He's got two movies opening in almost as many weeks: Amelia on Friday, in which he plays a onetime lover of the adventurous aviatrix Earhart, and The Men Who Stare at Goats, in which he's a journalist uncovering the secret stories of America's psychic warriors. That's Ewan McGregor: all over the place, from historical dramas to modern comedies. And his filmography is chock full of similar wide swings.

Top Five

Moulin Rouge!
Baz Lurhmann's wonderful musical fantasy shows off McGregor's wide range of talents to delightful effect. Ewan sings! Who knew?

Little Voice
In this lovely film about coming out of your shell, McGregor's shy telephone installer and pigeon fancier is kinda like Wallace -- of Wallace and Gromit -- but cute.

Down With Love
As good as McGregor is at playing the dork, he's even more charming as the suave ladies' man, as in this kooky comedy sending up 1960s romantic fantasies and the 2000's idea of feminism, too.

Trainspotting
McGregor has cemented a place for himself in cinema history with the notorious toilet-diving scene, but his fearless performance throughout this hilarious and gruesome film may be his most daring, most startling work, even more than a decade later.

Shallow Grave
This bitter black comedy -- about a suitcase full of money that three Edinburgh roommates come to blows over -- is one of the great underrated films of the 1990s.

Bottom Five

Robots
This ickily disturbing fantasy gives us robots who long to be human, for reasons that are entirely inexplicable. At least McGregor can beg off taking blame for this one by noting that it's only his voice up there on the screen.

The Island
No real actors should ever work for Michael Bay, because he reduces them to mere pawns on a chess board. But McGregor is at least a pretty pawn in this preposterous sci-fi blow-'em-up.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
McGregor's impersonation of Alec Guinness never falters, but -- ugh -- the terrible stiltedness of Anakin Skywalker's descent into Darth Vader-hood is cringe-worthy ... and McGregor can only stand by and watch.

Cassandra's Dream
Woody Allen pits McGregor against Colin Farrell in a crime noncaper that's weirdly anticlimactic, and interesting only as a meta exercise in casting the actors against type.

Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
Honestly? I haven't actually seen this flick. But I'm so enamored of McGregor even in crappy movies that I've got blinders when it comes to deciding which of his movies genuinely suck and which don't. So I must rely on Rotten Tomatoes -- 33 percent Fresh -- and Metacritic -- 42 out of 100 -- to inform me that this one is pretty crappy. Ray Bennett at The Hollywood Reporter calls it "a lame and disappointing affair," and the Baltimore Sun's Chris Kaltenbach says it's "about as clunky as a movie gets." Now even I, dedicated McGregor fangirl, don't want to see it. D'oh!

Bonus: Angels & Demons
This one doesn't release on DVD till November 24, but it's worth mentioning for -- spoiler! -- McGregor's ham-handed performance as a priest with, as it transpires, less than holy intentions. If you love a cheesy man of the cloth, however, you'll love McGregor here.

Now You Decide...

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Force is with MaryAnn Johanson, always, at FlickFilosopher.com. (email me)

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