Biopic Dramas

Gus Van Sant delivers an inspiring biopic that simply must not be missed.

Jan 27, 2010 - Colette Haydon John

Writer Charles Darwin creates a stir with his Origin of Species masterwork as Paul Bettany plays the famed scientist who grapples with religious wife Jennifer Connelly.

Jan 24, 2010 - Robert Waldman

Jon Amiel's film about the writer of On the Origin of Species deals less with the father of modern biology and more with the father of a lost little girl.

Jan 21, 2010 - Deirdre Swain

Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer shine in this film about the final chapter in the life of Leo Tolstoy.

Jan 14, 2010 - Francine Brokaw

History comes alive in Jean-Mark Valleen's exquisite introduction of Emily Blunt as a head-strong queen to be in this smartly shot tale of a devious royal family.

Dec 22, 2009 - Robert Waldman

The ins and outs of mounting a theatrical production are brilliantly revealed as director Richard Linkater presents a brilliant Christian McKay as Orson, warts and all.

Dec 11, 2009 - Robert Waldman

Clint Eastwood reunites with Morgan Freeman in this heartfelt tale of how a new leader was able to bridge the racial divide in troubled South Africa through a rugby team.

Dec 11, 2009 - Robert Waldman

From HBO Home Entertainment comes the story of Winston Churchill - the man behind the image.

Dec 11, 2009 - Francine Brokaw

Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (released 8 January); at last, a fitting filmic tribute to one of England's most influential punk and new wave singer-songwriters.

Dec 7, 2009 - Glyn Brown

It's blandly calculated, safe, invulnerable and cute. Michael Oher winds up a supporting player in his own biopic, although Sandra Bullock is a surprisingly strong lead.

Dec 3, 2009 - Nick Rogers

Charles Darwin is famed for penning a definitive work about the evolution of life, but his own life is under the microscope in the British biopic, Creation.

Nov 23, 2009 - M.L. Costa

Jane Austen's private life is revealed in this BBC feature-length dramatisation when her niece Fanny sought advice on love and marriage.

Nov 8, 2009 - Carolyn M Cash

Get up close and personal with the player turned coach of famed British Leeds soccer champ whose luck comes up against some very determined player resisters.

Nov 2, 2009 - Robert Waldman

Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. do their best to keep up with director Joe Wright's baton, which swings wildly all over a movie whose score needs additional notations.

Oct 26, 2009 - Nick Rogers

Bugsy, 1991, is a gangster film starring Warren Beatty and Annette Benning as mobster Ben Siegel and molll Virginia Hill and the beginning of Las Vegas as a casino town.

Oct 25, 2009 - Christine Nyholm

The Informant is two films at once: a clever comedic yarn about a corporate whistle-blower while under the surface is a sad and affecting portrait of a man afflicted

Sep 28, 2009 - Mike Lippert

Julia Child created a cook book, and almost 50 years later, Julie Powell created a blog about it.

Sep 15, 2009 - M.L. Costa

Critical darling Ang Lee returns to vintage America with the mellow tale of Elliot Tiber and his seemingly destined involvement in the original 1969 Woodstock Festival.

Aug 28, 2009 - Sam Hatch

Harvey Pekar has a dead-end job, questionable hygiene, a crummy attitude, and an explosive temper. It's safe to say that he's no hero. Right? This movie begs to differ.

Aug 13, 2009 - Liane Tsui

Michael Mann's recent Public Enemies tells essentially the same story as John Milius's 1973 movie Dillinger, but there are differences in approach between them.

Jul 28, 2009 - Kevin Sturton

The HBO moviGrey Gardens is the story of an eccentric mother and daugher duo, "Big Edie" and "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.

Jul 19, 2009 - Christine Nyholm

Public Enemies offers a multitude of exciting sequences and a charismatic lead actor in Johnny Depp, but the film is too long and too muddled to be truly great.

Jul 6, 2009 - Amanda Jacobs

An Austrian mountain climber develops a relationship with the Dalai Lama after spending seven years wandering through World War 2 era China.

Jul 2, 2009 - Sandra Causey

1933, John Dillinger's (Johnny Depp) bank robbing spree turns him into a celebrity. Young FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) is ordered to hunt down Dillinger.

Jul 1, 2009 - Kevin Sturton

While not the rampaging muckraker he could be, Oliver Stone puts forth quiet rage amid a towering tale of a Texan family whose trappings worked us all over

Jun 16, 2009 - Nick Rogers