Highest-Rated Movies about 'Success And Failure'

Million Dollar Baby (2004), Overnight (2003), Stage Door (1937), Beyond the Mat (1999), The Aviator (2004), That Thing You Do! (1996), Jersey Boys (2014), Middle Men (2009) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Success And Failure movies.

#1. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Storyline: Wanting to learn from the best, aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) wants Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood) to train her. At the outset, he flatly refuses saying he has no interest in training a girl. Frankie leads a lonely existence, alienated from his only daughter and having few friends. Maggie's rough around the edges, but shows a lot of grit in the ring and he eventually relents. Maggie not only proves to be the boxer he always dreamed of having under his wing, but a friend who fills the great void he's had in his life. Maggie's career skyrockets, but an accident in the ring leads her to ask Frankie for one last favor.

Plot Keywords: boxing, drama, sports, underdog, mentorship, sacrifice, tragedy ...

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#2. Overnight (2003)

Storyline: This documentary follows Troy Duffy, a brash, foul-mouthed bartender whose screenplay for an action film called "Boondock Saints" scores him a generous contract to write and direct the film for Harvey Weinstein at Miramax Studios. Duffy's band, the Brood, is also in the midst of signing a contract with Madonna's Maverick Records. Duffy's fiery manner is instrumental to his success, but when the deals go sour, no one seems safe from his explosive temper.

Plot Keywords: documentary, independent film, music industry, behind the scenes, director, filmmaking, true story ...

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#3. Stage Door (1937)

Storyline: Terry Randall, rich society beauty, has decided to see if she can break into the Broadway theatre scene without her family connections. She goes to live in a theatrical boarding house and finds her life caught up with those of the other inmates and the ever-present disappointment that theatrical hopefuls must live with. Her smart-mouth roommate, Jean, is approached by a powerful producer for more than just a role. And Terry's father has decided to give her career the shove by backing a production for her to star in, in which she's sure to flop. But his machinations hurt more than just Terry.—Kathy Li

Plot Keywords: comedy, drama, female lead, stage play, new york, 1930s, dreams ...

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#4. Beyond the Mat (1999)

Storyline: This documentary focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers Terry Funk, Mick Foley (Mankind), Jake Roberts (Jake the Snake) and Darren Drozdov (Droz). As the film progresses, the story of their lives unfolds, as we also learn how the wrestling industry is not the plastic-weapons fake-slap sideshow that many have perceived it as. We are shown how moves, although not actually injuring anyone, are not fake, and extreme training is required to be able to perform the stunts without being harmed. We are also treated to interviews with the family of Mick Foley and what it is like for them to know their father literally puts his life on the line every week and how it feels to have other children call their father a "fake". Vince McMahon, owner of World Wrestling Entertainment, also makes a few appearances, responding to criticism on various wrestling situations, including, once again, his real athletes, very real organization being called fake by sources such as USA Today and various news programs.—JoJo Mac

Plot Keywords: documentary, wrestling, behind the scenes, sports documentary, independent film, true story, sports culture ...

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#5. The Aviator (2004)

Storyline: Biopic of billionaire Howard Hughes, starting with his early filmmaking years as owner of R.K.O. Pictures, but mostly focusing on his role in designing and promoting new aircraft. Hughes was a risk-taker spending several fortunes on designing experimental aircraft and eventually founding TWA as a rival to Pan Am airlines owned by his great rival Juan Trippe. When Trippe's politico Senator Ralph Owen Brewster accuses Hughes of being a war profiteer, it's Hughes who gains the upper hand. Hughes also had many women in his life including a long relationship with Katharine Hepburn. From an early age, however, Hughes was also germophobic and would have severe bouts of mental illness.

Plot Keywords: biography, drama, history, leonardo dicaprio, hollywood, 1920s, 1930s ...

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#6. That Thing You Do! (1996)

Storyline: Recounts a fable of a pop rock band formed a year after the Beatles took America by storm in early 1964. Jazz aficionado Guy Patterson, unhappily toiling in the family appliance store, is recruited into the band the Oneders (later renamed the Wonders) after regular drummer Chad breaks his arm. After Guy injects a four/four rock beat into lead singer Jimmy's ballad, the song's undeniable pop power flings the Wonders into a brief whirlwind of success, telling the tale of many American bands who attempted to grab the brass ring of rock and roll in the wake of the British Invasion.

Plot Keywords: music, band, 1960s, fame, comedy, romance, youth ...

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#7. Jersey Boys (2014)

Storyline: This movie is a musical biography of the Four Seasons, the rise, the tough times and personal clashes, and the ultimate triumph of a group of friends whose music became symbolic of a generation. Far from a mere tribute concert (though it does include numbers from the popular Four Seasons songbook), this movie gets to the heart of the relationships at the center of the group, with a special focus on frontman Frankie Valli (John Lloyd Young), the small kid with the big falsetto. In addition to following the quartet's coming-of-age as performers, the core of this movie is how an allegiance to a code of honor learned in the streets of their native New Jersey got them through a multitude of challenges: gambling debts, Mafia threats, and family disasters. This movie is a glimpse at the people behind a sound that has managed to endure for over four decades in the hearts of the public.

Plot Keywords: musical, biography, drama, 1960s, rise to fame, clint eastwood, broadway ...

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#8. Middle Men (2009)

Storyline: Wayne Beering and Buck Dolby are drugged out geniuses with lots of ideas but they can never seem to get their act together. But when they come up with the idea to create a porn site - and charge for it (the first ever site to do so), their idea may be too lucrative for them to handle. Straight-laced business man, Jack Harris, is brought in to team up with them and turn their profitable idea into a legit business. Making money in the pornography industry is pretty easy, but staying true to yourself when surrounded by that much wealth, luxury, sex, crime and temptations, is much harder.

Plot Keywords: crime, drama, biography, black comedy, internet, entrepreneurship, usa ...

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#9. Words and Music (1948)

Storyline: Encomium to Larry Hart (1895-1943), seen through the fictive eyes of his song-writing partner, Richard Rodgers (1902-1979): from their first meeting, through lean years and their breakthrough, to their successes on Broadway, London, and Hollywood. We see the fruits of Hart and Rodgers' collaboration - elaborately staged numbers from their plays, characters' visits to night clubs, and impromptu performances at parties. We also see Larry's scattered approach to life, his failed love with Peggy McNeil, his unhappiness, and Richard's successful wooing of Dorothy Feiner.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Keywords: musical, biography, song and dance, classic hollywood, composer, mgm, black and white ...

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#11. The Toast of New York (1937)

Storyline: The story starts just before the Civil War, showing Fisk, Boyd, and Luke conning Southern townsfolk into buying bars of soap that, might, have a $10 gold piece inside. Found out, they're chased out of town and escape across the Mason-Dixon Line just as the war starts. Fisk hatches a plan for him and Boyd to return to the South and buy cotton then smuggle it to the North where Luke is to sell it to the Northern textile mills. By the end of the war they have made millions, only to find out that Luke had been re-investing their money into Confederate Bonds. This fact-based movie shows Jim Fisk as one of the greatest con-men and entrepreneurs in history. It concludes with his involvement in "Black Friday", the Financial Panic of 1869, with fellow financier Jay Gould (who's not represented in the movie) and their attempt to corner the U.S. gold market. There's a love triangle between Fisk, Boyd and Mansfield, which is also based on historical accounts.—AzRanger

Plot Keywords: biography, drama, history, usa, 1930s, finance, business ...

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#12. Khoya Khoya Chand (2007)

Storyline: Circa 1960s Lucknow-based author Zafar Ali Naqvi, who has issues with his father and his four wives, including the 4th one who lusts after him, re-locates to Bombay, starts writing for movies, and falls in love with starlet Nikhat Sheikh. Both decide to get married but cancel the plans at the last minute after she finds out that her mother and her live-in boyfriend, Michael, have gambled all her savings. Zafar leaves, leaving Nikhat on a bumpy road to self-destruction.—rAjOo (gunwanti@hotmail.com)

Plot Keywords: romance, drama, indian cinema, bollywood, musical, nostalgia, film industry ...

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#13. The Big Picture (1989)

Storyline: Nick Chapman graduates from film school, and his short film wins a special prize. This gives him a high enough profile that he can get Hollywood to back the film he has long dreamed of making. Studio exec Allen Habel is interested. But Nick soon is seduced by Hollywood and makes one concession after another until his original movie is lost altogether. Worse, Nick is lost, too, turning on girlfriend Susan and old buddy Emmet. Will he come to his sense before everything is lost?—Reid Gagle

Plot Keywords: drama, comedy, black comedy, art, film industry, satire, american film ...

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#14. Jeanne Eagels (1957)

Storyline: A largely fictionalized account of the career of actress Jeanne Eagels, whose fame was both on stage and on the screen in the 1910s and 1920s, is presented. After losing in a rigged carnival beauty pageant, winning which she believed would be her first step to becoming a serious actress, Jeanne joins the traveling carnival itself under the guidance of the pageant organizer, Sal Satori, who features her in a variety of carnival stage shows. But it's when the carnival approaches New York City that Jeanne demonstrates how she truly mapped out her road to acting fame even before meeting Sal. Under the tutelage of renowned acting coach Nellie Neilson, Jeanne, who does possess true acting talent, is given her big acting break and does achieve fame on the Broadway stage, and ultimately also in Hollywood films. Jeanne is not averse to doing whatever is required to advance her career, even at the expense of others. Achieving fame so quickly takes its toll on Jeanne, who turns to alcohol and drugs which would lead to her tragic end. Although other men would come and go over her life, Sal, who ends up joining forces with his brother in operating lucrative Coney Island attractions, is one constant, he who fell in love with and wanted to marry her.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: biography, drama, historical, female lead, hollywood, acting career, tragedy ...

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#15. Youngblood Hawke (1964)

Storyline: Arthur Hawke works as a coal truck driver in Kentucky, he in the process trying to protect his widowed mother Sarah Hawke's property rights against his wealthy and cutthroat paternal uncles' mineral rights. Sarah, however, may be more astute in the matters of business than her son. In his spare time, Arthur is writing a novel under the pen name Youngblood Hawke, it, his first, which he is able to sell to a New York publishing house. As such, Arthur moves to New York City while he works on the necessary rewrites and contemplates his next novel, which he knows can and will pour out of him. Even before that first novel, Alms of Oblivion, is published, Arthur is the toast of certain literary circles in New York. Naive to the ways of the business, he gets caught up in this new life, in having to deal with the publishers, agents, managers, lawyers, critics, theater people who want him to translate the work into a play, and movie types who want to purchase the movie rights. He has to decide whose advice to follow in these matters, he potentially being overextended in he wanting to do and have it all. He does not realize until he is ensconced within this life that there was a latent passion associated with his work, the women around him who can smell it ooze off of him. The feminine advances for who he ultimately falls is that of Frieda Winter, a wealthy, married socialite and a frequent patron of the arts. In his affair with Frieda which needs to be hidden at every turn, Arthur may not yet realize that what he feels for his story editor, Jeanne Green, who initially discovered his unsolicited manuscript, is more than just professional gratitude. Through it all, Arthur may eventually come to the understanding that his standing in this world is solely judged on the success or failure of his latest work.—Huggo

Plot Keywords: drama, novel adaptation, writer, hollywood, 1960s, american film, fame and fortune ...

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