I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how many good films I’ve seen in the last year that have been based on true stories. (And yes, I am quite aware that “true” and “Hollywood” are uneasy bedfellows at the best of times.) So I thought I’d list them here (along with where I saw them), though in no particular order.
#1 Untouchable (in the UK, “Intouchables” in French) – Google Play
IMDB link This is basically a buddy film between a French quadriplegic and a Senegalese crim, that manages not only to tell an essentially true (though slightly altered) story, but also be challenging and entertaining from start to finish. Definitely the most surprising film of my year.
As an aside, it seems that this is now being remade by Hollywood as “The Upside”. But given that the performances in the (subtitled) French original are all fantastic, I’m not entirely sure what this remake will achieve. Put that little cucumber away!
#2 Torvill and Dean – ITV
IMDB link This was a lot of fun, and built up to their Ravel’s-Bolero-powered 1984 Olympic ice skating triumph. I followed this by immediately watching the BBC2 documentary on the twinkle-toed pair (this may still be on BBC iPlayer), which showed (I think) that the film-makers had basically done a pretty good job of telling the story.
OK, it’s not “I, Tonya”, criticisms of schmaltz aren’t entirely unjustified, and it’s definitely a TV-movie rather than a movie-movie: but I actually enjoyed it from start to finish. So ner. I just wish I had a YouTube trailer I could embed here. :-/
#3 Mark Felt – The Man Who Brought Down The White House (Netflix)
IMDB link Liam Neeson (sans stunts) is cast oddly well as “The G-Man’s G-Man”, who was also the famous “Deep Throat” whistleblower who pulled the walls down around President Nixon.
Everyone (surely) knows a little bit about this slice of relatively recent history, but the film (based on the books by Felt himself) gives a much broader (and dare I even say timely?) feel of the kind of interference with the FBI that the White House tried to carry out. Ultimately that failed, but only because of a single man – Mark Felt.
#4 Bohemian Rhapsody – (Odeon Cinema)
IMDB link I must admit that I wasn’t looking forward to watching this: the movie trailer made it seem a lot like “Queen – The Panto”, and that it was going to whitewash Freddie Mercury out of the picture.
But I was delighted (and, yes, pleasantly surprised) that the film-makers didn’t hold back on any of Mercury’s complicated sides. Much like the Torvill and Dean film, this built up to Queen’s 1985 Live Aid set: again, even though everyone knows a little about this story, seeing the broader picture was a proper blast. And it was cool eating pizza in a slouchy chair at the Odeon in Kingston. 🙂
Nick: The mere mention of Revel’s-Bolero haunting strains, brings back memories; Not of Torvell and Dean’s spectacular gold medal ice performance version in ’84, but the movie theme in ‘Ten’ with Bo Derek and little Dudley Moore in ’79. Without wishing to boor people to tears, suffice to say that my fortunate lone escape route attendance at Hanwood drive-in just outside of the mafia town of Griffith in South West NSW 1980, where it was playing, and where I first heard the music, most assuredly saved my bacon.