10 Overrated George Clooney Movies You Might Want to Skip

George Clooney has built a career that spans acting, directing, and producing, with projects that range from studio capers to intimate political dramas. He holds Academy Awards for work on both sides of the camera, including supporting actor for ‘Syriana’ and a producing win for ‘Argo’. Along the way he has collaborated often with Steven Soderbergh and the Coen brothers, and he has balanced glossy star vehicles with more experimental choices.

A filmography that broad naturally includes titles that did not land for every viewer. The picks below focus on projects where the backstory, ensemble lineups, and creative aims are often more interesting than the finished product. Each entry lays out the key facts so you can decide what fits your watchlist and what you might set aside for later.

‘Batman & Robin’ (1997)

Joel Schumacher directed this fourth entry in the original Warner Bros series, with George Clooney stepping into the cape and cowl alongside Chris O’Donnell as Robin. The film introduces Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl and features Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy. It leans into bright production design and larger than life action set pieces, with a tone that reflects a comic book style of the period.

Behind the scenes the production moved on a fast schedule to meet a planned summer release, with extensive practical costumes and elaborate sets built on soundstages. The movie continued the franchise’s trend of celebrity villain casting and aimed for broad family appeal, which influenced choices in dialogue, color palette, and character presentation.

‘The Monuments Men’ (2014)

Clooney directed and starred in this World War II ensemble about Allied experts tasked with safeguarding European art. The cast includes Matt Damon, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, John Goodman, Jean Dujardin, and Bob Balaban. The story draws from the accounts of a real group that tracked and recovered cultural treasures as the war neared its end.

The screenplay adapts a non fiction book by Robert M. Edsel and folds in multiple missions across occupied territories. Production filmed in European locations that could double for wartime settings, and period detail extends to uniforms, vehicles, and prop replicas of artworks central to the plot.

‘Leatherheads’ (2008)

Set in the early days of professional American football, this Clooney directed comedy pairs him with Renée Zellweger and John Krasinski. The film follows a veteran player who helps guide a rising college star while a sharp news reporter digs into the truth behind his sudden fame. The narrative touches on how evolving rules and growing crowds pushed the sport toward a modern identity.

The production recreates vintage stadium atmospheres with classic uniforms, leather helmets, and era specific signage. Dialogue and costuming reflect the screwball energy of old studio comedies, and the film stages game sequences that highlight shifting strategies as the sport formalized.

‘The Ides of March’ (2011)

Clooney directs and appears as a governor running in a Democratic primary, while Ryan Gosling plays a strategist navigating rival campaign pressures. The cast features Philip Seymour Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei. The script adapts Beau Willimon’s play ‘Farragut North’ and relocates the action to a pivotal Midwestern contest.

Filming made use of real campaign style venues, including union halls and university auditoriums, to ground staff interactions and media moments. The story focuses on staffing decisions, message discipline, and opposition research, and it presents a close look at how schedules, donor events, and press hits drive a modern campaign calendar.

‘Tomorrowland’ (2015)

Directed by Brad Bird, this science fiction adventure stars Clooney as a reclusive inventor who teams with a curious teenager played by Britt Robertson. The film takes inspiration from the Disney theme park area and builds a narrative around innovation and the power of ideas. Hugh Laurie appears as a visionary figure with his own plans for the future.

The production is notable for large scale practical sets and extensive visual effects. Key sequences were filmed at the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia along with Canadian locations, which provided striking architecture for the futuristic city. The score by Michael Giacchino supports a tone of discovery that runs through the story.

‘Ocean’s Twelve’ (2004)

Steven Soderbergh reunites the heist ensemble from ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ with Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Julia Roberts, and adds Catherine Zeta Jones and Vincent Cassel. The plot follows the crew as they leave Las Vegas and take on targets across Europe after facing pressure from a previous mark. The story structure shifts between multiple cities and interlocking jobs.

The movie showcases location work in Amsterdam, Rome, and other European sites, blending tourist landmarks with quieter neighborhoods. Costumes and production design emphasize a continental style for the crew, while the editing and score continue the series trademark rhythms during planning and theft sequences.

‘Solaris’ (2002)

Soderbergh’s adaptation of the Stanislaw Lem novel centers on a psychologist played by Clooney who boards a space station orbiting a mysterious planet. Natascha McElhone costars in a role that anchors the emotional core of the story. The film focuses on memory, loss, and perception rather than action spectacle.

Cliff Martinez provides an ambient score that shapes the mood of the station scenes. The production adopts minimalist sets and restrained visual effects to keep attention on character conversations and the unsettling changes aboard the ship, while also nodding to the earlier screen version associated with Andrei Tarkovsky.

‘The Good German’ (2006)

Set in postwar Berlin, this Soderbergh film stars Clooney with Cate Blanchett and Tobey Maguire. The plot follows a journalist who becomes entangled in overlapping investigations during an international conference. The movie pays homage to classic studio dramas and uses period patterns of dialogue and staging.

The cinematography employs black and white imagery and old Hollywood framing, with lighting that evokes soundstage noir. Sound design, music, and costume choices reinforce the look and feel of the time, and the narrative intersects with themes of occupation, accountability, and reconstruction.

‘The Men Who Stare at Goats’ (2009)

Directed by Grant Heslov, this satire is based on the book by Jon Ronson and explores reports about unconventional military programs. Clooney stars with Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges, and Kevin Spacey. The plot moves between stateside training and the later impact of those ideas during the Iraq conflict.

The production mixes desert locations with stateside sets to track different eras of the unit’s work. The script blends contemporary scenes with flashbacks to classes and exercises, while props and training spaces underscore the contrast between official procedures and the experiments at the heart of the story.

‘Ticket to Paradise’ (2022)

Directed by Ol Parker, this romantic comedy pairs Clooney with Julia Roberts as divorced parents who travel to Southeast Asia for their daughter’s wedding. The supporting cast includes Kaitlyn Dever and Billie Lourd. The setup brings the leads back into close quarters as family plans collide with personal history.

Filming took place in Queensland with locations standing in for Bali, which allowed the production to stage beach and resort settings with reliable logistics. The movie leans on destination backdrops, wedding events, and family gatherings, along with needle drop music cues that match its vacation mood.

Share which titles you would skip and which ones you would keep in the comments.