On Netflix’s original Ozark, Jason Bateman may be the coolest cookie, but what about his past roles? Bateman reveals that he hasn’t always played such cool customers, from stepping into Michael J Fox’s shoes to exchanging bodies with Ryan Reynolds’ light-porn star. He began his career as a kid actor on Little House on the Prairie, and we’ve watched him grow up through his many little and big screen performances, as have many others.
So let’s take a look at nine key performances that cemented his reputation and led him to the scenic Ozarks.
1. Identity Theft (2013)
Director- Seth Gordon
Sandy Patterson, a straight-laced, kind, and happily married father of two, is unfortunately the perfect sucker. Sandy’s world is turns upside down after exposing important personal information to Diana, a clever scam artist. His credit cards are max, and his credit rating is wreck. Patterson embarks on a long road trip from Denver to sunny Florida, hell-bent on tracking down the scheming woman. Putting an end to her shopping spree, and, hopefully, clearing his name. As the hard-partying doppelgänger enjoys a taste of the good life, putting Sandy’s job on the line. The real Sandy now has one week to reclaim his normal life.
2. The Change-Up (2011)
Director- David Dobkin
Dave, a dedicated attorney seeking to earn partner, married with children. Mitch, a slacker enjoying life, have been friends since third school. They make a wish for each other’s lives in front of a statue in an Atlanta park after an evening of drinking. The next morning, they awake in the other’s body. The statue has been taken to who knows where. So they must carry on for each other until they can find it and re-exchange bodies. It’s a vital week professionally for Dave, and Mitch has plans including sex. Mitch is given the opportunity to take on more responsibilities. Whereas, Dave is given the opportunity to rest, and they both learn new things about themselves. In addition, Mitch’s father is remarrying, and Dave is living out his attraction to a coworker.
3. The Switch (2010)
Director- Josh Gordon
Kassie and Wally are inseparably linked. Kassie has decided to conceive a kid using artificial insemination because she has been unlucky in love. Wally dislikes the concept, but he is incapable of expressing to himself, much less to Kassie, that he loves her. Wally gets very intoxicate at Kassie’s artificial insemination celebration and discovers the sperm donor’s sample in the restroom. Kassie has gone away because she does not believe New York City is a good location to raise a child, and Wally was far too inebriate to remember what he did that night. Kassie has returned to her son Sebastian after a seven-year absence. Wally can’t help but notice the many startling parallels that he and Sebastian share while she tries to get Roland, the sperm donor, more involved in their life.
4. The Gift (2015)
Director- Joel Edgerton
Simon, a sales executive, and his lovely interior designer wife, Robyn, travel from Chicago to Simon’s homeland of Los Angeles in search of a fresh start. However, putting the past behind you isn’t always easy—and when an average day out shopping leads to a fortuitous encounter with Simon’s old high-school pal, Gordo, things are about to get interesting. Now, against the backdrop of a delicate but inviolable secrecy, an ongoing line of more costly house-warming gifts breaks the couple’s calm.
5. Arrested Development (TV Series, 2003-2019)
Creator- Mitchell Hurwitz
After his father is jailed for questionable accounting techniques at the family-owned company and the Bluth family assets are frozen, Michael Bluth, a widower with a 13-year-old son called George-Michael, is compelled to keep his big and dysfunctional family together. Michael’s snobbish mother, Lucille, finds herself living alone in a penthouse without the financial means to maintain it, while Michael’s two brothers, Gob and Buster, and his sister Lindsay, along with her husband Tobias and daughter Maeby, are forced to adjust their lifestyles to fit their new financial situation.
6. Horrible Bosses (2011)
Director- Seth Gordon
Nick despises his boss, primarily because he is suppose to work from dawn to dusk, and his boss, Mr. Harken, constantly calls him out for being a minute late and blackmails him into not quitting. Dr. Julia Harris, Dale’s boss, irritates him because she makes unwanted sexual approaches while he’s about to marry. But Dale can’t resign since he’s on that annoying list of juvenile offenders. Kurt enjoys his job and his boss—until his boss passes away and his coked-out, sociopathic son takes control. But who in their right mind would quit their work in such a bad economy? Instead, Nick, Dale, and Kurt brainstorm ways to assassinate their bosses in an inebriated and imaginary manner. Now they’ve engaged a murder expert to help them pull off the three deeds before they even realise it.
7. Extract (2009)
Director- Mike Judge
Joel, the owner of an extract production facility, is frequently thrust into precarious situations that deteriorate by the minute. First, his soon-to-be floor manager suffers a terrible injury in a machine malfunctioning accident, putting his company’s survival in jeopardy. Second, during a drug-induced brainstorming session on how to test his wife’s faithfulness, he follows the advise of his bartending friend Dean. Finally, new employee Cindy, who happens to be a con artist focuses on milking the corporation for all it’s worth, adds to the chaos. Joel now has to try to put his firm and his wife back together while figuring out what he wants out of life.
8. Teen Wolf Too (1987)
Director- Christopher Leitch
Todd Howard, Scott Howard’s similarly unpopular and unathletic cousin, receives a collegiate boxing scholarship and gets accept into Hamilton University after Scott Howard’s hairy adventure in Teen Wolf (1985). Soon after, the family’s lupine gene manifests itself, and the once-feeble student transforms into a celebrity and the school’s champion, attracting the attention of the college’s gorgeous girls. There’s no turning back now, and success is a given; yet, being a juvenile werewolf comes at a cost.
9. Game Night (2018)
Director(s)- John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Max and Annie, a married competitive gamer couple, are trying to start a family, but their efforts are failing owing to Max’s stress about his thoughts of inadequacy in comparison to his successful, gorgeous brother Brooks. Brooks shows up Max by arriving in a Corvette Stingray (Max’s dream car) and delivering an embarrassing childhood story about Max during Max and Annie’s typical weekend game night with their pals Ryan and married couple Kevin and Michelle. While he’s in town, Brooks offers to host the next game night in a property he’s renting. Meanwhile, Max and Annie strive to keep their gaming nights hidden from their next-door neighbour Gary, an awkward cop who recently divorced their mutual friend Debbie.
