bum (2019)
A wife’s infidelity, a dead beloved, a broke lifestyle, debauchery, drugs, and a psychedelic affair with creativity, these are what “beach bum” Moondog (McConaughey) has to deal with in Harmony Korine’s ‘The Beach Bum.’ The truth about his wealthy wife Minnie’s (Isla Fisher) affair with R&B singer Lingerie (Snoop Dogg) sends Moondog down a rabbit hole of extravagant living, underscored by a complete disregard for what society deems moral. Minnie’s death further makes things worse for him. Moreover, the portion of her assets he was supposed to receive is put on hold until he publishes his new work. How Moondog navigates it all, thanks to McConaughey’s onscreen charm, makes the movie a feast for the eyes and the mind. It can be streamed here.
3. The Wedding Planner (2001)
Starring Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, ‘The Wedding Planner’ follows wedding planner Mary Fiore (Lopez), who finally gets the opportunity to make a jump in her career after getting hired to plan the wedding of an heiress. Then she is saved from what could have been a tragic accident by a doctor named Steve Edison (McConaughey). She is clearly attracted to him, and it seems that he is too, but her attraction hits rock bottom when it is revealed that Steve is the heiress’s fiancé. Now, Mary has to choose between her career and her love life, which is finally getting its first taste of success. Meanwhile, Steve, too, is conflicted and wonders if he and Mary are even a possibility, taking the side of denial. To find out what eventually happens to these two conflicted souls, you can watch this Adam Shankman-directed rom-com right here.
2. The Gentlemen (2019)
Directed by Guy Ritchie, ‘The Gentlemen’ is a brilliant gangster action comedy steeped in sophistication. It focuses on cannabis magnate Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey), who wants to sell the business to a billionaire named Matthew Berger (Jeremy Strong). However, Berger decides to lower the price Pearson proposes and conspires to steal some of the cannabis. This sets off a chain of events underscored by schemes, bribes, and blackmail, wherein people want to get their hands on Pearson’s empire without paying for it. It is up to Pearson’s right-hand man, Raymond (Charlie Hunnam), to find the culprits and take them out. ‘The Gentlemen’ co-stars Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell, Hugh Grant, and Eddie Marsan. The 2024 Netflix series of the same name is a spin-off of this film. You can watch ‘The Gentlemen’ here.
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1. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
‘Dallas Buyers Club’ is an Oscar-winning drama based on the life of cowboy Ron Woodroof, creator of the titular club in the mid-1980s, which was aimed at distributing drugs to people with AIDS at a time when the disease was utterly misunderstood. The Jean-Marc Vallée directorial shows Woodroof getting ostracized, evicted from his house, and fired from his job after word goes out about his AIDS diagnosis. He starts importing drugs for AIDS treatment without approval from the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) after a Mexico-based doctor tells him that the FDA-approved drug AZT is poisonous. When the imported drugs show positive signs, Woodroof partners with a trans woman named Rayon (Jared Leto) and establishes the Dallas Buyers Club, providing drugs to its members in exchange for a membership fee, but also showing up on the FDA’s radar, which then goes after them. Matthew McConaughey won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Ron Woodroof. The movie can be streamed here.
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