Tag Archives: rags to riches

Cinderella Man

IMDB Rating: 8.00
39030 votes

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Storyline
During the Great Depression, a common-man hero, James J. Braddock—a.k.a. the Cinderella Man—was to become one of the most surprising sports legends in history. By the early 1930s, the impoverished ex-prizefighter was seemingly as broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck as much of the rest of the American populace who had hit rock bottom. His career appeared to be finished, he was unable to pay the bills, the only thing that mattered to him—his family—was in danger, and he was even forced to go on Public Relief. But deep inside, Jim Braddock never relinquished his determination. Driven by love, honor and an incredible dose of grit, he willed an impossible dream to come true. In a last-chance bid to help his family, Braddock returned to the ring. No one thought he had a shot. However Braddock, fueled by something beyond mere competition, kept winning. Suddenly, the ordinary working man became the mythic athlete. Carrying the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised on his shoulders, Braddock rocketed through the ranks, until this underdog chose to do the unthinkable: take on the heavyweight champ of the world, the unstoppable Max Baer, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.
Actors
Jim BraddockRussell Crowe
Mae BraddockRenée Zellweger
Joe GouldPaul Giamatti

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

IMDB Rating: 8.00
47640 votes

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Storyline
Based on the 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd and the hit Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd a.k.a Benjamin Barker returns to London after being sent away by Judge Turpin with the help of a sailor, Anthony Hope. He opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop were she sells "the worst pies in London." With the help of Mrs. Lovett, Todd tries to rid of all the people who have ever done him wrong and hopes to be reunited with his daughter, Joanna, who is now Judge Turpin's ward.
Actors
Sweeney ToddJohnny Depp
Mrs. LovettHelena Bonham Carter
Judge TurpinAlan Rickman

Seabiscuit

IMDB Rating: 7.50
21002 votes

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Storyline
In an era when Americans were in great need of heroic figures to help them forget their troubles, SEABISCUIT comes to the rescue. The picture relates a moving story of friendship and devotion in rehabilitating the main characters'fractured lives, as it interweaves the interactions between horse, jockey, trainer and owner and their adoring fans. The film accurately portrays the real people and events of those troubled times and how Seabiscuit "fixed us, every one of us."
Actors
NarratorDavid McCullough
Charles HowardJeff Bridges
Bicycle SupervisorPaul Vincent O'Connor

Buster

IMDB Rating: 5.50
820 votes

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Storyline
Buster is a small time crook who pulls a big time job. When he finds that the police will not let the case drop, he goes into hiding and can't contact his wife and child. He arranges to meet them in Mexico where he thinks they can begin again, but finds that he must choose between his family and freedom.
Actors
Buster EdwardsPhil Collins
June EdwardsJulie Walters
Bruce ReynoldsLarry Lamb

Misérables, Les

IMDB Rating: 7.10
8015 votes

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Storyline
Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.
Actors
Inspector JavertGeoffrey Rush
FantineUma Thurman
Jean ValjeanLiam Neeson

Trading Places

IMDB Rating: 7.30
19486 votes

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Storyline
Louis Winthorpe III is a successful Philadelphia commodity broker with mansion, manservant and girlfriend to match. Billy Ray Valentine is a hustling beggar. Winthorpe's employers, the elderly Duke brothers, make a bet that by switching the lifestyle of the two Billy Ray will make good and their man will take to a life of crime. Suddenly Louis finds himself uncomprehendingly with no job, no home and only a new acquaintance, glamorous hooker Ophelia, prepared to help him. So at least in one way things could actually be worse.
Actors
ColemanDenholm Elliott
Louis Winthorpe IIIDan Aykroyd
Duke & Duke EmployeeMaurice Woods

ATL

IMDB Rating: 4.30
3543 votes

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Storyline
As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.
Actors
Sexy WomanMonique Harris
Bone CrusherBone Crusher
StarMalika

Angel

IMDB Rating: 5.70
140 votes

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Storyline
Based on the book by Elizabeth Taylor, "Angel", this is the story of a young woman with incredible imagination who refuses to accept the world around her, and creates her own realities.
Actors
AngelRomola Garai
HermioneCharlotte Rampling
Nora Howe-NevinsonLucy Russell

The Pursuit of Happyness

IMDB Rating: 7.40
21312 votes

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Storyline
In 1981, Chris Gardner was a struggling salesman in little needed medical bone density scanners while his wife toiled in double shifts to support the family including their young son, Christopher. In the face of this difficult life, Chris has the desperate inspiration to try for a stockbroker internship where one in twenty has a chance of a lucrative full time career. Even when his wife leaves him because of this choice, Chris clings to this dream with his son even when the odds become more daunting by the day. Together, father and son struggle through homelessness, jail time, tax seizure and the overall punishing despair in a quest that would make Gardner a respected millionaire.
Actors
Chris GardnerWill Smith
ChristopherJaden Smith
LindaThandie Newton

Memoirs of a Geisha

IMDB Rating: 7.00
19841 votes

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Storyline
In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha's mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha's world are forever changed by the onslaught of history.
Actors
ChiyoSuzuka Ohgo
TanakaTogo Igawa
SakamotoMako