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These unsung biographical gems deserve another look! Join us as we count down our picks for the most underappreciated biopics that brought extraordinary lives to the screen. Our list celebrates films that brilliantly captured real-life figures but somehow slipped under the radar of mainstream recognition. Which of these overlooked masterpieces have you seen?
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the biographical films
00:15that have yet to find the audience they truly deserve.
00:17Number 10. Eddie the Eagle
00:31In the grand scheme of sports history, Michael Eddie Edwards is merely a footnote,
00:36but this retelling of the ski jumper showcase at the 1988 Winter Olympics
00:40does him justice through its fittingly small-scale portrait.
00:47Starring Taron Edgerton and Hugh Jackman,
00:54Eddie the Eagle never deigns to treat Eddie as a game-changer,
00:57and instead heralds him as the feel-good underdog he was.
01:11At its core, it's an unabashedly sweet film about the value of trying your best,
01:15and Edgerton's bubbly performance is enough to make anyone cheer for someone who comes in last.
01:32It's the kind of family-friendly sports flick that cares less about winning or losing
01:36than it does celebrating the best ways to play the game.
01:39Number 9. Love and Mercy
01:41Love and Mercy was not the first film to treat talent as both a gift and a curse,
01:46but it may be one of the most intentional through its use of two different times
01:50and two different actors to capture the essence of Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson.
01:55It's hip, man! It's fun! It's now!
01:57That's where things are happening!
01:59Brian, it's not fun.
01:59Now!
02:00No, no, no, no, this is not fun.
02:02Paul Dano plays the younger Wilson during the production of Pet Sounds,
02:05while John Cusack keeps pace as an older Wilson stuck under the thumb of his abusive therapist.
02:10Brian's medications are very carefully administered, if you must know.
02:17No, what? No, goddammit, Jesus Christ!
02:20Seriously? Seriously?
02:22You have got to learn to wait your goddamn turn!
02:25At once, Love and Mercy shows us an imaginative artist at the top of his game
02:30and a misunderstood soul desperately searching for a way to control his thoughts.
02:34What's most impressive is how it manages these transitions quickly
02:38without ever coming across as off-putting or insensitive.
02:42You didn't know?
02:51You hungry? You want something to eat?
02:53Number 8. Control
02:55A darker take on the tragedies that inspire musical genius,
02:59Control captures the all-too-brief life of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis.
03:03Shot in color and then printed in crisp black and white,
03:07the movie's imagery deliberately taps into the musician's troubled state of mind
03:10as his success coincides with numerous personal struggles.
03:14I don't deserve this.
03:16I don't deserve this.
03:20The same can be said of Sam Riley's mesmerizing performance as Curtis,
03:24as he channels the singer's hypnotic voice and manic stage presence
03:28while reminding us of the thoughts that plague him.
03:30It's a haunting study of someone unable to reconcile their emerging brilliance
03:45and the demons that keep them from reaching their full potential.
03:49And while control is by no means easy viewing,
03:51that's precisely what makes it true to Curtis' legacy.
03:53What once was innocence, turned on its side.
04:00A cloud hangs over me, marks every move.
04:07Deep in the memory of what once was love.
04:10Number 7. Tucker, the man in his dream.
04:13Much like its subject, this energetic film from director Francis Ford Coppola
04:17has gotten lost in the shuffle of history.
04:20And that's genuinely a shame,
04:21as Tucker, the man in his dream,
04:23radiates a warm, nostalgic tone
04:26that's easy to get lost in.
04:28We win, we win, we win, we win!
04:39Not to mention,
04:41Jeff Bridges is at his most charming and spirited
04:43as automotive entrepreneur Preston Tucker,
04:46who strives to build the car of tomorrow
04:48and compete with the Midwest's biggest manufacturers.
04:51Did he say anything?
04:52What'd he say?
04:55He said stay out of the car business
04:57or we'll cut your nuggies off.
05:00He's so convincing and likable in the role
05:02that we wish the Tucker 48 was good enough to succeed.
05:05But even though he's destined to come up short,
05:08the movie embodies all of the brightest virtues
05:10of an American dream
05:11that continues to inspire others
05:13to follow in Tucker's footsteps.
05:14Number 6. First Man
05:23Considering it portrays a pivotal moment in history,
05:26the most surprising strength of First Man
05:28is how quiet and intimate it is.
05:31Put in a little to the left.
05:321680 feet.
05:33While it possesses the out-of-this-world suspense
05:43of its forebears,
05:44like Apollo 13 and The Right Stuff,
05:46its protagonist's heroism is of a different sort.
05:49Rather than dress up
05:50Neil Armstrong's accomplishments
05:51for sentimental or patriotic purposes,
05:54Ryan Gosling commits to portraying
05:56the astronaut's quiet, reserved composure.
05:58Contact line.
06:02Shut down.
06:09First Man doesn't shy away from reveling
06:11in the significance of the moon landing,
06:13but Armstrong's victory pertains
06:15less to mankind's giant leap
06:16and more to the steps he's taken
06:18to come to terms with his past.
06:20It may sound like unconventional storytelling,
06:32but the lack of traditional heroism
06:34is how the movie retains its authenticity.
06:36Number 5.
06:38American Splendor
06:39Famous authors and their iconic works
06:41have naturally lent themselves
06:42to biopics about the writing process.
06:45The same can't necessarily be said
06:46for comic writers,
06:47but American Splendor
06:48gives one such personality his due.
07:06Following Harvey Bacar
07:08as he develops the eponymous comic series
07:10about his life in Cleveland,
07:12the movie boldly blurs the line
07:13between fiction, animation, and documentary.
07:16Its diversions from biopic norms
07:18is such that the real-life Bacar
07:20frequently drops in to narrate
07:22and comment on the movie itself.
07:24Yeah, I listen.
07:25Supermarket.
07:26Yeah, I listen.
07:29I fall asleep on people too,
07:31but I listen some.
07:32Even so,
07:33American Splendor
07:34never overwhelms itself
07:35with these storytelling flourishes.
07:37It's a simple story told in a way
07:39that's far from simplistic.
07:40But Paul Giamatti
07:41keeps everything grounded
07:42as a man searching for meaning
07:44in an ordinary life.
07:45If I die
07:47while that character keep going,
07:50will he just fade away?
07:57Harvey.
07:58Harvey!
07:59Number 4.
08:00The Assassination of Jesse James
08:02by the Coward Robert Ford.
08:04With a title like that,
08:05you may think you know
08:06what you're getting,
08:07but this epic western
08:08takes that perception
08:09and flips it on his head.
08:11Such extravagance.
08:14Don't that nickel just shine, though?
08:16There's more than I could hope for.
08:18Well, I figure that
08:19granddaddy cult of yours
08:20may blow into fragments
08:21next time you try
08:22to squeeze the trigger.
08:24Well, you might have something there.
08:26Clocking in at nearly three hours,
08:28its slow pace
08:29and weighty themes
08:30may sound like a turn-off
08:31for those expecting
08:32a more traditional
08:32outlaw shoot-em-up.
08:34But don't misunderstand.
08:34This is an impeccably crafted
08:37slice of American history
08:38with gorgeous cinematography
08:40and mind-blowing performances
08:42from Brad Pitt
08:42and Casey Affleck.
08:44When I was only 20 years old then,
08:46I couldn't see
08:47how I would look to people.
08:52I was surprised
08:54when what happened.
08:56They didn't applaud.
08:59Both men blur the line
09:01between hero and villain,
09:02and their fraught relationship
09:04provides a fascinating look
09:05at America's obsession
09:06with fame
09:07and the toxicity it inspires.
09:09Not even the inevitability
09:10of its final act
09:11prevents Jesse James
09:13from adding new layers
09:14to an often repetitive genre.
09:25Number 3.
09:27Ed Wood
09:27Tim Burton and Johnny Depp
09:29have never found
09:30an eccentric outcast
09:31not worth humanizing.
09:32and this may be
09:33their most relevatory example.
09:35Right.
09:37And now I need
09:38the other 60,000.
09:40What other 60,000?
09:44The other 60,000
09:45you said you'd give to me.
09:47Ed Wood
09:47zeroes in
09:48on the infamously
09:49untalented director
09:50as he attempts
09:51to make a name
09:51for himself
09:52with his band
09:53of filmmaking misfits
09:54including Dracula star
09:55Bela Lugosi.
09:57Martin Landau
09:57won a well-deserved Oscar
09:59as the washed-up actor,
10:00but his performance
10:01is merely one aspect
10:02of the movie's
10:03loving portrayal
10:04of dreamers
10:05chasing the impossible.
10:06Encompassing Burton's
10:16underdog status
10:17to a T,
10:18it's a stirring tribute
10:19to the optimism
10:20required to keep trying,
10:21no matter how hard
10:22things get.
10:23They say that history
10:24is written by the victors,
10:25but Ed Wood
10:26triumphantly shows us
10:27that even losers
10:28have a story worth telling.
10:29It takes an unpredictable man
10:38to play an unpredictable man.
10:40That's what Jim Carrey
10:40understood by agreeing
10:42to play enigmatic comedian
10:43Andy Kaufman
10:44in Man on the Moon.
10:45It's hard not to view Kaufman
10:56as an influence on Carrie,
10:58making the actor's ability
10:59to channel the comic's spirit
11:01all the more startling.
11:02Infamously staying in character
11:03throughout filming,
11:04he gives the impression
11:05that things could fly off the rails.
11:07I could have sued you,
11:08I could have hired a lawyer
11:09and sued you
11:09for everything that you've got,
11:11but I didn't
11:11because I'm not that kind of guy.
11:15What kind of guy are you?
11:18And yet,
11:19the movie's power rests
11:20on Carrie's miraculous ability
11:22to keep things in check,
11:24drawing on his surprising
11:25dramatic chops
11:26to portray Kaufman's low points.
11:28And,
11:28given Kaufman's tendency
11:29to perplex an audience,
11:31Man on the Moon succeeds
11:32due to the questions
11:33it leaves us asking about him,
11:35rather than the answers
11:35it could have provided.
11:37What are the Philippines?
11:41The Philippines?
11:43What's in the Philippines?
11:47A miracle.
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12:04Number one,
12:06I'm not there.
12:07If Timothee Chalamet
12:08painted Bob Dylan
12:09as a complete unknown,
12:10then this ensemble drama
12:11goes even further.
12:13Who said I was sincere?
12:16Are you saying
12:17you're not sincere?
12:19No more than you.
12:22No more sincere than you are.
12:26See,
12:27you just want me to say
12:28what you want me to say.
12:29Six different actors
12:30come together
12:31in I'm Not There,
12:32an experimental rendering
12:33of the folk icon
12:35in which each performance
12:36explores a different aspect
12:37of his life
12:38and career.
12:39The likes of Christian Bale,
12:40Heath Ledger,
12:41and Cate Blanchett
12:42do their part
12:43to shatter any notion
12:44of conventionality.
12:45Why?
12:46Because I think guys
12:47and chicks are different?
12:49Come on,
12:49that's all I'm saying,
12:50and they are.
12:52You know,
12:52they each have access
12:53to different kinds of pain,
12:54which is pretty much
12:55why chicks can never be poets.
12:57It's the kind of film
12:58with enough intelligence
12:59to understand that Dylan
13:00is too complicated
13:01to explore in a straightforward manner,
13:03and thus makes no attempt
13:04to try.
13:05You need sleep.
13:07Sleep's for dreamers.
13:08I haven't slept in 13 days, man.
13:11It's a lot of medicine
13:13to keep up this pace.
13:14I'm Not There
13:15is better off
13:16and then some
13:17for its defiant,
13:18non-linear structure,
13:19reaching a far deeper understanding
13:21of its subject's artistry
13:22than almost any other biopic out there.
13:25Traditional music people
13:26would gather that mystery,
13:29you know,
13:30is a traditional fact.
13:31You know,
13:32seeing as they're all
13:32so full of mystery.
13:33Is there a biopic
13:34you think deserves more credit?
13:36Is there one you think
13:37could have done a better job?
13:38Be sure to let us know
13:39down in the comments.
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