John Ridley (born 1965 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American film director, actor, and writer. Ridley got his start as a stand-up comedian. He eventually was hired as a writer for sitcoms such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Martin. He began to concentrate on writing and wrote his first novel, Stray Dogs, which became the basis the 1997 film U Turn, directed by Oliver Stone. Ridley also provided the original script for the film Three Kings, starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Ice Cube. But his script was changed so much by director David O. Russell that he only received a credit for the original story. He also tried his hand at directing with the film Cold Around the Heart. He is one of the creators of Urban Entertainment, showcasing short films and animation from minority filmmakers, including his own works: the animated cartoons Undercover Brother (the basis for the Undercover Brother film starring comedian Eddie Griffin) and Those Who Walk in Darkness, featuring the voice of rapper Lil' Kim — which itself was the basis of a novel of the same name written by Ridley. Additionally, Ridley developed Tim Story's 2002 motion picture Barbershop into the short-lived 2005 Showtime comedy Barbershop: The Series. Ridley was the original co-host on the MSNBC daily morning show Morning Joe upon its premiere in 2007, and was an occasional guest on the network's cancelled nightly program Scarborough Country. He hosted the short-lived Movie Club with John Ridley on American Movie Classics and has written The Authority and The American Way for DC Comics. He has recently become a regular guest commentator on American Public Media's Weekend America in a segment called "Good News, Bad News, No News" which reviews the week's news. He co-produced the film Bobby. He wrote the play Ten Thousand Years about kamikaze pilots in World War II. On the weekend of August 19, 2006, John co-hosted the syndicated program Ebert & Roeper while film critic Roger Ebert was on medical leave. On August 28, 2007, it was announced that George Lucas hired him to pen the script for his upcoming World War II film Red Tails. Currently (December, 2009) Ridley is head writer and co-executive producer of The Wanda Sykes Show. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Ridley, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
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Biography from TMDB.
- October 1, 1964 (62)
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
- Writer, director and producer
- 26 on MovieCove · 36 credits in all
What are John Ridley's films like?
Across their 14 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Power.
Genres
Their MovieCove films by primary genre. The badge is the typical Midcredits score of the genre's films, the median percentile; an up arrow marks a genre at or above their average across these genres.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 2 · Wry 1 · Earnest 10
Light 2 · Serious 6 · Dark 5
A split, not a type: Grounded 6 · Stylized 4 · Heightened 3
Gentle 0 · Charged 5 · Intense 8
Steady 1 · Shifting 9 · Whiplash 3
Straight-faced 9 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 1
Slow burn 3 · Even-paced 8 · Relentless 2
Casual 2 · Engaged 8 · Full focus 3
A split, not a type: Easy watch 2 · Affecting 3 · Heavy 8
A split, not a type: Resolved 8 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 2
Moods and endings
- Happy1
- Bittersweet8
- Tragic2
- Ambiguous3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch John Ridley's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 19 of their 26 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Tubi (9).
- Justice League (2001) · writer · free
- Third Watch (1999) · writer · free
- American Crime (2015) · director, writer, producer · free
- Bobby (2006) · producer · free
- Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013) · director, writer, producer · free
- Ben-Hur (2016) · writer, producer · free
- Needle in a Timestack (2021) · director, writer, producer · free
- Barbershop (2005) · director, writer · free
- Guerrilla (2017) · director, writer, producer · free
- discovery+
Subscription and free streaming for John Ridley's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
36 credits, 26 with a MovieCove page; 5 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
The Corner (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Shirley(2024)
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films
Five Days at Memorial(2022)
Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all shows
Needle in a Timestack(2021)
Midcredits score: 27th percentile of all films
Waiting for Godot (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
Body Cam(2020)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Guerrilla(2017)
Midcredits score: 8th percentile of all shows
Ben-Hur(2016)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
The 25,000 Mile Love Story (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
American Crime(2015)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Celblok H (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2014)
Out of the Furnace(2013)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
12 Years a Slave(2013)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Jimi: All Is by My Side(2013)
Midcredits score: 32nd percentile of all films
Red Tails(2012)
Midcredits score: 46th percentile of all films
Bobby(2006)
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all films
Barbershop(2005)
Midcredits score: 22nd percentile of all shows
Musafir(2004)
Midcredits score: 31st percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all filmsThose Who Walk in Darkness (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Platinum (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2003)
Undercover Brother(2002)
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all films
Justice League(2001)
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows
Static Shock(2000)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Three Kings(1999)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Third Watch(1999)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all shows
Cold Around the Heart(1997)
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Team Knight Rider(1997)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all shows
U Turn(1997)
Midcredits score: 69th percentile of all films
The Show (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1996)
The John Larroquette Show (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(1993)
Martin(1992)
Midcredits score: 72nd percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all showsCaves of Steel (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
The American Way (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)
Career shape
A full career of 35 titles, 33 of them dated from 1990 to 2026.
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
an Oscar and 2 other major awards from 11 major nominations, 2000–2016.
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Limited Series
+1 other major body · 1 nomination
- Producers Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Limited Series
- Primetime Emmy, nominated · Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or a Dramatic Special
- Oscar, won · Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay
- Golden Globe, nominated · Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
- BAFTA Award, nominated · Best Adapted Screenplay
+2 other major bodies · 2 wins
- Critics Choice Award, won · Best Adapted Screenplay
- Independent Spirit Award, won · Best Screenplay
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Animation
- Writers Guild Award, nominated · Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do John Ridley's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 51st percentile, the median of all 16; across their 13 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 56th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up8
- 50th to 74th7
- 25th to 49th6
- Below 25th5
Shape of the crowd
10 of their 26 titles are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved4
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser10
- Broadly Agreed1
- Mixed10
Reviewers score the dialogue 43/100 and the plot and story 47/100 in their films, across 12 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is John Ridley's work okay for kids?
Across up to 7 MovieCove titles with content scores, violence & gore, sex & nudity, profanity and frightening / intense run heavier than most films.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted. The band's colour is the severity of their median, named beside it.
Who does John Ridley work with?
People who share at least 2 of John Ridley's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Mark Isham shares the most, 3.
Actors
- Terrence HowardShared titles: Shirley (2024), Red Tails (2012)See all 2 shared titles with Terrence Howard
Composers and editors
- Mark IshamShared titles: Needle in a Timestack (2021), Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982-1992 (2017), Bobby (2006)See all 3 shared titles with Mark Isham
- Hank CorwinShared titles: Jimi: All Is by My Side (2013), U Turn (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Hank Corwin
Producers
- Dan HalstedShared titles: Cold Around the Heart (1997), U Turn (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Dan Halsted
- Richard RutowskiShared titles: Cold Around the Heart (1997), U Turn (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Richard Rutowski
Mixed roles
- Oliver StoneShared titles: Cold Around the Heart (1997), U Turn (1997)See all 2 shared titles with Oliver Stone
