Tag: Biographical Film

REVIEW: ‘Nyad’ sinks more than it swims

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin are known for their documentaries chronicling individuals who do incredible physical feats. Maybe they should have just done a documentary with this subject, too.

The duo’s latest film is a narrative feature centered on distance swimmer Diana Nyad. In the late 70s, Nyad (Annette Bening) participated in several open water attempts, swimming around the island of Manhattan and from the Bahamas to Florida.

What she wasn’t able to do at that time, though, was conquer a swim from Cuba to Florida. The film picks up with Nyad in the early 2010s, now in her 60s, with a fiery desire to try the swim again. The movie chronicles her attempts with help from her coach and friend Bonnie (Jodie Foster).

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REVIEW: ‘Iron Claw’ is mostly effective in showing family drama and trauma

Wrestling may be theatrical and scripted, but the physical and mental toll is very real, as this film shows.

“The Iron Claw” tells the story of the Von Erich family, which has produced multiple generations of professional wrestlers. The origins of wrestling in the family go back to its patriarch, Fritz (Holt McCallany), who was a professional in the 50s and 60s. In addition to his career, Fritz became the father to several sons.

Once his time in the ring was done, he decided to push wrestling on his kids, Kevin (Zac Efron), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), David (Harris Dickinson) and Mike (Stanley Simons). Fritz doesn’t just stop at tough physical training, though, as he also uses manipulation and pushes his sons too far, leading to tragic consequences.

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REVIEW: While not a masterpiece, ‘Maestro’ remains a strong biopic

Bradley Cooper has returned to the directing chair and once again put together a film revolving around a musician.

Unlike “A Star is Born,” though, his latest picture is about a real person. “Maestro” is a biographical film about Leonard Bernstein, who Cooper also portrays. Bernstein had an illustrious career as a composer and conductor in various capacities, including film and orchestras.

While the movie covers his professional background, though, the movie is much more centered on his relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein (Carey Mulligan). The film shows how they became a couple and how their marriage was strained by Leonard’s work and his affairs.

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REVIEW: ‘Napoleon’ is a considerable, but incomplete portrait of French ruler

Ambition is something leaders of nations should have. However, when that ambition is only self-serving, it can end in disaster, as Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” shows.

The film picks up right in the midst of the French Revolution, with Napoleon Bonaparte (Joaquin Phoenix), then an army officer, in attendance for the beheading of Queen Marie Antoinette. From there, the film follows how he built popularity with military accomplishments and used political maneuvers to gain power in France.

The film then explores his military campaigns as Emperor of France while also dramatizing his relationship with his wife Josephine (Vanessa Kirby).

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REVIEW: Coppola’s ‘Priscilla’ is a poignant, eloquently made film

Similar movies have come out close to each other before, à la “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact.” Usually they aren’t two award contending dramas, though. But here we are with “Elvis” in 2022 and “Priscilla” in 2023.

In the titular role is Cailee Spaeny, who portrays Priscilla from her teenage years living in Germany to when she ended her marriage to Elvis Presley (Jacob Elordi). The movie dramatizes how the two met, Priscilla moving to the Graceland mansion, the extended courtship and eventual deterioration of the relationship.

In addition to exploring the relationship, director and writer Sofia Coppola follows Priscilla’s personal journey of having to go through high school and enter adulthood in such a situation.

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REVIEW: Biopic ‘Being the Ricardos’ drops the Ball

It’s easy to love “I Love Lucy.” But that’s not the case with “Being the Ricardos.”

The film stars Nicole Kidman, who portrays Lucille Ball, the actress well known for the series “I Love Lucy.” The movie picks up during a week of filming the “I Love Lucy” show, where the production has been impacted by some recent news.

Rumors are swirling around Hollywood about Ball possibly being associated with communism during the height of the Red Scare. The film follows how this affects production, and Ball’s marriage to her husband, Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem).

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REVIEW: ‘Tick, Tick… Boom’ is an enjoyable, touching tribute

The legacy of late composer Jonathan Larson is honored in this new Netflix feature, based on his own autobiographical musical, “Tick, Tick… Boom.”

Andrew Garfield stars as Larson in the movie, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film has a framing device of Larson of performing “Tick, Tick… Boom” as a one man show, where he tells the story of himself in 1990, struggling to get a new production off the ground.

That production is “Superbia,” and the story Larson tells includes details about how he worked at a small diner, his strained relationships because of his focus on his work and how he grieved for friends he lost to the AIDS epidemic.

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