If this movie had not been based on a true story, I would have given it a meager score (less than 50%). Even though it was based on a true story, it felt very cheesy and overly sentimental, with way too much overacting. Its design evoked emotion and tugged at our heartstrings, making us believe that one person can make a difference simply by caring. If this story were fiction, it would be utterly unrealistic. And just because it is based on a true story doesn’t mean the real-life events played out exactly as shown in the movie. I’ve learned that “based on a true story” differs from “the following story is entirely true.” My most life-altering experience of this is Remember the Titans. When I discovered how many changes were made to make this story a more moving movie experience, I became very skeptical of Hollywood. Keep in mind that, even though Remember the Titans came out in 2000, I did not realize how glamorized Hollywood made it until a few years ago, when I was surfing the Internet and decided to look into the history of Virginia high school football. When I saw that the TC Williams Titans did not beat Andrew Lewis High School in the state championship game 10-7, but rather defeated them 27-0, I began to wonder what else Disney embellished in the telling of this story. It turned out that they embellished a ton.
Category Archives: Based on a True Story
Big Eyes (2014)
Every once in a while, I’ll see a preview for the first time that I have absolutely no interest in. The movie looks cheesy, bland, weird, and so on. But then the film earns a solid rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and I’ll read what a couple of critics who liked the movie have said about it. And then I’ll watch the same trailer again and try to watch it with a different set of eyes. And between my first and second viewing, something convinced me to give the movie a chance. With Tim Burton’s (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) Big Eyes, my chief complaint was that the film would be a little too weird for me. However, after a couple of weeks, I convinced myself I would see that movie. I hoped to catch this one in the theater (generally speaking, I am far less distracted in a theater than at home, but then again, I’m Captain Obvious with this statement). However, Big Eyes grabbed my attention from the get-go and held it through the 1-hour 45-minute viewing.
American Sniper (2014)
In a year that hasn’t had that many must-see movies, American Sniper has proved that there is at least one reason to head out to the theaters. 2014 has been the most disappointing year overall for movies since 2008. Yet despite its horrendous start and some incredibly overrated movies (Birdman, Unbroken, Mr. Turner, Snowpiercer, Godzilla, even Boyhood to an extent), some films did manage to live up to their expectations (Foxcatcher, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game). In addition, some movies exceeded my expectations (The Drop, Nightcrawler, Kill the Messenger, and the surprise feel-good movie of the year, Chef). But the film that had the most pressure to perform was American Sniper, the final movie released of the year. And while the movie did not exceed my expectations, it certainly met them in every single way. Before I review the film, I want to refer to a couple of observations.
Selma (2014)
Selma has a movie that will leave many audience members clapping as the film concludes. It’s a feel-good movie and an important one for all generations to see. Older generations may have forgotten some of the critical details over the years. Younger generations may be exposed to this for the first time, or at least for the first time outside of a textbook or one of those dry 45-minute, made-for-education documentaries. I am happy this movie received a PG-13 rating rather than an R rating. It is an essential movie for everyone to see. I will not ever cheer or hoot and holler at the end of a movie. That isn’t my style. I was talking with my mom the other day, and she said people stood and clapped at the end of Unbroken. I found Unbroken to be one of the most overrated, bland movies. Selma certainly isn’t that, and I was happy there were some cheers at the end of this movie.
Unbroken (2014)
In my opinion, the two best series of trailers for 2014 have been Unbroken and American Sniper. These were two of, if not the, most anticipated movies of the year. I apologize to Foxcatcher, which had a fantastic trailer and was a movie I was looking forward to. It not only met but exceeded expectations. These two Christmas Day movies have had me buzzing for months. Unfortunately, as the reviews began pouring in, I realized these movies would probably fall short of expectations. American Sniper is currently in the 70% range on Rotten Tomatoes, while Unbroken was way down at around 50%. I have not yet seen American Sniper, but based on the few reviews I have read, I believe I know where it will fall short. If outsiders had screened this movie before its completion, they could have influenced the film’s sequencing to better tell Chris Kyle’s story after his tours of duty. Again, this is my prediction before watching the movie, but I’m going to say it was a good movie that could have been in my top ten of all time. Unfortunately, I did not feel the same way about Unbroken. The trailer didn’t live up to the movie, and I don’t think any editing could have changed that. I found this movie to be very disappointing.