Jennifer Connelly has become one of Hollywood’s most reliable actresses, solid in indie flicks and superhero blockbusters alike. With her dark beauty and easy intelligence, she’s the thinking man’s bombshell, and she has four movies in theaters this year. Here’s a look at five of her best performances. (Sorry Labyrinth fans, it just missed the cut.)

5. The Rocketeer
The movie that should have made Connelly a star, but didn’t. She’s perfectly cast as a thirties pinup-next-door (in the comic the film was adapted from, her character was based on the legendary Bettie Page). But disappointing box office tanked plans for a franchise, and she was left to languish in TV movies and bit parts for a few more years.

4. Dark City
This criminally underrated science fiction film noir about a fabricated city where aliens manipulate memory was a box office disaster. But now it’s recognized as a classic of the genre, and Connelly, as a sultry nightclub singer married to a man who can’t remember if he’s a serial killer, is great — damaged, vulnerable and doomed.

3. House of Sand and Fog
Connelly plays a recovering addict who loses her house to foreclosure, then gets trapped in an increasingly tragic spiral with the Iranian family who buys it. Ben Kingsley got most of the accolades, but Connelly’s despairing performance was just as key to the film’s almost overcoming a hard to believe story.

2. Requiem for a Dream
Connelly plays a junkie who turns to prostitution in Darren Aronofsky‘s adaptation of the gritty Hubert Selby Jr. novel. The film was almost tagged with an NC-17 rating, but Connelly doesn’t shy away from scenes of increasing degradation, to the point of performing at orgies for drug money. Her strong acting and fearlessness in Requiem finally got her the attention she deserved from studios and audiences.

1. A Beautiful Mind
Connelly shows real range as Alicia Nash, the long-suffering wife of real-life Nobel Laureate John Nash, who was plagued by mental illness. From her first appearance as a college student to her closing scene as a sixty-year-old, she’s human and believable. The film was an Oscar hit, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress for Connelly.

Tags: a beautiful mind, he's just not that into you, jennifer connelly