41 Best Movies of the 2000s That Are Due for a Rewatch
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The best movies of the 2000s can be divided into a few categories that dominated the decade: the rom-com boom that gave us classics like The Wedding Planner, slapstick comedies (of the Judd Apatow variety, especially), intense award-winning dramas, and experimental films that are hard to place anywhere (looking at you, Napoleon Dynamite).
In short, there's a lot to choose from—so we had to pick a lane. And with the world being such a tumultuous place, we decided to stick with feel-good movies from the 2000s. Here you'll find the kinds of movies you still watch over and over again because they're that good. Some have won Oscars, but that certainly wasn't a determining factor.
So though this list of the best movies of the 2000s is not an all-encompassing guide to the decade, it does have a lot of comforting nostalgia you can add to your rotation today. Check out 41 of our favorites below—in no particular order!—plus where you can stream them on Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, or Amazon Prime Video. When you're done, check out the best movies from the 2010s.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection1/41The Princess Diaries (2001)
This film adaptation of Meg Cabot’s books stars Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis, a 16-year-old awkward outcast who learns she's the heir to the throne of Genovia. While undergoing her grandmother Queen Clarisse Rinaldi’s (Julie Andrews) strict royal boot camp—including a killer makeover scene—she navigates high school bullies, romance, and a big decision: Is she ready to wear the crown? It also has the best use of “shut up!” in history.
Available to stream on Disney+ or rent on Amazon Prime Video
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection2/41The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Is there a character more iconic than Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestley, the fictional head of high-fashion magazine Runway? With her devastating one-liners directed at her assistants—Andrea (Anne Hathaway, who goes through another incredible makeover post–Princess Diaries here) and Emily (Emily Blunt)—and the expert ways she navigates the power struggles of the fashion industry, she’s a force to be reckoned with.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection3/41Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
Two ambitious young women—Jesminder "Jess" Kaur Bhamra (Parminder Nagra) and Juliette "Jules" Paxton (Keira Knightley)—have dreams of playing professional soccer. Jess goes against her parents’ wishes in order to play and becomes entangled in a mess of family betrayal versus her own hopes and dreams. But, spoiler, she ends up scoring the ultimate goal.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection4/41Amélie (2001)
This French-language film has become a cult classic for its whimsical lead character, Amélie (Audrey Tatou), a shy waitress who just wants to bring extraordinary bits of happiness to strangers around her. The whimsical joy in this film is what the world needs more of now.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection5/41(500) Days of Summer (2009)
While Amélie has a pixie haircut, the manic pixie dreamgirl of the decade is Summer (Zooey Deschanel), the object of Tom’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) affection. While he is all in and a hopeless romantic, she doesn’t believe in love. This twist on a romantic comedy explores how each person can feel and view moments in a relationship so differently.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection6/41Freaky Friday (2003)
Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis fully committed to the schtick in this body-swap comedy, which is impressive. When rebellious rock-star teenager Anna (Lohan) and her mom, uptight therapist Tess (Lee Curtis), trade places, chaos ensues until they are able to realize the importance of supporting each other and being selfless in their mother-daughter love. Plus, Lohan has an original song, “Ultimate,” in the end credits that still slaps, and Chad Michael Murray sings (screams?) “Baby, One More Time…” to romance Anna-as-Tess. Both are on the movie’s soundtrack, full of angsty teen tunes by Simple Plan and The Ataris.
Available to stream on Disney+
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection7/41The Wedding Planner (2001)
In Jennifer Lopez’s first romantic comedy, her character (ambitious wedding planner Mary Fiore) is saved from an accident by the man of her dreams, charming pediatrician Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). But just as they start to fall in love, she finds out she was hired to plan his wedding…to another woman. Dun, dun, dun.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection8/41Juno (2007)
Ellen Page stars as the titular Juno, a 16-year-old small-town girl who gets pregnant after having sex with her best friend (Michael Cera). As she grapples with the choice to give the baby up for adoption to a seemingly perfect couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman), she ends up falling in love in the process.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection9/41How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003)
One of the best uses of Carly Simon's “You’re So Vain” in pop culture comes as Andie (Kate Hudson) sarcastically serenades Benjamin (Matthew McConaughey) as their two bets—Andie’s to scare a guy off in 10 days, and Benjamin’s to make a woman fall in love with him in 10 days—come to a head.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection10/41Ocean’s 11 (2001)
There was really no need for any sequels after this perfect heist movie starring all the heavy hitters: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, and Bernie Mac. Robbing three top Las Vegas casinos simultaneously ain’t easy, but the Ocean’s crew certainly makes it look so in a thrilling ride.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection11/41Erin Brokovich (2000)
Need a little more Julia Roberts? Watch her in this biographical movie as the foul-mouthed, takes-no-nonsense Erin Brokovich, a former beauty queen turned legal clerk who helps uncover one of the most massive environmental crimes in America’s history—Pacific Gas & Electric Co. contaminating the water supply in Hinkley, California—and take down the company behind it.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection12/41Knocked Up (2007)
A one-night stand turns into a surprise pregnancy in Knocked Up, one of director Judd Apatow’s biggest comedies. And so slacker Ben (Seth Rogen) and type-A E! News host (Katherine Heigl) try to make a relationship—and impending parenthood—work in spite of their very different personalities.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection13/41Up (2009)
When picking the best of the best animated movies of the 2000s, we had to include the heartwarming and heartbreaking story of Carl who uses his balloon-lifted house to honor his late wife, Ellie, with the help of a scrappy Wilderness Explorer named Russell. It's a sweet story that will make you happy- and sad-cry at the same time.
Available to stream on Disney+ or rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection14/41Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
Napoleon Dynamite walked so Superbad could run. Incredibly socially awkward teen Napoleon (Jon Heder) and his ragtag group of friends (Pedro, played by Efren Ramirez, and Deb, played by Tina Majorino) navigate weird interpretive dancing, class president campaigns, and fixing dang quesadillas in this strange coming-of-age movie that spawned thousands of “Vote for Pedro” shirts.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection15/41Superbad (2007)
Sometimes you just need to laugh because something is utterly stupid, and the journey that Seth (Jonah Hill) and Evan (Michael Cera) go on in Superbad is very stupid. That’s what makes it fun to watch, though, as these two unpopular teens attempt to score booze for a party using their friend’s fake I.D. that just says “McLovin’.” This is also Emma Stone’s film debut, and we are so thankful for that.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection16/41Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), an 18-year-old Indian Muslim from the Dharavi slum, recounts his life story after being arrested by police on the accusation of cheating on his country's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? The Oscar-winning story includes his rekindled relationship with childhood friend Latika (Freida Pinto).
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection17/41The Notebook (2004)
By now you probably know the plot to The Notebook. Boy meets girl (Noah and Allie, played by former real-life couple Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams). Girl’s mom doesn’t think boy is good enough and hides the 365 letters he wrote to her after she moved away, so girl moves onto new relationship. Girl and boy reconnect years later, passionately kiss in the rain, and fall in love again…and then a sad twist that explains why we’re seeing this whole story unfold. It is based on a Nicholas Sparks book, after all.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection18/41A Walk to Remember (2002)
Mandy Moore’s acting debut was playing Jamie Sullivan, a pastor’s daughter who falls for bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold Landon (Shane West). But just as they begin their romance, she reveals she has cancer. Landon helps her complete her bucket list in this adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. Have tissues ready.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©MGM/Courtesy Everett Collection19/41Legally Blonde (2001)
Sorority queen Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) gets into Harvard Law School in an attempt to win back her ex-boyfriend Warner (Matthew Davis), but she discovers a lot more about herself once she gets there. The sequel in 2003, Red, White & Blonde, followed her to D.C., and a third film is in the works now.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection20/41Bring It On (2000)
If you can’t recite the opening cheer from Bring It On, it’s time to reacquaint yourselves with the Toros vs. East Compton Clovers feud in this classic cheerleading movie. Without Kristen Dunst, Eliza Dushku, and Gabrielle Union, would we even have Netflix’s Cheer now?
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection21/41Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Olive (Abigail Breslin), a shy preteen girl who competes in the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, could teach us all something about life. Dancing like no one is watching and being authentically true to yourself is so important. So put on “Super Freak” and dance along after watching the ridiculous road trip Olive and her family take to get to the pageant.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection22/41The Proposal (2009)
When faced with deportation back to Canada, book editor Margaret (Sandra Bullock) forces her assistant Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) to propose to her. Among many hilarious high jinks is a trip to Alaska to meet his eccentric family—including an iconic performance of "Get Low" with Bullock and Betty White—and a lot of bickering that leads to realizing their true feelings for each other.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection23/41Dreamgirls (2006)
Dreamgirls also features a dream cast in Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, and Anika Noni Rose as a girl group heavily inspired by Motown records favorites The Supremes. This was American Idol alum Hudson's first acting role, and she won the Oscar for her incredible performance.
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection24/41The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
The beloved young adult book by Ann Brashares documents a magical pair of jeans that fit four best friends—Tibby (Amber Tamblyn), Lena (Alexis Bledel), Carmen (America Ferrera), and Bridget (Blake Lively)—as they embark on their first summer apart before heading to college. This is also the movie that made all four costars best friends in real life.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection25/41Almost Famous (2000)
What happens when a wide-eyed 15-year-old (Patrick Fugit) gets picked to profile a rising rock band for Rolling Stone, touring the country with them and their “band aids” led by Kate Hudson’s character, Penny Lane? There are plenty of shenanigans and drama in this fun coming-of-age movie based on writer-director Cameron Crowe’s real life.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Disney Channel/Courtesy Everett Collection26/41High School Musical (2006)
Does High School Musical, a Disney Channel Original Movie about basketball star Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) reluctantly juggling his love for sports and musicals, deserve to follow a classic, award-winning film like Almost Famous on a best-of list? Absolutely. And its sequels, High School Musical 2—set at the country club where he and girlfriend Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) work for the summer—and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (which had the highest production value and was released in theaters) do too. Don’t question it. We’re all in this together.
All three High School Musical films are available to stream on Disney+ or rent on Amazon Prime Video.
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection27/4113 Going on 30 (2004)
Geeky teen Jenna Rink (Jennifer Garner) just wants to be “30, flirty, and thriving,” and with an accidental sprinkle of magic dust on her 13th birthday, she gets to live out that fantasy—but it’s nothing like she expected. Mark Ruffalo costars as her all-grown-up best friend Matty and Judy Greer as her villainous middle-school bully turned coworker Lucy.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection28/41Center Stage (2000)
Go behind-the-scenes of the cut-throat world of the fictional American Ballet Academy as young dancers endure intense, stressful schedules (and equally stressful peers) to get onstage at Lincoln Center. This now cult classic was Zoe Saldana’s film debut, and Peter Gallagher is at his best (no disrespect to The OC's Sandy Cohen) as Jonathan Reeves, the company’s choreographer and director.
Available to stream on Netflix or rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection29/41Miss Congeniality (2000)
In one of the most jaw-dropping makeovers of early 2000s film, FBI special agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) goes undercover at the Miss United States pageant to investigate a bomb threat by a known terrorist. She never expects to find a group of welcoming women—or to do so well in the competition. Bullock is at her finest comedic glory here, and it remains wonderfully quotable decades later.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection30/41Best in Show (2000)
Long before Schitt’s Creek, Catherine O’Hara and Eugene Levy starred in this hilarious mockumentary about the competitive world of dog shows. Together their characters, Gerry and Cookie Fleck, showcase their Norwich Terrier, Winky, as the film follows five owner-dog pairs throughout the competition and the aftermath. The late Fred Willard also plays the larger-than-life commentator Buck Laughlin.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
Courtesy Everett Collection31/41My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
Fotoula “Toula” Portokalos (Nia Vardalos, who also wrote the film) waited a long time to fall in love. But then she meets a man who isn't Greek (Ian Miller, played by John Corbett), which her family doesn't approve of. Yet, as the title suggests, they still have a big, fat Greek wedding! And it’s a fun ride to the altar.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection32/41Love Actually (2003)
There are a lot of beloved holiday movies from the early 2000s—including Elf and The Holiday—but Love Actually is a top contender for the genre because of its incredible ensemble and variance of stories of how love actually works, in all of its happiness, devastation, messiness, complications, and mishaps.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection33/41Love & Basketball (2000)
What’s tougher: romance or sports? Childhood neighbors and best friends Quincy McCall (Omar Epps) and Monica Wright (Sanaa Lathan) try to figure that out as they juggle aspiring professional basketball careers and their partnership off the courts.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©USA Films/Courtesy Everett Collection34/41Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
This rowdy spoof chronicles the last full day of camp as the counselors try their last shots at romance, including a hilarious cast that includes Amy Poehler, Michael Ian Black, Christopher Meloni, Bradley Cooper, Elizabeth Banks, Molly Shannon, Paul Rudd, and Michael Showalter.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection35/41Bridget Jones’ Diary (2001)
What happens when a sad, unlucky-in-love woman in her 30s starts trying to make her life better and find Mr. Right? Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) and her boss Daniel Cleaver (Hugh Grant) vie for Bridget’s (Renée Zellweger) attention—and space in her diary—in this classic rom-com.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection36/41Crossroads (2002)
Britney Spears, Zoe Saldana, and Taryn Manning play three childhood best friends who embark on an epic road trip together in this beloved teen film. It was written by the one and only Shonda Rhimes years before Scandal or Grey's Anatomy dominated your Thursday nights.
Available to stream on Amazon Prime Video
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection37/41Mamma Mia! (2008)
ABBA’s music comes to life in the film version of the classic jukebox musical as Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) tries to figure out who her father is before her wedding day, much to her mom Donna’s (Meryl Streep) chagrin. The music will get stuck in your head. Embrace it. And then go watch its very good 2018 sequel.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection38/41The Princess and the Frog (2009)
This Disney animated tale is a fun take on the classic princess-and-frog story. In this version, Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) is a young woman who dreams of opening her own restaurant one day…but her plans take a strange turn after she meets Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) in frog form.
Available to stream on Disney+
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection39/41The Lizzie McGuire Movie (2003)
After Hilary Duff’s long-running TV series ended, we followed Lizzie on a school trip to Rome, where she accidentally gets mistaken for Italian pop star Isabella, has to take her place onstage with ex and singing partner Paolo, and eventually duets with “herself” in bop of the decade “What Dreams Are Made Of.”
Available to stream on Disney+ or rent on Amazon Prime Video
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection40/41Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Baz Luhrmann’s jukebox musical explores love and loss at a Paris nightclub in 1900, where the dazzling Satine (Nicole Kidman) leads the cabaret and catches the eye of poet Christian (Ewan McGregor). Unfortunately, she’s already been promised to someone else. Their will-they-won’t-they is more high stakes than a typical romantic comedy, with their lives and the future of the theater on the line if they get caught together. The sweeping soundtrack includes one of the decade’s best original songs, “Come What May,” and since its release, it has also been turned into a Broadway musical with modernized music.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection41/41Mean Girls (2004)
The Tina Fey–written teen comedy has gone on to become a Broadway musical, but its origins are of homeschooled outsider Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) infiltrating the school’s biggest clique, The Plastics, and eventually becoming what she and her “real friends” hated most. Probably one of the most quoted movies of the decade.
Available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
