29 Most Memorable Goldie Hawn Movies Ranked Worst To Best

Although she's only appeared in less than 30 films, Goldie Hawn has been a beloved presence on the big screen for more than five decades. Part of the reason for her limited filmography is a 15-year gap between 2002's "The Banger Sisters" and 2017's "Snatched," but even before that, she's been extremely picky about choosing material.

Born in 1945 in Washington, D.C., Hawn shot to stardom playing a giggly flower child on the groundbreaking sketch series "Rowan and Martin's Laugh In," for which she earned two Emmy nominations. She became a movie star playing a similar character in "Cactus Flower," winning an Oscar and Golden Globe for her performance.

Throughout the next three decades, Hawn became a major box office draw with a string of highly successful comedies, often playing a ditzy yet intrepid go-getter placed in an unexpected circumstance: joining the army in "Private Benjamin" (which brought her an Oscar nomination as Best Actress); coaching an all-boys football team in "Wildcats"; or becoming a blue collar housewife after suffering amnesia in "Overboard" (co-starring her longtime romantic partner, Kurt Russell). She took an active role in developing her material, often producing her star vehicles. Hawn is also a famous stage mother, since her children Kate Hudson, Oliver Hudson, and Wyatt Russell are all actors as well.

Let's take a look back at Hawn's 29 most memorable movies, ranked worst to best.

One of the most forgettable entries in Hawn's filmography, "Lovers and Liars" pairs her with Italian leading man Giancarlo Giannini ("Seven Beauties"). Directed by Mario Monicelli, it centers on an American actress (Hawn) who hitches a ride with a married man (Giannini) while vacationing in Rome. 

There's not much else to this thinly written romantic comedy, which failed to make much of a dent when it was barely released in 1979 and has all but faded from memory ever since (and for good reason, based on its dismal 13% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes). For Goldie completists only.

To say Hawn is miscast as a Russian ballerina in "The Girl from Petrova" is a bit of an understatement. Credit to her for taking a risk, but when it comes to accents, she's unfortunately no Meryl Streep. Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, it's a romantic drama about a love affair between Hawn's ballerina and Hal Holbrook as an American journalist. 

Their romance sparks the interest of the KGB, which makes sense considering the beautiful ballet dancer is in possession of some important documents. Barely seen upon its release, the film's reputation hasn't grown much since.

Goldie Hawn took a 15-year break from acting after "The Banger Sisters," finally returning with this Amy Schumer vehicle that made some people wonder why she bothered to come out of retirement in the first place. Directed by Jonathan Levine, it's a raunchy action comedy about a mother and daughter (Hawn and Schumer) who get kidnapped during an impromptu South American getaway. 

Though not exactly the heralded comeback Hawn was hoping for (it earned a stinky 36% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics), it still accomplished the goal of getting her back in front of movie cameras for what we hope will be a permanent stay.

Ms. Hawn goes to Washington in one of the actress's classic fish-out-of-water comedies. In "Protocol," she plays a ditzy D.C. cocktail waitress who inadvertently prevents an assassination attempt on the visiting Emir of Ohtar (Richard Romanus). The press is instantly charmed by her, leading the State Department to recruit her. 

You'd expect "Protocol" to be funnier, given it was written by Buck Henry ("The Graduate") from a story by her "Private Benjamin" scribes Nancy Meyers, Charles Shyer, and Harvey Miller. But the film, directed by Herbert Ross, flails wildly between slapstick and Capra-esque sentiment. Critical consensus was overall negative, though it was a modest commercial success.

Hawn gave one of her rare dramatic performances in this critically panned thriller. "Deceived" is one of those movies where a happy housewife learns her husband isn't who he says he is (hence the title). 

In this case, Hawn is married to an art dealer (John Heard) who's placed under suspicion of forgery when a museum curator suddenly dies. When Heard turns up dead as well, Hawn discovers he was lying about his identity the whole time, leading her to dig further into the two murders and placing her own life in jeopardy. Critics savaged the film, which ended up with a 37% Rotten Tomatoes rating.

"The Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox" takes the fish-out-of-water premise to a whole new level, placing famous flower child Goldie Hawn in the Old West. Set in San Francisco in 1882, it stars George Segal as Charlie "Dirtwater Fox" Malloy, a bumbling gambler who steals $400,000 from a gang of outlaws. He's double-crossed himself by the Duchess (Hawn), a dance hall girl seeking a better life. 

When the gang Malloy stole from comes riding into town, he teams up with the Duchess to outsmart them, and the pair eventually fall in love. Despite a mixed critical reception, Hawn earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Comedy-Musical Actress for her performance.

The better of the two Hawn/Steve Martin pairings, "HouseSitter" was still a tough sale to critics at the time of its release. That's not to say it's not better than its 38% Rotten Tomatoes score might reflect. 

Directed by Frank Oz, it's the story of an architect (Martin) who's heartbroken after his fiancee (Dana Delaney) breaks off their engagement and refuses to move into the dream house he built for her. Hawn plays a conniving waitress who decides to move into the house herself, which complicates Martin's reconciliation with Delaney. Despite the negative reaction, the film did have its supporters, most notably Roger Ebert, who called it "a sweet and funny movie, rather than a comedic masterpiece."

Many writers mine their own lives for material, and that's certainly the case with "Best Friends," which took its inspiration from screenwriting duo Barry Levinson and Valerie Curtin's own marriage and divorce. 

Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds star as the Curtin and Levinson surrogates, a successful writing team who decide to make their professional relationship personal. But the honeymoon doesn't last long. The film, directed by Norman Jewison, received generally positive reviews from critics, and Hawn earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance, which sees her comedic persona taking on some more mature shadings.

Hawn and Chevy Chase struck gold with "Foul Play," so it makes sense that the two would reunite for another film. While "Seems Like Old Times" fails to recapture the magic of their previous outing, it still received decent reviews and box office. 

Directed by Jay Sandrich from a script by Neil Simon, it's a frothy comedic bauble about a novelist (Chase) who gets kidnapped by a pair of criminals and forced into a bank robbery. He goes on the lam and seeks refuge from his ex-wife (Hawn), whose husband (Charles Grodin), a California district attorney, is holding a party for fellow law enforcement officers — and is no fan of Chase's character.

Though it was written and directed by Old Hollywood workhorse Richard Brooks, "$ (Dollars)" is anything but old-fashioned. It's a crackerjack entertainment with a New Hollywood sensibility, casting Hawn and Warren Beatty as a sort of Tracy-Hepburn for the modern age. 

Beatty plays a bank security expert who enlists a prostitute (Hawn) to help him steal $1.5 million in criminal assets from safety deposit boxes in Hamburg, Germany. Though the pair successfully pull off their heist, they quickly have to go on the run from the crooks they stole from. Reviews for the film were outstanding, with critics like Roger Ebert saying Beatty and Hawn were "weirdly interesting together."

One's appreciation of "Swing Shift" largely depends on which version you see. Production on the World War II drama about a sheltered housewife (Hawn) who joins the workforce when her husband (Ed Harris) goes off to fight was famously fraught between the star and director Jonathan Demme, leading to massive reshoots. 

While Demme envisioned the film to be a story of women's liberation focused on Hawn and best friend Christine Lahti, Hawn and the studio hoped to twist it into a romantic comedy between her and Kurt Russell, who had fallen in love during shooting. The result was received well enough by critics, but the lost director's cut has long been hailed as a masterpiece, one that might have placed even higher on this list.

Having shot to stardom playing a flower child on television in "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," Hawn became a movie star playing a similar character in "Cactus Flower." 

Walter Matthau stars as an unmarried dentist unwilling to commit to his much-younger girlfriend (Hawn). When she attempts to take her own life, Matthau reconsiders marriage, but that's complicated since he's fabricated a wife and children to keep from marrying her. He recruits his nurse (Ingrid Bergman) to pose as his wife, who'll demand a "divorce," but they end up falling in love with each other instead. Hawn won an Oscar and Golden Globe for her supporting performance, making for a true "star is born" moment for the young actress.

Like many Goldie Hawn films, "The First Wives Club" was critically dismissed when it was released but has gained in popularity as the years have gone by. Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton star as three college friends who reunite after 30 years at a friend's funeral. When they learn she took her own life after her husband left her for a younger woman, the trio decide to take revenge on their own awful exes. 

Although reviewers criticized the film's script, audiences celebrated the wickedly funny performances by Hawn, Midler, and Keaton, who have long teased fans with a potential reunion (which we might be getting sooner than later).

Hawn lent her star power to Steven Spielberg's theatrical feature debut, and he in return provided her with one of her most critically acclaimed films. 

Based in part on a true story, "The Sugarland Express" stars Hawn as Lou Jean Poplin, a young housewife desperate to reunite her family after her husband, Clovis (William Atherton), is incarcerated and their son is put into foster care. She helps Clovis break out of jail and together they snatch their son, kidnapping a highway patrolman (Michael Sacks) in the process. A caravan of cop cars chases them throughout Texas, but the pair soon find themselves bonding with their hostage and becoming sympathetic figures to a captive audience.