Best 10 Movies based on True Stories

Dec 1, 2008 Author: Hammad | Filed under: Movies

1. 21

21 is a 2008 drama film from Columbia Pictures. The film is inspired by the true story of the MIT Blackjack Team. The film draws from Bringing Down the House, the best-selling book by Ben Mezrich. The MIT Blackjack Team used their minds to beat Las Vegas and other casinos around the world. By implementing “simple” card counting techniques, the team walked away with millions.

Actors and Real People

Jim Sturgess - Jeff Ma

Kate Bosworth - Jane Willis

Jacob Pitts - Mike Aponte

Liza Lapira - Laurie Tsao

Kevin Spacey - John Chang

2. Walk the Line

Walk the Line is a 2005 American biographical drama film, directed by James Mangold and based on the life of country singer-songwriter Johnny Cash. The film focuses on Cash’s younger life, his romance with June Carter, and his ascent to the country music scene, with material taken from his autobiographies.

Actors and Real People

Joaquin Phoenix - Johnny Cash

Reese Witherspoon - June Carter Cash

Ginnifer Goodwin - Vivian Liberto

3. American Gangster

American Gangster is an Academy Award & Golden Globe nominated 2007 crime film written by Steven Zaillian and directed by Ridley Scott. The movie stars Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. Washington portrays Frank Lucas, a real-life kingpin from Harlem who smuggled heroin into the US on American service planes returning from the Vietnam War. Crowe portrays Richie Roberts, a detective attempting to bring down Lucas’ drug empire

Actors and Real People

Denzel Washington - Frank Lucas

Russell Crowe - Richie Roberts

Lymari Nadal - Julie Lucas

Cuba Gooding Jr - Nicky Barnes

4. The Pursuit of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness is a 2006 American biographical film directed by Gabriele Muccino about the on and off-homeless salesman-turned-stockbroker Chris Gardner. The title is intentionally misspelled as a scene in the film shows a misspelling also.

Actors and Real People

Will Smith - Chris Gardner

Jaden Smith - Christopher Gardner Jr.

5. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 horror/thriller film directed by Scott Derrickson. The film is based on the true story of Anneliese Michel, a young Catholic woman from Germany who died in 1976 after unsuccessful attempts to cure her from the alleged state of demonic possession with the use of psychotropic drugs.

Actors and Real People

Jennifer Carpenter - Anneliese Michel

6. Boys Don’t Cry

Boys Don’t Cry is a 1999 independent drama film based on the real-life story of Brandon Teena, a transsexual who was raped and murdered on December 31, 1993 by his male friends after they found out he had female genitalia.

Actors and Real People

Hilary Swank - Brandon Teena

Chloe Sevigny - Lana Tisdel

7. Into The Wild

Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a bestselling non-fiction book about the adventures of Christopher McCandless. It is an expansion of Krakauer’s 9,000-word article, “Death of an Innocent”, which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside. he book has been adapted into a 2007 movie of the same name directed by Sean Penn with Emile Hirsch starring as McCandless.

Actors and Real People

Emile Hirsch - Christopher McCandless

8. Blow

Blow is a drama film about the American cocaine smuggler George Jung. David McKenna and Nick Cassavetes adapted Bruce Porter’s 1993 book Blow: How a Small Town Boy Made $100 Million with the Medellin Cocaine Cartel and Lost It All for the screenplay. It is based on the real life stories of George Jung, Pablo Escobar, Carlos Lehder, and the Medellín Cartel.

Actors and Real People

Johnny Depp - George Jung

9. Catch me if you can

Catch Me if You Can tells the story of Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars’ worth of checks as a Pan American World Airways pilot, Georgia doctor and Louisiana prosecutor.

Actors and Real People

Leonardo DiCaprio - Frank William Abagnale

10. Charlie Wilson’s War

Charlie Wilson’s War is a 2007 biographical drama film based on the true story of Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who conspired with “bare knuckle attitude” CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch an operation that helped the Afghan mujahideen resist and ultimately defeat the Soviet Union’s military occupation of the nation.

Actors and Real People

Tom Hanks - Charlie Wilson

Julia Roberts - Joanne Herring

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Gust Avrakotos

These movies are not listed prioritywise. I personally loved “Into the wild” and “The Pursuit of Happyness”. What about you?

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One Response for "Best 10 Movies based on True Stories"

Lady Luck December 2nd, 2008 at 6:38 pm 1

Re: “21″, your actors and real people posting is inaccurate. The only direct connection from the team to the movie is Jeff Ma, whose character is completely altered but is played by Jim Sturgess. The only other character in the movie who represents a real figure is the role of the founder/leader of the team played by Kevin Spacey. In real life, Bill Kaplan founded and ran the team through the 80’s and 90’s but his personality and management style in no way resembled Spacey’s Hollywoodized version. JP Massar was brought in by Kaplan to manage the team in part of the 80’s and 90’s and Ben Mezrich has claimed that the Spacey character was partially inspired by stories Ben had heard about Kaplan and Massar.

Jane Willis was the girlfriend of one of the team players and barely played for us. Mike Aponte played for years but did not resemble the character played by Jacob Pitts. Laurie Tsao also played on the team but bears no connection to the movie. John Chang was also a long-standing player on the team, who was brought in by Kaplan and Massar to co-manage the team in the 90’s.