The 5 Essential Unconventional Biopics

It's not binary. You can be gifted and decent at the same time.

The biopic, the biographical story behind a celebrated figure, is a much-maligned genre. Formulaic, style, unoriginal - these are words often thrown around to criticize these films, from those that have earned their identifiers, like the recent Bob Marley and Amy Winehouse stories, to films that do their best to break the mold while still acting beholden the rules of the genre, from Rocketman to Elvis. Here are a few that think way outside of the box, using their movies to both educate, entertain, and just maybe - make you think.

I’m Not There (2007)

Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.

Here's the difference between a conventional biopic and the kind we are highlighting on this list, using the two Bob Dylan movies as an example.

Towards the dramatic height of 2024's A Complete Unknown, Dylan (played by Timothée Chalamet) is growing tired of the same old, same old, and ready to branch out as both an artist and an enigma. When rumors begin circulating that he's starting to play electric guitar, people (like poor Norbert Leo Butz, who does the best with what he's got) start saying things like, "He can play that electric crap all he wants - but not at the Newport Folk Festival!' Sure enough, he does plug in at Newport, where he receives a healthy number of disappointing boos from the same crowd that gave him a standing-o after only hearing one verse of "Blowin' in the Wind" earlier in the movie.

In I'm Not There, director Todd Haynes' take on the Dylan mythos, the same moment is depicted, albeit in a shockingly different way. In this film, Jude Quinn (a Dylan pseudonym, played by Cate Blanchett - the character is also played by Heath Ledger, Richard Gere, and Christian Bale, among others) and his band don't bring guitar cases to the stage, but instead lug machine gun cases - which they proceed to unclip and unload on the audience. Because that's what it felt like for Dylan devotees at the time. Which do you think is more effective?

Better Man (2024)

Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

Robbie Williams, a man who is apparently a huge star in Europe (but is a complete Who? this side of the pond), is the focus of the latest biopic to hit theaters, Better Man. That film, a sure-fire conversation starter, is naturally the inspiration for this very list.

In this film, Robbie's life story is told in more-or-less chronological order, from his childhood to his career redemption, as any biopic requires of a character arc. His performer father never seems to care much for his son, which is a big monkey on his back during Robbie’s formative years. Never one for formal education, instead dreaming of a day in the spotlight, teenage Robbie auditions for a boy band and his career catapults quickly. From this point on, it's sex, drugs, and rock n' roll - which is all just an excuse to go ape shit. As he's monkeying around, his personal life crumbles, relationships fail and monkey business trumps show business. But I'll be a monkey's uncle if, as we see in just about any biographical film, he doesn't turn it all around, make amends, and become a Better Man.

So then how is this film any different from your usual biopic? Well, it's really not, other than the fact that Robbie is portrayed by a CGI chimpanzee. Your mileage may vary.

Steve Jobs (2015)

Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter.

Let's take a break for a minute and talk about the only film on this list that isn't about a musician. Steve Jobs is not only not a cradle-to-grave story (like the film Jobs from 2013, starring Ashton Kutcher), but is instead entirely framed by different press conferences the great businessman and inventor gave at pivotal moments in his career. Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin chooses three product launches (in 1984, 1988, and 1998) as three biographical guideposts representative of who he was as both a magnate and a petty asshole - which, in his case, seem to be one and the same.

Seeing that it's a Sorkin script, you can expect serious pitter-patter, chit-chat, and walk-and-talks aplenty. The three acts are essentially three long scenes, which makes the whole thing feel very theatrical. Luckily, director Danny Boyle assembled a cast able to tackle such a wordy assignment: Michael Fassbender as Jobs, Kate Winslet, Jeff Daniels (a noted Sorkinite), and Seth Rogen as none other than Steve Wozniak - which is just perfect casting.

It's not the first time Sorkin wrote a biopic, but it would be the most he thought outside of the typical structure. Just like The Social Network, he's more interested in the man's ideas, than he is in the man and the ideas.

Love & Mercy (2015)

In the late 1960s, the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson stops touring, produces "Pet Sounds" and begins to lose his grip on reality. By the 1980s, under the sway of a controlling therapist, he finds a savior in Melinda Ledbetter.

Love & Mercy tells the life of The Beach Boys' own Brian Wilson by exploring two different decades of his career:

Paul Dano plays the younger version of Wilson, the '60s-set, Pet Sounds-producing genius who masterminded, regardless of what Mike Love will tell you, the pioneering sound that turned the Beach Boys from surf-rockers to avant-garde musical progressives. As his mental health deteriorates, so too does his career and the band as it once was.

Jumping ahead in time, yet told parallel to the other story, John Cusack plays the '80s version of Wilson, heavily medicated and under the constant supervision of his therapist/manager (two words that probably shouldn't be paired together), played by Paul Giamatti. More lucid and self-sufficient than Giamatti's character claims or Wilson himself lets on, he begins to find a way back to the man he used to be - thus constantly flashing back to Dano's timeline.

I once saw Brian Wilson live in concert, and anybody who has can attest that Brian doesn't always seem up to the task of performing, opting to really just play and sing - if there's a showmanship distinction. Other bandmates do most of the talking, but as they were performing Pet Sounds in order (what a treat!), Brian spoke up right before "God Only Knows," softly interjecting the simple statement, "This is the best song I ever wrote." There he was again, briefly before our eyes, the young man whose mind swirled and rattled and exploded inside his own head. That's what Love & Mercy captures.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story (2022)

Exploring every facet of ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle, this biopic takes audiences on a truly unbelievable journey through Yankovic’s life and career, from gifted child prodigy to the greatest musical legend of all time.

Our final film is perhaps our wackiest (that includes the one starring a monkey), largely because, while most of the movies on this list experiment with form, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story plays with content. Yes, it's a biography where almost none of the information presented is actually true.

Based on a viral Funny or Die sketch from 2010, this biopic sendup became a Roku Original when it went full length - and none of that is the made-up part. It stars Daniel Radcliffe, who learned how to play the accordion for the role, but despite his Broadway background, still lip-synched Weird Al's vocals in parody of Rami Malek's Oscar-winning, and dubbed, performance in Bohemian Rhapsody. Radcliffe's version of Weird Al is the most celebrated musician of all time, in a steamy relationship with Madonna, and able to take down Pablo Escobar's entire empire. The songs (with fake backstories behind their composition) and his actual musicianship almost seem accidental to the extended joke, action sequences, and celebrity cameos: my favorites include Conan O'Brien as Andy Warhol, Demetri Martin as Tiny Tim, and Quinta Brunson as Oprah Winfrey.

---

Credit: Each plot synopsis comes from Letterboxd via TMDb.

Want to commission a review? Order from this list and you’ll get one in 30 days!