So I just felt like writing up a list of my favourite Biopics. I’m sure there are a ton better than these that I am yet to see, but I’ll get to those eventually. Remember these are in no particular order

Walk the Line [2005]

I’ve liked Joaquin Phoenix ever since I saw him in Gladiator and now he gets the leading role in the story about the life of Johnny Cash. I’ve liked Johnny Cash’s music since I was young and forced by my father to listen to it every Sunday as we drove around the town. I mean, eventually I grew past the teen stage of hating everything my parents shoved in my face and saw Cash’s musical brilliance for myself and am glad that I was lucky enough to ever be introduced to this great musician.

Persepolis [2007]

Here is a great animated Biopic about the life of Marji who grew up during the time of the Islamic revolution in Iran. The story was originally written by Marjane herself and first published as a graphic novel called Persepolis. It was fun to meet this great person and hear her story of how her world changed around her during a time of war and restrictions. I loved how she would always rebel against the figures of authority, especially when she argued to the academics at her school about something as simple as clothing restrictions for females and the lack of restrictions for men. You can read my review here.

Raging Bull [1980]

Here is the story of the New York boxer Jake Lamotta. He lived such an interesting life that the film never bores you. A lot of the themes I think are slightly too complex for film, but De Niro’s performance and Scorsese’s direction make this movie one of my favourite from the New Yorkers.

Malcolm X [1992]

The film chronicles the life of the famous black rights activist. He was an influential preacher in the African American as well as Muslim community in the mid 50s till he died in 1965. The movie is one of Spike Lee’s best without doubt, because not only do you get the regular Spike Lee style but also a great story that doesn’t require for Lee to stretch it. Denzel gives a performance of a lifetime and even today I wonder how they never gave him the Oscar for it.

Into the Wild [2007]

Here is the true story of Chris McCandless who decided to leave the material world behind him in search of his great adventure in Alaska. Emile Hirsch proves to me here that he can act, and Sean Penn does a great job of directing the film. The thing about this movie that made me love it so much was how they paid attention to the travel and the people he met along to way and how each of them affected him or he affected rather than more superficial factors of the tale.

Milk [2008]

Here I have another chance to talk about Milk, which is the story of Harvey Milk – the first openly homosexual to be nominated for office in the United States of America. Sean Penn gives one of his best performances I’ve ever seen him give, and the story is so interesting. The best part of the tale are his doings while running for office, from speaking on a soap box on the street corner to getting a street full of people to listen and follow his words.

Braveheart [1995]

Here’s one that I’m not 100% sure of how true it is, but hey I love it. Here is the story of how Christopher Wallace helped spur on the Scottish to fight for their lands against the English in the 13^th Century. Mel Gibson gives a great performance and does a great job of directing the film as we see the twists of turns of the ongoing battle between Scotland & England. I loved especially how this one unassuming man is forced into the war and becomes the biggest problem that England could never understand or control.

Cinderella Man [2005]

Jim Braddock gives us one of the best comeback stories I’ve seen in a while when I saw this one. Personally, how can you go wrong with a Russell Crowe and Paul Giamatti film directed by Ron Howard? I even liked Renée Zellweger in it, and I don’t think she’s that great an actress. I love especially the scenes in the boxing ring when Giamatti has to spur on Crowe between rounds. The best goes through the worst during The Great Depression and then resurfaces to beat the best.

A Beautiful Mind [2001]

Here we get the story of the mathematician John Nash who gave the world some of the greatest economic theory that it still uses today. Once again I’m here talking about a Ron Howard movie starring Russell Crowe – I like them – and they give us great stories and performances throughout. This movie even makes me remember The Sixth Sense in that I couldn’t see the twist until they revealed it for me, which is always a credit to great writing and directing.

What’s Love Got To Do With It [1993]

Tina Turner is a young singer who becomes one of the greatest of her generation. Angela Basset puts on a performance that gave her the reputation she now has. I must say, I love Tina Turner’s music and think she is a great singer/writer; the title track is one of my favourites. I think the best scene is the court scene when Ike & Tina are getting divorced and she says “all I want is the name”, great moment in film for me.

Ray [2004]

Ray Charles is another great musician – for some reason I tend to love biopics about musicians – who was the first to mix Gospel and R&B music. Here is Jamie Foxx’s best performance which I doubt he’ll ever top and at the same time we get some great music along with the story. I love especially how they tackle the Raelettes and what real relationship he had with them. Even though a ton of music historians complained about how little they paid attention to his drug abuse, I disagree and think that the film tackled the topic well and with as much time as was possible in a film.

I’m Not There [2007]

Here is one of the most interesting of all the biopics, about the life of Bob Dylan. However there are six different actors portraying six different aspects of Bob Dylan’s personality. I’ve never been the most knowledgeable of Dylan’s music career or his life; however I do know enough of his content to know that he was a multi layered character. With so many biopics having to deal with so many interesting and complex characters I found this technique of showing the different sides of the character so much more engaging than some ways that certain actors try to do it by themselves. Maybe I just haven’t seen enough movies yet, but I hadn’t seen this ever done before like this and I totally loved it.