Every Movie that Joan and John Cusack Have Been in Together

A lot of actors tend to work together over and over but a lot of actors aren’t brother and sister like John and Joan Cusack. Do you get the sense that their parents either weren’t too good at naming them or were trying to be cute? Anyway, the two have been in a handful of movies together and a lot of times it seems as though they’ve been on opposite ends of the film, bound only to be in the same frame every now and again it at all, while in other films they’re around each other for a good part of the time. The great thing is that they play off of each other pretty well and don’t seem to get in each other’s way. Maybe that’s the bonus of being siblings on a set, you get a better idea of how the other is going to react and don’t have to guess so often on what to do. They haven’t appeared together in a movie for a while but they’ve both still been seen to be pretty active in various ways.

Here are the movies they’ve starred together in.

Class

So right away it’s important to note that they weren’t stars in their own movies for a little while. This particular movie about a young man that gets kicked out of a prep school and then hooks up with an older woman stars Andrew McCarthy and Rob Lowe. John and Joan are glorified extras for the most part as they don’t appear in a lot of the movie. But given that they are both in the film it does tend to count since they embarked upon their shared film career around this point.

Grandview, USA

This is another film in which a young man attempts to seduce an older woman and once again it’s not John Cusack or Joan Cusack in any starring role. They’ve played the extras and supporting characters more than a few times in their own individual films as well as in their shared films, and sometimes it’s hard to find them since they don’t pop up that often. But as they started getting older and more experienced they did finally start getting better parts.

Sixteen Candles

They’re both supporting characters in this movie but John definitely gets more lines since Joan really has none. She does play a comical character that almost gets to speak but then kind of just gives up on it the moment after she’s spoken to. John on the other hand gets to be the toady of Anthony Michael Hall’s character, or one of them at least. In this role they’re supposed to be the typical stereotypes of high school kids that are just trying to get through the year with minimal trouble and a lot of fond memories.

Broadcast News

You can see Joan in a scene with Holly Hunter and John’s name is in the credits. This movie is all about what it takes to be a broadcast journalist and how far some people will go to get it. If you really want to know where John is then all you have to do is listen for the angry messenger in the movie, as that’s his part. As movies go it wasn’t a bad film really but when it comes down to the two of them it was a bit one-sided, as some of their movie appearances together seem to be.

Grosse Pointe Blank

This film was a lot more interesting than it seemed and really deserved more credit than it actually got. A contract killer that basically lives a life alone save for his receptionist that keeps him in line attends his 10-year high school reunion and tries to reconnect with his high school sweetheart. Unfortunately the contract he’s been given to complete at the same time is being sought out by other killers that eventually close in on him and force a confrontation.

Cradle Will Rock

This star-studded cast made it hard to see anyone since there were so many big names in the crowd. But the gist of it is that due to their funds being cut the FTP must find another way to push forward with a production that will become something that might very well change the face of theater as anyone knows it. The movie itself looks like a rather smart an intelligent film that would be best served by simply watching it.

High Fidelity

No matter what you think about this movie, and a lot of people have differing opinions, it’s all about a man and woman and their feelings for one another. The idea of a relationship working in movies is one that is best described a seesaw effect, as it seems to go one way or the other without much change. But in this movie the fulcrum seems to move more often than either side of the issue.

Martian Child

It’s very difficult to deal with children that have developmental or mental issues or disorders or are simply so different that they can’t help it. But loving them any less is never the answer, while loving them more and seeking to understand them is the best answer in the world for any child’s mental stability. Accepting them and being there is the best that any person can do for any of them, particularly those that truly need the support.

War, Inc.

John plays another hitman in this movie and Joan plays his assistant again as the two plot to kill another target that is supposedly a serious threat that needs to be taken out. Unlike Grosse Pointe Blank however this takes place in a fictional country and it turns out that John’s character once had a wife and a daughter that were both taken from him.

You can’t really deny that they’re good when they’re in the same movie together.