On biopics

Mrs. bee is a fan of the genre, so I've seen a fairly large number of biopics over the last forty years or so. When they're well done, biographical films can be as interesting or entertaining as any drama, comedy or action movie. For example, I consider the HBO production John Adams to be one of the very best things I've ever seen on television (or any screen for that matter).

When the subject of a biopic is someone who was alive in the 20th century, things get tricky because most people have seen films or videos of the actual famous person, or possibly even television or movie appearances. At a minimum, they'll have seen numerous still photographs. To be really successful, the actor playing the leading role in a biopic needs to physically resemble the famous person, and be able to capture speech patterns and mannerisms. For example, the main reason the movie Ray worked for me was the performance by Jamie Foxx, who looked and sounded so much like Ray Charles, the movie was like a documentary. Philip Seymour Hoffman looks almost nothing like Truman Capote, but was able to simulate his distinctive voice and mannerisms to perfection; Meryl Streep was equally accomplished playing Julia Child. Ben Kingsley as Ghandi and Denzel Washington as Malcolm X are other examples of convincing performances that come to mind.

Less successful, in my opinion, were Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon, Kevin Spacey as Bobby Darin, and Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. Watching Jamie Foxx, I could almost imagine that I was seeing actual events from the life of Ray Charles; I never quite believed I was watching scenes from Johnny Cash's life, even though I liked Walk The Line overall.

Today, Mrs bee and I went to see Amelia, dramatizing roughly the last ten years or so in the life of Amelia Earhart. I don't recall seeing any films of Earhart in which her voice could be heard, but Hilary Swank so closely resembles her physically, she could be her clone. The costumes and set designs capture the period (1928-1937), and the photography and special effects are excellent. I was never sure which flying sequences were CGI and which were real. Like last year's Valkyrie, I knew how the story ended before I bought my ticket, but Amelia works well enough as an example of the biopic genre that I can recommend it as a good way to kill two hours.