Movies based on true stories usually come out decades after the fact, but there are other cases when a movie is ripped from the headlines and released while the story is still fresh in the memory. Some of the best movies based on true stories visualize something that audiences couldn’t imagine from bygone historical eras, but there’s an interesting subgenre of movies that feel much more like contemporary journalism.
These movies have to find interesting angles, because there’s a chance that audiences will already know the stories that they’re trying to tell in a lot of detail. They can either provide a more in-depth examination of a story, or lift the lid on a new perspective that changes the way people see things.
10
Moneyball (2011)
Released 9 Years After The Oakland Athletics’ 2002 Season
There are plenty of sports movies based on true stories which came out just a few years after the real events, like The Blind Side, Cool Runnings and Gran Turismo. This is because sports movies can tell the hidden story behind the action that everyone sees on the field, and Moneyball is no different.
It’s a behind-the-scenes look at a story that baseball fans were already familiar with in 2011.
Brad Pitt delivers one of his greatest performances in Moneyball. He plays Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, using a revolutionary data-based approach to revolutionize baseball scouting in the 2002 season. Moneyball mostly takes place in dimly lit back offices and boardrooms, with only a few scenes showing the Athletics in action. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at a story that baseball fans were already familiar with in 2011.
9
The Social Network (2010)
Released 6 Years After The Creation Of Facebook
The Social Network begins in 2003, as Mark Zuckerberg responds to being dumped by making a website which allows Harvard students to rank women on campus based on their appearance. This sets up a cynical story of the founding of Facebook, which quickly explodes into a website with the potential to change society.
The Social Network ends in 2008 or 2009, as Zuckerberg faces pressure to settle his lawsuits from the Winklevoss twins and Eduardo Saverin out of court. Since Zuckerberg has become a more political figure and Facebook has endured several more high-profile controversies, The Social Network now seems prophetic.
8
The Bling Ring (2013)
Released 4 Years After The Hollywood Hills Burglaries
The Bling Ring is a rare example of a heist movie based on a true story. More often than not, the genre explores Robin Hood fantasies of getting away with one big crime, but The Bling Ring shows a much more ordinary kind of crime, as a group of teenagers rob celebrity homes in Los Angeles.
Sofia Coppola’s approach to the story of the Hollywood Hills Burglar Bunch draws parallels between the perpetrators and the victims. The thieves are merely aspiring to the kind of fame that Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Rachel Bilson have. It’s more about appearances than money, as the thieves brag about their crimes at parties to score points.
7
Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Released 3 Years After John Wojtowicz’s Bank Robbery
Dog Day Afternoon is another heist movie that takes inspiration from real life. Like The Bling Ring, it plays with the truth in some interesting ways, indulging in the fun-loving tropes of crime capers for a while until the harsh thud of reality suddenly changes the story into a life-or-death thriller.
Dog Day Afternoon is one of the best heist movies ever made, partly because it underlines what made John Wojtowicz’s ill-fated Brooklyn bank robbery so fascinating, like the media circus just outside the doors and the surprising motivations of the thieves. Al Pacino’s outstanding performance is another huge bonus.
6
Captain Phillips (2013)
Released 4 Years After The Maersk Alabama Hijacking
Paul Greengrᴀss has directed three entries in the Jason Bourne franchise, and he brings the same sense of kinetic excitement to Captain Phillips, which tells a real-life story that seems tailor-made to be a Hollywood thriller. Tom Hanks stars as a captain whose ship is hijacked by Somali pirates.
Captain Phillips was filmed on board a container ship identical to the Maersk Alabama, so that the production could stay as close to the facts as possible. The script was based on Richard Phillips’ book about his experience, which was published in 2010.
5
The Big Short (2015)
Released 7 Years After The 2008 Financial Crisis
Adam McKay’s career as a director can be split into two halves. The Big Short was his first venture into more serious and politically-charged territory after his comedies with Will Ferrell, predating Vice and Don’t Look Up. That doesn’t mean that The Big Short is devoid of humor, but the political satire takes aim at real events.
The Big Short takes Michael Lewis’ book of the same name and weaves together several of its threads focusing on different financial insтιтutions. The script often breaks the fourth wall to get audiences up to speed on certain concepts like subprime mortgages and synthetic CDOs, but it does so without dropping the pace.
4
All the President’s Men (1976)
Released 4 Years After The Watergate Scandal Began
The Watergate Scandal was still fresh in the American public’s memory by the time All the President’s Men came out, and this contributed to the movie being a big commercial and critical hit. Rather than focusing on the Nixon administration or the people who broke into the Watergate H๏τel, All the President’s Men chooses the reporters who broke the story as protagonists.
By focusing on Woodward and Bernstein, All the President’s Men finds an angle that aligns with the public’s interest in the case. The two reporters are presented as heroes fighting to expose the truth against a crooked political conspiracy that remains hidden in the shadows.
3
H๏τel Rwanda (2004)
Released 10 Years After The Rwandan Genocide
H๏τel Rwanda tells the story of the Rwandan genocide from the perspective of Paul Rusesabagina, a H๏τel manager who secretly sheltered hundreds of Tutsi refugees from Hutu forces trying to wipe them out. In some ways, there are echoes of Schindler’s List in H๏τel Rwanda.
H๏τel Rwanda represents Don Cheadle’s finest hour, and he’s given an extremely powerful script to work with. H๏τel Rwanda doesn’t pull any punches in its visualization of the shocking scale of the genocide, nor does it tread lightly around the fact that the international community failed to provide the necessary help.
2
The Insider (1999)
Released 3 Years After Jeffrey Wigand’s Tobacco Industry Whistleblowing
The Insider was a box office disappointment, probably because the story of a tobacco industry whistleblower doesn’t sound inherently cinematic enough to hook audiences. However, this isn’t a fair reflection of the movie’s quality, and it still enjoys a strong critical reputation.
With a gripping script and two great performances from Al Pacino and Russell Crowe, The Insider has all the necessary elements of a tense political thriller. Michael Mann, who’s also famous for pulse-raising crime thrillers like Heat and Collateral, ensures that the story of Jeffrey Wigand feels just as nerve-wracking to the audience as it must have done to him.
1
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Released 1 Year After Seal Team Six’s Operation To Kill Osama Bin Laden
Even compared to other movies on this list, Zero Dark Thirty had a rapid turnaround time, adapting one of the biggest news stories of 2011 into a movie released before the end of 2012. The true story behind Zero Dark Thirty wouldn’t have been a mystery to anyone at the time, but the movie provides the inside scoop on the CIA’s long manhunt for Osama bin Laden.
Zero Dark Thirty had a rapid turnaround time, adapting one of the biggest news stories of 2011 into a movie released before the end of 2012.
Since Zero Dark Thirty was released so soon after bin Laden’s death, it should be seen as a work of political storytelling just as much as it is a historical drama. At the time, some reviews dissected it as a piece of film journalism, with a lot of focus on its adherence to the facts and its political motivations.
