74 replies to this topic

[TWoP Dietrich]

Ray. Ali. Braveheart. That sort of thing.

[Cheetara04]

Probably my favorite biographical film was Schindler's List. I just remember watching this movie for the first time and I just started bawling. I could watch this film so many times and it still has that same effect on me. This movie had such an effect on me, that I have not experienced in a long time. The casting was perfect with Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes, Liam Neeson, etc.. The ending got me too when the actors were walking side by side with the real live survivor, then dropping flowers at the memorial. This is still Spielberg's best work.

Edited by Cheetara04, Nov 23, 2008 @ 2:03 AM.

[GoldenWoman]

"What's Love Got to do With It" has always been one of my favorite biopics. Angela Bassett nailed that part and Tina Turner is an amazing lady.

[Redtracer]

Can Amadeus count as a biopic? I guess it's highly fictionalized and more a "what if this really happened," but it's about a bunch of real people, so I think it's OK here.

I absolutely love this movie. I thought everyone was amazing in it. Tom Hulce and F. Murray Abraham played off each other so perfectly.

I have to say, though, that Mozart's little giggle haunted my dreams for weeks.

Edited by Redtracer, Nov 24, 2008 @ 9:05 AM.

[zelmia]

Can I just get it out there right now that I HATED "Ray"?

[CantThinkUpName]

You and me both Zelmia.

[Kel Varnsen]

I like biopics, even the ones that take a bunch of liberties, as long as they tell a good story. The one huge pet peeve I have is when a biopic covers a huge period in a person's life, but they make no effort to try and explain how much time has past. Ali really bugged me in that regard since they would cover months and years at a time and never really give you any indication as to how much time had gone by between scenes.

[CantThinkUpName]

What makes a biopic successful is when it seems to be about what makes that person's life unique. Nixon, by going through so many little moments in Nixon's life that were exclusively Nixon's, worked on that level. Movies like Ray and Walk The Line I don't feel succeeded on that level.

On the same token, I miss the old school FILMED IN TECHNICOLOR epic biopics like Patton and Lawrence of Arabia. I felt those movies really managed to show the importance of one person on the world just from sheer scope alone.

[ethanvahlere]

Ali really bugged me in that regard since they would cover months and years at a time and never really give you any indication as to how much time had gone by between scenes.

Maybe it's because I knew an awful lot about Ali going in, but I didn't get that sense. At any rate, I liked Ali because it showed what he did wasn't all instinct; a lot of thought and strategy went not only into his persona, but his fighting as well. And I also liked how they showed his relationships with Cosell, Bundini Brown, and Malcolm X.

And although Ray was by most respects very conventional (especially when he has to kick his drug habit), what the movie got right is the music, and what Charles meant to music today.

[Split Ends]

The problem I had with Ali was that it just didn't seem like anyone wanted to risk offending the living man. It was a reverential piece, and as great a job as Will Smith did, I wanted more balance.

I liked Walk the Line because it was romantic. If it hadn't had June and Johnny, it would have felt like another standard musician/drug habit/recovery bit.....sorta like Ray.

[zelmia]

I thought Walk the Line did feel like another standard musician/drug habit/recovery bit. However, I also thought that Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon brought much more to their respective roles than a simple impersonation. They both seemed to really try to create a three-dimensional character as opposed to just trying to sound like/act like Johnny and June.

[Kel Varnsen]

Maybe it's because I knew an awful lot about Ali going in, but I didn't get that sense. At any rate, I liked Ali because it showed what he did wasn't all instinct; a lot of thought and strategy went not only into his persona, but his fighting as well. And I also liked how they showed his relationships with Cosell, Bundini Brown, and Malcolm X.

I guess if you knew a lot about him it wouldn't be so bad. I just remember watching it, seeing his marriage fall apart, and wonder if it happened over a few months or more like 10 years, I found it was the same with a lot of other things in that movie.

[VersesBatman]

I liked Coal Miner's Daughter. Tommy Lee Jones and Sissy Spacek had great chemistry and she did a great job singing Loretta Lynn's songs. I must say, Beverly D'Angelo looked a bit like Delta Burke playing Patsy Cline. What I didn't know is that Loretta was THIRTEEN when she married her husband.

[Split Ends]

Immortal Beloved. I have no idea how fictionalized it is, but as a love-struck teen, I just adored this movie. I still like it. And of course, it has the most fantastic soundtrack ever.

[ethanvahlere]

I like Immortal Beloved as well. I vastly prefer it to Amadeus. And that shot of the young Beethoven in the water with the stars reflected while "Ode to Joy" plays is amazing.

[Gardel]

I think this has to be one of the most controversial genres way up there with war films, because there's always something that is not quite accurate here and there and such accuracy lapses will always infuriate fans of the subject of whatever biography.

I'm still trying to come up with a bio film I liked. Maybe La Vie En Rose, but then it's so easy to remember all the bad biopics like Factory Girl because they're the most recent colossal failures in the genre.

[CantThinkUpName]

I forgot to mention this but one of the best biopics of recent years was Control about Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis. Admittedly, I don't know a lot about him or the band (though I do like their music) but that's one of the few biopics that I felt got inside the subject and cared about the person rather than THE PERSON. It was also beautifully shot.

I also liked 24 Hour Party People.

[flickchick85]

La Vie En Rose would've been mediocre, imo, if it weren't for Marion Cotillard's epic performance, but as it is, it's pretty fantastic. However...that's the only bio-pic that's blown me away. Most of 'em just seem so formulaic and conventional to me. It's like a person's not worth making a movie about unless they had a drinking/drug problem that caused problems with their one true love. Oh, and some kind of emotional block for them to overcome to succeed. Amadeus was different, maybe, but I didn't like that, either. I guess I'm just not a big fan of the genre in general.

Walk the Line was nice little chick flick, though. It wasn't really any different from all the others - still followed the formula and conventions - just more entertaining and sweet.

[carmelized]

And although Ray was by most respects very conventional (especially when he has to kick his drug habit), what the movie got right is the music, and what Charles meant to music today.

I agree. I also thought Jamie Foxx was incredible as Ray Charles. As much as his success seems to have gone to his head, that doesn't change the fact that Foxx did a great job. At times I forgot I was looking at someone else. I've heard people say that it was just an impression, but it didn't seem that way to me. For me, Foxx really seemed to embody Ray Charles in that role.

[zelmia]

Control was made by the Anton Corbin. His background is in music videos and he had actually shot many photos of Joy Division during their rise to success. I agree that this film was very understanding of its subject matter and felt much more like watching a documentary than just about anything in this genre.

I also adored La Môme (La Vie En Rose). It's true that Cotillard's performance made that film, but just the fact that they did not follow the biopic convention of "from birth to death"; that they chose a more stream-of-consciousness style. That is, choosing specific moments in her life that were important, that stood out in her mind during her entire life, and led to memories of other moments. That was such an intelligent way to handle the genre.

[Gardel]

I think the formulaic style is not the only thing that might be tired in this genre, nor am I bothered by the usual - drug addled, troubled - subjects portrayed in these films.

What really drives me up the wall usually is the casting choices. Now this is kind of a shallow concern, but it's really hard to buy Hayden Christensen as Bob Dylan for example (seeing as how it's already established that I've got serious issues with Factory Girl.)

Cotillard was an inspired casting decision and look at the results! Amazing film. Not to say other things were not well done and yes, the format change was welcome, but can you imagine what a disaster it would have been if they had messed up this casting?

[alynch]

A biopic I really like is Nixon. It's about as unformulaic as you can get, for better or worse. I'm sure that it's fictionalized as all hell, but I never care about that stuff. Anthony Hopkins's performance in that film is one of the better displays of internal acting I've ever seen. He doesn't look or sound much at all like Nixon, but it doesn't take long for the pure power of the performance to take over. The supporting cast is loaded as hell, but they're all great. The director's cut also contains what I like to call "the greatest deleted scene of all time," a ten minute showdown scene between Nixon and CIA Director Richard Helms (Sam Waterston). I could never understand why it wasn't included in the initial cut. If it was a matter of length, then there were plenty of scenes that I would've cut sooner.

Edited by alynch, Dec 15, 2008 @ 10:43 PM.

[absolutqt]

I think X (Spike Lee's Malcolm X) has to be my favorite pic in this genre. Braveheart would be a close second. And Erin Brockovich holds a special place in my heart.

[VersesBatman]

Ghandi is just spectacular. It's about three hours long, but it didn't feel like it.

[Redtracer]

One of my favorite movies of 2006 was The Queen. For anyone who hasn't seen it, it takes place during the week after Princess Diana's death in 1997 and shows the contrast between how the royal family and Prime Minister Tony Blair handled the situation. Not your normal biopic, since it only covers a week plus a prologue and epilogue, but such a great movie. I know some people thought it was really just an episode of Masterpiece Theatre blown up for the big screen, but I think there's absolutely a place for "smaller" stories like this in cinema.

I read some interviews with the screenwriter, Peter Morgan, and although he seemed to support the PM in how he dealt with the situation, I still thought the movie was very fair to both sides. I know that Helen Mirren won an Oscar as Elizabeth II, and while I think she absolutely deserved it, I think Michael Sheen as Blair kind of got the shaft in terms of award recognition. He did a great job without resulting to caricaturing the real-life figure.

By the end of the movie, I felt like I had gained real insight into the monarchy and the British public's view of it. As a non-Brit, I think that's the highest compliment I can pay the movie.

[Batman Beatles]

I loved The Queen. Helen truly disappeared in her role.

[CantThinkUpName]

I rewatched Raging Bull this weekend. That movie is so good, I forget it falls under 'biopic.' I know it's ranked as one of the best sports movies but I can't think of another biopic that even comes close.

[ByTheWay]

Sony Close to Michael Jackson Film Deal

[Batman Beatles]

Already?

[ByTheWay]

Three-Part Bruce Lee Biopic in the Works

The first part is scheduled for release on Nov. 27, 2010, the 70th anniversary of Lee's birth.