6 Kate Hudson movies to watch (and 6 to skip)

Kate Hudson has had one of the more interesting careers in Hollywood. As the daughter of Goldie Hawn, she grew up in the business and some doors opened for her. She broke out majorly with her turn in Almost Famous, set for a fantastic career. However, for every hit she's had, Hudson has had at least a couple of flops and has spent too much time in cookie-cutter rom-coms rather than showing her talent off. 

The actress can still deliver a good performance in a supporting role with a few star turns that have gone well. Yet there are other movies that are more than skippable. Here's a look at a dozen of Hudson's biggest films and whether they're worth watching or not to marvel at her fun arc in Hollywood. 

The best Kate Hudson movies

Almost Famous

It may be a bit sad to say, but really, Hudson was never better than in her breakout role in Cameron Crowe's 2000 dramedy. Her turn as Penny, the groupie (or "band-aid" as she calls herself) to a 1970s rock band, is amazing, with Hudson bursting with energy and a fantastic vibe with the rest of the cast.

It earned her a Golden Globe win and an Oscar nomination, showing Hudson's beautiful spirit and talent in full form. It's little wonder that it launched her into a great career, and Hudson made this fantastic film into a modern classic. 

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

As classic as a 2000s rom-com can be, this 2003 film was a beautiful team-up of Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. She's a writer who decides to put together an article on all the mistakes a woman can make that ruin any relationship. She picks a "test case" in a guy who just made a bet he can get any woman to fall for him in less than two weeks.

So we have the fantastic comedy of Hudson doing all she can to drive off McConaughey, who is determined to stay with her. The chemistry between the pair is wonderful to watch, and of course, it's not long before they find true love. It's little wonder this remains one of Hudson's most popular movies.  

Marshall

The late Chadwick Boseman stars in this 2017 drama as future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall. This focuses on Marshall's breakout case defending a black chauffeur accused of attacking his employer, played by Hudson. It's a politically charged case with Marshall fighting to see justice done.

Hudson is a standout as the wife, hiding the truth behind the attack, not coming off as a racist but as a trapped woman in a tough situation. Her scenes on the witness stand allow Hudson to show great depth and raw emotion. It pays off with Hudson making one of her best dramatic turns ever. 

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Amid a star-studded cast in Rian Johnson's sequel, Hudson may be the standout. She plays off her public image as Cassandra "Andi" Brand, a style maven/influencer forced out of her own company by scandal. She's among the guests brought to an island for a murder mystery game that turns too real with Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) having to solve it. 

Hudson is an absolute hoot in the role, a woman who has no clue how normal people act and oblivious to how much of a ditz she is. The reasons behind the scandal are hysterical and Hudson seems to enjoy just being silly. She brings the best laughs in a movie already packed with them. 

Bride Wars

Okay, this is more a "guilty pleasure" film as the reviews in 2009 were horrific but it's grown with a cult following. Hudson and Anne Hathaway are childhood friends who have long wanted their dream weddings at a top New York ballroom. When there's only one open date for the space and each having a wedding coming, their rivalry for it turns heated.

Yes, it's ridiculous in scenes such as each sabotaging the other's beauty routines and a full-on brawl at a wedding. Yet the two actresses get along great on screen and the film has a surprisingly warm-hearted ending. It's not a top-tier critical favorite, but it's still better than its reputation. 

Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon

Hudson played against type in this underrated but well-received 2021 film. She plays a stripper/fighter who befriends a young woman with unique psychic powers. Before you think this is a warm-hearted tale, Hudson is using the troubled woman to get money and payback on people who wronged her. 

Hudson plays the role nicely with a dark attitude, manipulating the young woman and not caring too much about her own child. She's savvy, sinister, there's some nice black humor and a wonderfully wicked turn. The film shows Hudson missed her calling playing more villains as she's great in this. 

Movies to skip

Raising Helen

In a way, this was the start of Hudson sinking from major projects to almost nothing but rom-coms. The 2004 movie has her as a "wild child" who loves her free-wheeling lifestyle. That changes when her sister dies, and she has to raise her kids. The movie can't seem to commit to being a comedy or drama, and that rubs off on Hudson's performance. 

The script is shallow, and despite a cast of talented actors like Joan Cusack, it rarely rises above the storytelling of a Hallmark Channel film. Hudson is okay but not in the spirit of previous movies, and it's not hard to pinpoint this as a rough period for her career. 

Fool's Gold

It's bizarre how the same pair that had fabulous chemistry in one movie can have bad chemistry in another. Reteaming Hudson and Matthew McConaughey as exes who get involved in a treasure hunt promises adventure, laughs, and charm. What viewers got was a limp storyline, and both actors looked like they were phoning it in. 

The movie's plot is thin and just an excuse for both showing off in swimsuits, while all the great banter they had in How to Lose a Guy is absent for lame jokes. It's hard to buy these two in a romantic relationship, so the movie lived up to its title, promising treasure that never came. 

Good People

It may have gotten a theatrical run but this 2014 movie screams "direct to video." Hudson and James Franco are a couple in London deep in debt and wanting a family. They find a fortune in cash in a dead neighbor's apartment and try to hide it from the cops only to learn the hard way it's from a robbery and the rest of the gang want it back.

The leads have little chemistry, and that's without the brutal violence and attempts to push thrills. The ending is, of all things, a take on Home Alone with the couple setting traps for the gang and Hudson wasted in her part. There's little good in this movie to really enjoy. 

Music

Yes, Hudson got a Golden Globe nomination for this 2021 movie, but that doesn't make it good. The brainchild of singer-songwriter Sia, it follows an autistic girl (Maddie Zeigler) using music to understand the world with Hudson as her sister who is a recovering addict. The songs aren't too bad and that's pretty much the best that can be said for this movie. 

Critics tore this to shreds for the bad script, terrible direction, and the outright offensive presentation of autism. Hudson does her best, but no one can redeem this vanity project, and it is little wonder it ranks among the worst movie musicals ever made, not to mention an insult to the autistic community. 

A Little Bit of Heaven 

This movie is as blatant awards bait as you can get while being barely at the level of a Lifetime film. Hudson is the typical carefree ad executive in New Orleans who loves living her life to the fullest and never commits to anyone. Cue her getting a terminal cancer diagnosis and imagining getting three wishes from the Almighty. 

So Hudson, somehow looking gorgeous despite supposedly dying, goes around trying to finish that checklist, falls for her doctor (Gael García Bernal) and learns life lessons as she faces her end. It's schmaltzy to the extreme, cliche in every story beat, and Hudson is never quite convincing which marks this as a bad attempt to show her dramatic chops. 

The Skeleton Key

This 2005 horror movie tries to be a moody and scary piece but never quite pulls it off. Hudson is the caretaker for an elderly couple in a New Orleans mansion who discovers some dark secrets to it. That includes a connection to voodoo and supposedly a plot against her life. 

The movie relies on too many jump scares and while Hudson tries to be game, it fails to fully connect. The ending is an okay twist but it's also pretty well telegraphed, so while Hudson tries to spark it up, it's another of the seemingly endless forgettable mid-2000s horror movies that abound.