Highest-Rated Movies about 'Abuse Of Power'

Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of the American Empire (2004), ...And Justice for All (1979), Street Fight (2005), Punishment Park (1971), Changeling (2008), Leviathan (2014), Kings Row (1942), Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Abuse Of Power movies.

#1. Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear & the Selling of the American Empire (2004)

Storyline: Left-leaning documentary filmmakers Jeremy Earp and Sut Jhally present their case that the neo-conservative members of President George W. Bush's administration, including Vice-President Dick Cheney, saw in the 9/11 terrorist attacks an opportunity to force their ideological beliefs on a frightened nation. Interviews with leftist thinkers like Noam Chomsky, Michael Franti and Daniel Ellsberg buttress the central thesis that the Bush administration used the crisis for their own political ends.

Plot Keywords: political documentary, 9/11 attacks, media manipulation, war on terror, national security, social critique, imperialism ...

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#4. Punishment Park (1971)

Storyline: "Punishment Park" is a pseudo-documentary purporting to be a film crews's news coverage of the team of soldiers escorting a group of hippies, draft dodgers, and anti-establishment types across the desert in a type of capture the flag game. The soldiers vow not to interfere with the rebels' progress and merely shepherd them along to their destination. At that point, having obtained their goal, they will be released. The film crew's coverage is meant to insure that the military's intentions are honorable. As the representatives of the 60's counter-culture get nearer to passing this arbitrary test, the soldiers become increasingly hostile, attempting to force the hippies out of their pacifist behavior. A lot of this film appears improvised and in several scenes real tempers seem to flare as some of the "acting" got overaggressive. This is a interesting exercise in situational ethics. The cinéma vérité style, hand-held camera, and ambiguous demands of the director - would the actors be able to maintain their roles given the hazing they were taking - pushed some to the brink. The cast's emotions are clearly on the surface. Unfortunately this film has gone completely underground and is next to impossible to find. It would offer a captivating document of the distrust that existed between soldiers willfully serving in the military and those persons who opposed the war peacefully.—Dick Rockwell <dr1orok@atlas.moa.net>

Plot Keywords: political thriller, mockumentary, dystopian, social critique, american politics, activism, survival game ...

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#5. Changeling (2008)

Storyline: Los Angeles, 1928. Single mother Christine Collins (Angelina Jolie) returns from work to find her nine-year-old son Walter (Gattlin Griffith) gone. She calls the L.A.P.D. to initiate a search. Five months later, a boy is found in Illinois who fits the description, and he says he's her son. To fanfare and photos, the L.A.P.D. reunite mother and son, but she insists he's not her boy. The cops dismiss her as either a liar or hysterical. When she joins a minister in his public criticism of the Police, they in turn use government power to silence and intimidate her. Meanwhile, a cop goes to a dilapidated ranch to find a Canadian lad who's without legal status; the youth tells a grisly tale. There's redress for murder; is there redress for abuse of power?

Plot Keywords: drama, crime, mystery, historical, based on true story, mother, corruption ...

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#6. Leviathan (2014)

Storyline: On the outskirts of a small coastal town in the Barents Sea, where whales sometimes come to its bay, lives an ordinary family: Kolya (Aleksey Serebryakov), his wife Lilya (Elena Lyadova) and their teenage son Romka. The family is haunted by a local corrupted mayor (Roman Madyanov), who is trying to take away the land, a house and a small auto repair shop from Kolya. To save their homes Kolya calls his old Army friend in Moscow (Vladimir Vdovichenkov), who has now become an authoritative attorney. Together they decide to fight back and collect dirt on the mayor.

Plot Keywords: political corruption, social injustice, bureaucracy, abuse of power, family tragedy, moral dilemma, despair ...

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#7. Kings Row (1942)

Storyline: Five children in an apparently ideal American small town find their lives changing as the years pass near the turn of the century in 1900. Parris Mitchell (Robert Cummings) and Drake McHugh (Ronald Reagan), both of whom have lost their parents, are best friends; Parris dreams of becoming a doctor, studying under the father of his sweetheart Cassandra Tower (Betty Field), while Drake plans on becoming a local businessman when he receives his full inheritance - juggling girlfriends in the meantime. As they become adults, the revelations of local secrets threaten to ruin their hopes and dreams.—scgary66

Plot Keywords: drama, romance, film noir, psychological drama, small town life, social issues, coming of age ...

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#8. Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010)

Storyline: Documentary on the rise of Eliot Spitzer, first as Attorney General and then Governor of New York and his subsequent downfall due to a sex scandal. Spitzer had a hard driving, take no prisoners approach to prosecuting criminals. When he focused his efforts on Wall Street, he came up against some very powerful men. The chink in his armor was an escort whom he met regularly. When the fact that he spent time with a prostitute became public the knives came out so to speak, and Spitzer found himself isolated, resigning the Governorship. At one point, Spitzer recounts the story of a friend who gave him a t-shirt with 'Hubris is Terminal' printed on the front. A fitting epitaph somehow for his political career.—garykmcd

Plot Keywords: documentary, politics, scandal, corruption, new york, power, investigation ...

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#9. And Justice for All (1979)

Storyline: When a judge is charged with rape, Arthur Kirkland is forced to defend him. Kirkland has had problems with the judge in the past, including one incident when the judge wrongly sentenced his client Jeff McCullaugh because of a technicality. Kirkland faces a moral and legal dilemma.

Plot Keywords: legal, courtroom, lawyer, corruption, moral dilemma, justice, judicial system ...

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#10. Official Secrets (2019)

Storyline: A morality tale for the 21st century, Official Secrets tells the true story of British Intelligence whistle-blower Katharine Gun who, during the immediate run-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion, leaked a top secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing smaller, undecided member states into voting for war. At great personal and professional risk, journalist Martin Bright published the leaked document in The Observer newspaper in London, and the story made headlines around the world. Members of the Security Council were outraged and any chance of a UN resolution in favour of war collapsed. But within days, Bush declared he no longer needed UN backing and invaded anyway. As Iraq descended into chaos, Katharine was arrested and charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act. Martin faced potential charges too. Their legal battles exposed the highest levels of government in both London and Washington with having manipulated intelligence in order to sell an illegal war.

Plot Keywords: political thriller, true story, whistleblower, national security, iraq war, press freedom, government conspiracy ...

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#11. Page 3 (2005)

Storyline: Madhavi is a newspaper journalist in Mumbai whose task is to fill the Page 3 column. Her job consists of attending parties among the socialite and small-time celebrity circle and reporting on it. Her roommates are Pearl, an air-hostess who wants to marry a rich man and settle down to a life of comfort; and Gayatri, a struggling actress. Gayatri is seduced by a leading married actor Rohit Kumar. When she finds out that she is pregnant, he advises her to abort the baby. Dejected, Gayatri tries to commit suicide but Madhavi and Pearl save her. She loses the baby and leaves Mumbai. Madhavi's job of interacting with shallow high-society people is depressing her. She wants to do some substantial reporting for a change, so she is assigned to the Crime beat alongwith veteran reporter Vinayak Mane.—Soumitra

Plot Keywords: journalism, corruption, power, media, scandal, investigation, social critique ...

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#12. Murder in the First (1995)

Storyline: Henri Young stole five dollars from a post office and ended up going to prison - to the most famous, or infamous, prison of them all: Alcatraz. He tried to escape, failed, and spent three years and two months in solitary confinement - in a dungeon, with no light, no heat and no toilet. Milton Glenn, the assistant warden, who was given free reign by his duty-shirking superior, was responsible for Young's treatment. Glenn even took a straight razor and hobbled Young for life. After three years and two months, Young was taken out of solitary confinement and put with the rest of the prisoners. Almost immediately, Young took a spoon and stabbed a fellow prisoner in the neck, killing him. Now, Young is on trial for murder, and if he's convicted he'll go to the gas chamber. An eager and idealistic young attorney, James Stamphill, is given this impossible case, and argues before a shocked courtroom that Young had a co-conspirator. The true murderer, he says, was Alcatraz.

Plot Keywords: crime, drama, thriller, legal, prison, murder, courtroom ...

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#13. No One Killed Jessica (2011)

Storyline: Devastated when she is told that that her sister, Jessica Lall, is shot dead by Manish Bhardwaj, the son of Pramod, a Congress party Member of Parliament in Haryana, Delhi-based Sabrina Lall, in the company of her parents, attends the Court to view a charade that will lead to the acquittal of the accused and his accomplices seven years after the incident. Disillusioned by rampart police corruption and inefficiency; a stagnant British introduced legal system; the passing of her mother & the hospitalization of her father, she retreats unto herself. Then foul-mouthed NDTV employee, Meera Gaity, known for being more of an activist than a Journalist, takes an interest in this incident, and uncovers conspiracy & corruption that led to the accused' acquittals - leading to a near India-wide protest. While preparing herself to participate in a candle-lit procession at Delhi's India Gate, Meera will confront Sabrina and will come to know the reasons why the latter refuses to be involved in this situation any more.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Plot Keywords: based on a true story, crime, drama, thriller, social justice, murder case, investigation ...

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#15. Five Star Final (1931)

Storyline: Hinchcliffe, the ruthless publisher of a sleazy New York tabloid, is concerned that the ethical journalistic policies of City Editor Randall have caused a drop in circulation. He pressures the newsman to run more sensational stories including resurrecting the twenty year old Vorhees Murder Case. Although the perpetrator's actions were ultimately judged justifiable, and she has been subsequently living an exemplary life in anonymity, Hunchcliffe insists Randall revisit the story. Randall assigns Isopod, an alcoholic degenerate, to dig up anything lurid that he find. The unprincipled reporter fraudulently insinuates himself into the Vorhees' home masquerading as a minister and gets the expose he sought. Yellow journalism triumphs, and a decent woman's name gets dragged through the mud again... with tragic consequences.—duke1029@aol.com

Plot Keywords: crime, thriller, drama, film noir, moral dilemma, media ethics, murder ...

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