Many would surely agree with the argument that Meryl Streep is the best actor ever. Having made her stage debut in 1975, the Yale School of Drama alum already had two Oscar nominations to her name by 1980, even winning the Best Supporting Actress award for “Kramer vs. Kramer.” You can’t get a more auspicious start in Hollywood than that, and to Streep’s credit, she managed to maintain her momentum throughout the next decade, receiving a further six Oscar nominations and scoring a Best Actress win for 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice.” That’s a remarkable achievement considering the actress had made her feature film debut just five years prior in 1977’s “Julia.”
Perhaps the only thing more impressive than Streep’s almost instantaneous domination of Hollywood is the fact that she has remained just as esteemed as her career played out. Almost 50 years after her film debut, Streep is still one of the most respected actors in the game, and continues to work at the age of 75, most recently playing the recurring role of Loretta Durkin in Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” for which she received an Emmy nomination in 2024.
So, in a career as distinguished as this, you might think it impossible to name Streep’s best project. But that’s where Rotten Tomatoes comes in. The site has already pronounced on several screen legends, declaring Denzel Washington’s best film to be 1989’s “Glory” and Steven Spielberg’s finest effort to be “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.” Now, it’s Streep’s turn to face the Tomatometer, which has determined that she has appeared in one film with a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score.
Meryl Streep’s highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes isn’t always the most reliable source when it comes to determining the quality of film and TV. This is the site that claims there are only two perfect sci-fi movies in the history of cinema. But that doesn’t mean the Tomatometer can’t be helpful as a quick point of reference when trying to decide what the heck to watch in an age where literally everything ever made is available to stream.
With that out of the way, we come to Meryl Streep’s highest-rated film on Rotten Tomatoes: 1991’s “Defending your Life.” Written and directed by Albert Brooks, this romantic comedy also starred Brooks as advertising executive Daniel Miller, who after perishing in a car accident is sent to the celestial equivalent of a holding area known as Judgment City. While he awaits the judges’ decision on whether he will move on to the next phase of the afterlife or have his soul returned to earth in order to overcome his fears, he meets Julia (Streep), a woman who seemingly led an exemplary existence on earth. Over the course of their time together in Judgment City, the two fall in love, which ultimately proves to be the very thing that Miller needed to conquer his fears.
Such a story apparently makes for a near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, where “Defending your Life” currently enjoys a 98% rating based on 43 reviews. What’s more, 100% of the so-called “top critics” liked the film, which received a 7 out of 10 average rating based on the actual grades/stars awarded by reviewers. In his three-and-a-half star review, Roger Ebert wrote that the film “is funny in a warm, fuzzy way, and it has a splendidly satisfactory ending,” while the Washington Post‘s Desson Howe praised Streep for “soften[ing] her thespian exoskeleton for a surprisingly engaging performance.”
While many might quibble with Rotten Tomatoes’ pick for Streep’s best film, then, there’s no denying “Defending your Life” gave the actress a chance to display her impressive range, and remains yet another stellar entry in her remarkable filmography.
