Highest-Rated Movies about 'Cynicism'

Ace in the Hole (1951), Ace in the Hole (1951), Sweet Smell of Success (1957), Network (1976), In a Lonely Place (1950), The Tao of Steve (2000), Bukowski: Born Into This (2003), Key Largo (1948) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Cynicism movies.

#1. Ace in the Hole (1951)

Storyline: Charles Tatum, a down-on-his-luck reporter, takes a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. He jumps at the chance to make a name for himself by taking over and prolonging the rescue effort, and feeding stories to major newspapers. He creates a national media sensation and milks it for all it is worth - until things go terribly wrong.

Plot Keywords: film noir, journalism, moral decay, media manipulation, dark side of humanity, ambition, corruption ...

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#2. Ace in the Hole (1951)

Storyline: Charles Tatum, a down-on-his-luck reporter, takes a job with a small New Mexico newspaper. The job is pretty boring until he finds a man trapped in an old Indian dwelling. He jumps at the chance to make a name for himself by taking over and prolonging the rescue effort, and feeding stories to major newspapers. He creates a national media sensation and milks it for all it is worth - until things go terribly wrong.

Plot Keywords: film noir, journalism, moral decay, media manipulation, dark side of humanity, ambition, corruption ...

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#3. Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

Storyline: J.J. Hunsecker, the most powerful newspaper columnist in New York, is determined to prevent his sister from marrying Steve Dallas, a jazz musician. He therefore covertly employs Sidney Falco, a sleazy and unscrupulous press agent, to break up the affair by any means possible.

Plot Keywords: film noir, drama, crime, media, power, corruption, new york ...

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#4. Network (1976)

Storyline: In the 1970s, terrorist violence is the stuff of networks' nightly news programming and the corporate structure of the UBS Television Network is changing. Meanwhile, Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, has lost his once strong ratings share and so the network fires him. Beale reacts in an unexpected way. We then see how this affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers (Max Schumacher and Diana Christensen), and the network.

Plot Keywords: satire, media, capitalism, social criticism, madness, manipulation, power ...

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#5. In a Lonely Place (1950)

Storyline: Screenwriter Dixon Steele, faced with the odious task of scripting a trashy bestseller, has hat-check girl Mildred Atkinson tell him the story in her own words. Later that night, Mildred is murdered and Steele is a prime suspect; his record of belligerence when angry and his macabre sense of humor tell against him. Fortunately, lovely neighbor Laurel Gray gives him an alibi. Laurel proves to be just what Steele needed, and their friendship ripens into love. Will suspicion, doubt, and Steele's inner demons come between them?

Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, drama, mystery, romance, psychological thriller, hollywood ...

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#6. The Tao of Steve (2000)

Storyline: In college, Dex was the big man on campus. We meet Dex ten years after graduation as he endures one of life's humbling experiences, the college reunion. Now an overweight kindergarten teacher, Dex is immune to the shocked stares of the women who were once his conquests. While trying to pick up the bartender, he is struck by another woman the gorgeous Syd. Through a series of circumstances, Syd and Dex are thrown together and he soon finds himself questioning his belief in all things Steve.

Plot Keywords: comedy, romance, philosophy, relationships, humor, indie film, american film ...

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#8. Key Largo (1948)

Storyline: Frank McCloud travels to a run-down hotel on Key Largo to honor the memory of a friend who died bravely in his unit during WW II. His friend's widow, Nora Temple, and wheelchair bound father, James Temple manage the hotel and receive him warmly, but the three of them soon find themselves virtual prisoners when the hotel is taken over by a mob of gangsters led by Johnny Rocco who hole up there to await the passing of a hurricane. Mr. Temple strongly reviles Rocco but due to his infirmities can only confront him verbally. Having become disillusioned by the violence of war, Frank is reluctant to act, but Rocco's demeaning treatment of his alcoholic moll, Gaye Dawn, and his complicity in the deaths of the Osceola Brothers and a deputy sheriff start to motivate McCloud to overcome his Hamlet-like inaction.

Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, drama, thriller, gangster, classic, 1940s ...

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#9. The Killers (1946)

Storyline: Two professional killers invade a small town and kill a gas station attendant, "the Swede," who's expecting them. Insurance investigator Reardon pursues the case against the orders of his boss, who considers it trivial. Weaving together threads of the Swede's life, Reardon uncovers a complex tale of treachery and crime, all linked with gorgeous, mysterious Kitty Collins.

Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, thriller, mystery, detective, murder, femme fatale ...

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#10. Pickup on South Street (1953)

Storyline: On a crowded subway, Skip McCoy picks the purse of Candy. Among his take, although he does not know it at the time, is a piece of top-secret microfilm that was being passed by Candy's consort, a Communist agent. Candy discovers the whereabouts of the film through Moe Williams, a police informer. She attempts to seduce McCoy to recover the film. She fails to get back the film and falls in love with him. The desperate agent exterminates Moe and savagely beats Candy. McCoy, now goaded into action, confronts the agent in a particularly brutal fight in a subway.

Plot Keywords: film noir, crime, thriller, espionage, cold war, drama, romance ...

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#11. The Boss of It All (2006)

Storyline: For years, company director Ravn (Peter Gantzler) leads his staff to believe that the head of the firm is an absentee director named Svend. Now Ravn wants to sell out to Finnur (Fridrik Thór Fridriksson), but Finnur will deal only with Svend. Ravn hires Kristoffer (Jens Albinus), an actor, to portray Svend so the deal can go through, but complications arise when Kristoffer must extend the performance.

Plot Keywords: comedy, satire, workplace, danish film, absurd, black comedy, power struggle ...

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#12. The Great McGinty (1940)

Storyline: Told in flashback, Depression-era bum Dan McGinty is recruited by the city's political machine to help with vote fraud. His great aptitude for this brings rapid promotion from "the boss," who finally decides he'd be ideal as a new, nominally "reform" mayor; but this candidacy requires marriage. His in-name-only marriage to honest Catherine proves the beginning of the end for dishonest Dan...—Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

Plot Keywords: political corruption, ambition, american dream, satire, black comedy, fraud, power ...

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#13. Ghost World (2001)

Storyline: Enid and Rebecca after they finish the high school. Both have problems relating to people and they spend their time hanging around and bothering creeps. When they meet Seymour who is a social outsider who loves to collect old 78 records, Enid's life will change forever.

Plot Keywords: coming of age, black comedy, independent film, rebellion, alienation, friendship, social satire ...

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#14. The Ballad of Cable Hogue (1970)

Storyline: Double-crossed and left without water in the desert, Cable Hogue is saved when he finds a spring. It is in just the right spot for a much needed rest stop on the local stagecoach line, and Hogue uses this to his advantage. He builds a house and makes money off the stagecoach passengers. Hildy, a sex worker from the nearest town, moves in with him. Hogue has everything going his way until the advent of the automobile ends the era of the stagecoach.—John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

Plot Keywords: western, comedy, drama, survival, redemption, friendship, betrayal ...

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#15. The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)

Storyline: A mystery writer named Leyden is intrigued by the tale of notorious criminal Dimitrios Makropolous, whose body was found washed up on the shore in Istanbul. He decides to follow the career of Dimitrios around Europe, to learn more about the man. Along the way, he is joined by mysterious Mr. Peters, who has his own motivation.—Ken Yousten <kyousten@bev.net>

Plot Keywords: film noir, mystery, thriller, crime, drama, suspense, detective ...

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