Biography Movies
Serious, comedic, realistic, creative liberties; all qualify. Only not including any that have supernatural or extraterrestrial elements because... Yeah.
Documentaries have their own list: Here
Ranked Best to Worst.
Not an exhaustive list as I'm not interested in most people's life stories!
Documentaries have their own list: Here
Ranked Best to Worst.
Not an exhaustive list as I'm not interested in most people's life stories!
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40 titles
- DirectorAlan J. PakulaStarsDustin HoffmanRobert RedfordJack Warden"The Washington Post" reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncover the details of the Watergate scandal that leads to President Richard Nixon's resignation.8/10
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia RobertsAlbert FinneyDavid BrisbinAn unemployed single mother becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city's water supply.8/10
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsTom HanksAaron EckhartLaura LinneyWhen pilot Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger lands his damaged plane on the Hudson River in order to save the flight's passengers and crew, some consider him a hero while others think he was reckless.8/10
- DirectorTheodore MelfiStarsTaraji P. HensonOctavia SpencerJanelle MonáeThe story of a team of female African-American mathematicians who served a vital role in NASA during the early years of the U.S. space program.8/10
- DirectorRon HowardStarsDaniel BrühlChris HemsworthOlivia WildeThe merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt and Niki Lauda.8/10
- DirectorAaron SorkinStarsJessica ChastainIdris ElbaKevin CostnerThe true story of Molly Bloom, an Olympic-class skier who ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game and became an FBI target.8/10
- DirectorJames FrancoStarsJames FrancoDave FrancoAri GraynorWhen aspiring actor Greg Sestero meets the weird and mysterious Tommy Wiseau in an acting class, they form a unique friendship and travel to Hollywood to make their dreams come true.8/10
- DirectorDexter FletcherStarsTaron EgertonHugh JackmanTom CostelloThe story of Eddie Edwards, the notoriously tenacious British underdog ski jumper who charmed the world at the 1988 Winter Olympics.8/10
- DirectorBrian GibsonStarsAngela BassettLaurence FishburneRaéVen KellyThe story of singer Tina Turner's rise to stardom and how she gained the courage to break free from her abusive husband, Ike Turner.7/10
- DirectorKevin MacdonaldStarsJames McAvoyForest WhitakerGillian AndersonBased on the events of the brutal Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's regime as seen by his personal physician during the 1970s.7/10
- DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsMeryl StreepTom HanksSarah PaulsonA cover-up spanning four U.S. Presidents pushes the country's first female newspaper publisher and her editor to join an unprecedented battle between press and government.7/10
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.7/10
- DirectorJohn Lee HancockStarsEmma ThompsonTom HanksAnnie Rose BuckleyAuthor P.L. Travers reflects on her childhood after reluctantly meeting with Walt Disney, who seeks to adapt her Mary Poppins books for the big screen.7/10
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsJohnny DeppMartin LandauSarah Jessica ParkerAmbitious but troubled movie director Edward D. Wood Jr. tries his best to fulfill his dreams despite his lack of talent.7/10
- DirectorSimon CurtisStarsHelen MirrenRyan ReynoldsDaniel BrühlMaria Altmann, an octogenarian Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family.7/10
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsKenneth MoreMuriel PavlowLyndon BrookBiopic of RAF Group Captain Douglas Bader who, after having lost both legs, flew a British fighter plane during WWII.7/10
- DirectorBen AffleckStarsBen AffleckBryan CranstonJohn GoodmanActing under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1979.7/10
- DirectorMike NicholsStarsMeryl StreepKurt RussellCherA worker at a plutonium processing plant is purposefully contaminated, psychologically tortured and possibly murdered to prevent her from exposing worker safety violations at the plant.7/10
- DirectorJoseph SargentStarsGregory PeckDan O'HerlihyEd FlandersBiopic of General Douglas MacArthur covering his war exploits during WW2 and the Korean War.7/10
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsPaul ScofieldWendy HillerRobert ShawThe story of Sir Thomas More, who stood up to King Henry VIII when the King rejected the Roman Catholic Church to obtain a divorce and remarry.7/10
- DirectorBrian HelgelandStarsTom HardyEmily BrowningTaron EgertonIdentical twin gangsters Ronald and Reginald Kray terrorize London during the 1960s.7/10
- DirectorRon HowardStarsChris HemsworthCillian MurphyBrendan GleesonA recounting of a New England whaling ship's sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick.7/10
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJonah HillMargot RobbieBased on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.7/10
- DirectorMike LeighStarsTimothy SpallPaul JessonDorothy AtkinsonAn exploration of the last quarter century of the great, if eccentric, British painter J.M.W. Turner's life.7/10
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.7/10
- DirectorAsif KapadiaStarsAyrton SennaReginaldo LemeJohn BisignanoA documentary on Brazilian Formula One racing driver Ayrton Senna, who won the F1 world championship three times before his death at age 34.7/10
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyAnthony MannStarsRobert TaylorDeborah KerrLeo GennAfter fierce Roman commander Marcus Vinicius becomes infatuated with beautiful Christian hostage Lygia, he begins to question the tyrannical leadership of the despotic emperor Nero.7/10
- DirectorGeorge P. CosmatosKevin JarreStarsKurt RussellVal KilmerSam ElliottA successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating.6/10
- DirectorSidney LumetStarsAl PacinoJohn RandolphJack KehoeAn honest New York cop named Frank Serpico blows the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.6/10
- DirectorNicholas HytnerStarsMaggie SmithAlex JenningsJim BroadbentA man forms an unexpected bond with a transient woman living in her van that's parked in his driveway.6/10
- DirectorStephen MerchantStarsDwayne JohnsonLena HeadeyVince VaughnA former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues around the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment.6/10
Fun fact: The title match in the movie looks more believable than the actual fight from 2014. - DirectorMary HarronStarsAgnes BrucknerMartin LandauAdam GoldbergThe life of Anna Nicole Smith, from small-town dancer to Playboy centerfold, to her marriage to a billionaire, to her eventual self-destruction.6/10
- DirectorAdam McKayStarsChristian BaleSteve CarellRyan GoslingIn 2006-2007 a group of investors bet against the United States mortgage market. In their research, they discover how flawed and corrupt the market is.6/10
- DirectorKen KwapisStarsRobert RedfordNick NolteEmma ThompsonAfter spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson (Robert Redford) returns to the U.S., where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail with one of his oldest friends, Stephen Katz (Nick Nolte).5/10
- DirectorJoseph SargentRichard CarpenterStarsCynthia GibbMitchell AndersonPeter Michael GoetzStory of the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Karen Carpenter, who became a famous singer before battling anorexia and bulimia.4/10
A stark demonstration of how not to make a Biography. Ignores almost the entire reality of KC's life and wraps it up in a fluffy "Yeah but hasn't she got a lovely voice?". And it has a happy ending! WTH?! - DirectorGeoffrey SaxStarsHalle BerryStellan SkarsgårdPhylicia RashadA drama centered on a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and begins working with a psychotherapist to uncover the mystery of the inner ghosts that haunt her.TBD
- DirectorBrian GilbertStarsStephen FryJude LawVanessa RedgraveThe turmoil in poet/playwright Oscar Wilde's life after he discovers his homosexuality.TBD
- DirectorNina ContiStarsNina ContiJim BroadbentDaisy CampbellInternationally acclaimed ventriloquist Nina Conti, takes the bereaved puppets of her mentor and erstwhile lover Ken Campbell on a pilgrimage to 'Venthaven' the resting place for puppets of dead ventriloquists. She gets to know her latex and wooden travelling partners along the way, and with them deconstructs herself and her lost love in this ventriloquial docu-mocumentary requiem. Ken Campbell was a hugely respected maverick of the British Theatre, an eccentric genius who would snort out forgotten artforms. Nina was his prodigy in ventriloquism and has been said to have reinvented the artform. This film is truly unique in genre and style. No one has seen ventriloquism like this before.TBD
- DirectorHenry KingStarsGregory PeckDeborah KerrEddie AlbertToward the end of his life, F. Scott Fitzgerald is writing for Hollywood studios to be able to afford the cost of an asylum for his wife. He is also struggling against alcoholism. Into his life comes the famous gossip columnist.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioCate BlanchettKate BeckinsaleA biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.