The best biography movies

by umareru | created - 18 Jan 2012 | updated - 21 Jan 2012 | Public

In this list I have compiled the best biography movies in my opinion

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1. Blow (2001)

R | 124 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

52 Metascore

The story of how George Jung, along with the Medellín Cartel headed by Pablo Escobar, established the American cocaine market in the 1970s in the United States.

Director: Ted Demme | Stars: Johnny Depp, Penélope Cruz, Franka Potente, Rachel Griffiths

Votes: 275,128 | Gross: $52.99M

2. A Beautiful Mind (2001)

PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Mystery

72 Metascore

A mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.

Director: Ron Howard | Stars: Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher Plummer

Votes: 987,377 | Gross: $170.74M

3. The Aviator (2004)

PG-13 | 170 min | Biography, Drama

77 Metascore

A biopic depicting the early years of legendary director and aviator Howard Hughes' career from the late 1920s to the mid 1940s.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C. Reilly

Votes: 384,192 | Gross: $102.61M

4. The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

R | 148 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama

54 Metascore

A young girl receives a vision that drives her to rid France of its oppressors.

Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Rab Affleck, Stéphane Algoud

Votes: 69,720 | Gross: $14.28M

5. Modigliani (2004)

R | 128 min | Biography, Drama

25 Metascore

The story of Amedeo Modigliani's bitter rivalry with Pablo Picasso, and his tragic romance with Jeanne Hebuterne.

Director: Mick Davis | Stars: Andy Garcia, Elsa Zylberstein, Omid Djalili, Hippolyte Girardot

Votes: 12,525 | Gross: $0.20M

6. Kundun (1997)

PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History

74 Metascore

From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Tenzin Yeshi Paichang

Votes: 30,513 | Gross: $5.53M

7. The Basketball Diaries (1995)

R | 102 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

46 Metascore

A teenager finds his dreams of becoming a basketball star threatened after he free falls into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Director: Scott Kalvert | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Lorraine Bracco, Marilyn Sokol, James Madio

Votes: 121,083 | Gross: $2.42M

8. Basquiat (1996)

R | 107 min | Biography, Drama

65 Metascore

The brief life of Jean Michel Basquiat, a world renowned New York street artist struggling with fame, drugs and his identity.

Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Jeffrey Wright, Michael Wincott, Benicio Del Toro, Claire Forlani

Votes: 22,090 | Gross: $2.96M

9. Permanent Midnight (1998)

R | 88 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

57 Metascore

A comedy writer struggles to overcome his addiction to heroin while putting his professional and personal life in danger.

Director: David Veloz | Stars: Ben Stiller, Maria Bello, Jay Paulson, Spencer Garrett

Votes: 7,934 | Gross: $1.17M

10. The Gospel of John (2003)

PG-13 | 180 min | Biography, Drama, History

52 Metascore

The story of Jesus' life as told by the apostle John, narrated by Christopher Plummer.

Director: Philip Saville | Stars: Henry Ian Cusick, Daniel Kash, Christopher Plummer, Scott Handy

Votes: 4,204 | Gross: $4.07M

11. The Passion of the Christ (2004)

R | 127 min | Drama

47 Metascore

Depicts the final twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem.

Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Monica Bellucci, Maia Morgenstern, Christo Jivkov

Votes: 251,232 | Gross: $370.78M

12. The Last Emperor (1987)

PG-13 | 163 min | Biography, Drama, History

76 Metascore

Bernardo Bertolucci's Oscar-winning dramatisation of the life story of China's last emperor, Pu Yi.

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci | Stars: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O'Toole, Ruocheng Ying

Votes: 111,543 | Gross: $43.98M

13. Kinsey (2004)

R | 118 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

79 Metascore

A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior.

Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, Chris O'Donnell, Peter Sarsgaard

Votes: 50,965 | Gross: $10.21M

14. Catch Me If You Can (2002)

PG-13 | 141 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

75 Metascore

Barely 17 yet, Frank is a skilled forger who has passed as a doctor, lawyer and pilot. FBI agent Carl becomes obsessed with tracking down the con man, who only revels in the pursuit.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen

Votes: 1,096,332 | Gross: $164.62M

15. Ray (I) (2004)

PG-13 | 152 min | Biography, Drama, Music

73 Metascore

The story of the life and career of the legendary rhythm and blues musician Ray Charles, from his humble beginnings in the South, where he went blind at age seven, to his meteoric rise to stardom during the 1950s and 1960s.

Director: Taylor Hackford | Stars: Jamie Foxx, Regina King, Kerry Washington, Clifton Powell

Votes: 157,436 | Gross: $75.33M

16. Schindler's List (1993)

R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History

95 Metascore

In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.

Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall

Votes: 1,451,478 | Gross: $96.90M

17. The Queen (2006)

PG-13 | 103 min | Biography, Drama

90 Metascore

After the death of Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II struggles with her reaction to a sequence of events nobody could have predicted.

Director: Stephen Frears | Stars: Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Alex Jennings

Votes: 116,006 | Gross: $56.44M

18. Shine (1996)

PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Music

87 Metascore

Pianist David Helfgott, driven by his father and teachers, has a breakdown. Years later he returns to the piano, to popular if not critical acclaim.

Director: Scott Hicks | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd

Votes: 56,721 | Gross: $35.81M

19. Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006)

R | 122 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

50 Metascore

Turning her back on her wealthy, established family, Diane Arbus falls in love with Lionel Sweeney, an enigmatic mentor who introduces Arbus to the marginalized people who help her become one of the most revered photographers of the twentieth century.

Director: Steven Shainberg | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Robert Downey Jr., Ty Burrell, Harris Yulin

Votes: 16,364 | Gross: $0.22M

20. Where the Buffalo Roam (1980)

R | 99 min | Biography, Comedy

Semi-biographical film based on the experiences of gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson.

Director: Art Linson | Stars: Peter Boyle, Bill Murray, Bruno Kirby, Rene Auberjonois

Votes: 12,680 | Gross: $6.66M

21. Al Capone (1959)

Approved | 104 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

A chronicle of the rise and fall of Chicago crime boss Al Capone during the Prohibition era.

Director: Richard Wilson | Stars: Rod Steiger, Martin Balsam, Fay Spain, James Gregory

Votes: 1,909

22. Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

Not Rated | 120 min | Biography, Crime, Drama

76 Metascore

A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.

Director: Marc Rothemund | Stars: Julia Jentsch, Fabian Hinrichs, Alexander Held, Johanna Gastdorf

Votes: 28,677 | Gross: $0.68M

23. Gods and Monsters (1998)

R | 105 min | Biography, Drama

74 Metascore

The last days of Frankenstein (1931) director James Whale are explored.

Director: Bill Condon | Stars: Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser, Lynn Redgrave, Lolita Davidovich

Votes: 32,773 | Gross: $6.39M

24. The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996)

R | 130 min | Biography, Drama

79 Metascore

The story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.

Director: Milos Forman | Stars: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Brett Harrelson

Votes: 100,755 | Gross: $20.19M

25. This Boy's Life (1993)

R | 115 min | Biography, Drama

60 Metascore

The story about the relationship between a rebellious 1950s teenager and his abusive stepfather, based on the memoirs of writer and literature Professor Tobias Wolff.

Director: Michael Caton-Jones | Stars: Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Barkin, Jonah Blechman

Votes: 58,375 | Gross: $4.10M

26. Malcolm X (1992)

PG-13 | 202 min | Biography, Drama, History

73 Metascore

Biographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.

Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee

Votes: 102,073 | Gross: $48.17M

27. The Social Network (2010)

PG-13 | 120 min | Biography, Drama

95 Metascore

As Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, he is sued by the twins who claimed he stole their idea and by the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.

Director: David Fincher | Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Rooney Mara

Votes: 759,081 | Gross: $96.96M

28. Gia (1998 TV Movie)

R | 120 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

The story of the life of Gia Carangi, a top fashion model from the late 1970s, from her meteoric rise to the forefront of the modeling industry, to her untimely death.

Director: Michael Cristofer | Stars: Angelina Jolie, Faye Dunaway, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mercedes Ruehl

Votes: 50,296

29. Erin Brockovich (2000)

R | 131 min | Biography, Drama

73 Metascore

An 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.

Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, David Brisbin, Dawn Didawick

Votes: 221,482 | Gross: $125.60M

30. Total Eclipse (1995)

R | 111 min | Biography, Drama, Romance

42 Metascore

Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.

Director: Agnieszka Holland | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, David Thewlis, Romane Bohringer, Dominique Blanc

Votes: 16,786 | Gross: $0.34M

31. The Elephant Man (1980)

PG | 124 min | Biography, Drama

78 Metascore

A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.

Director: David Lynch | Stars: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud

Votes: 258,559



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