The Best Movies Based on Real Events or People

This enduring crime dramedy adapted a Life magazine article about a real-life bank robbery from 1972. Al Pacino and John Cazale play two hapless criminals, whose intended bank heist becomes a comedy of errors. The film’s LGBTQ+ characters and media circus themes were both arguably ahead of their time.

From painter and filmmaker Julian Schnabel came this French biopic about magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric). Due to a stroke that left him with a rare condition called locked-in syndrome, the once-active playboy is physically paralyzed with the exception of a single eye. The movie culls from Bauby’s own memoir, which he wrote by spelling out words with blinks of his eye, and takes place primarily from his point of view.

Surrealist auteur David Lynch took moviegoers by surprise when he directed this G-rated road trip drama for Walt Disney Studios. It tells the true story of Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), an elderly WWII veteran who rode a lawnmower 240 miles to see his ailing brother.

This gripping drama unfolds during the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and centers on hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (played by Don Cheadle). As the violence escalates, Rusesabagina risks his life by providing shelter to over a thousand Tutsi refugees. (In 2020, the real-life Rusesabagina was kidnapped by the Rwandan government and accused of terrorism because of his criticism of the regime. The one-time hero is now serving a 25-year prison sentence.)

Witness the incredible story of Frank Abagnale Jr. (Leonardo DiCaprio), who cons his way into a number of high-profile jobs throughout the 1960s. One of the movie’s main sources is the real-life Abagnale Jr.’s own memoir – which was itself largely fabricated according to recent reports. And so the con continues.