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The Secret of N...
Great 66 Points 1980

Tesla stands alone: the most mystical, the most gifted, the most freaky of the great industrial magnates, e.g., Edison, Westinghouse & J.P. Morgan, who also appear in this biopic of the Serbian-American inventor. From Zagreb, it presents as a bizarre movie where people’s mouths don’t match what’…

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WikChip Video Tesla meets J.P. Morgan. Edison fumes.
Back to School
Good 66 Points 1986

More funny than corny, which is saying something because this well done caricature comedy is enthusiastically corny. Back to School was mostly a platform for Rodney Dangerfield to bring his Vegas shtick to a younger generation. It received a jolt of youthful hipness from a young Robert Downey…

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WikChip Video Street Smart vs. Book Smart
Tucker
Very Good 66 Points 1988

A richly stylized biopic of larger-than-life automotive entrepreneur Preston Tucker, this Francis Ford Coppola movie revels in 1940’s period trappings as much as in its story. Self-consciously retro, nearly surreal, its characters exist just this side of parody. Still, supercharged perkiness li…

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WikChip Image Tucker Combat Car with a Tucker Turret
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "Wick's Review":/movie_reviews/1693-tucker...
Big Night
OK 71 Points 1996

Delectable dishes and a beloved cast can’t rescue Stanley Tucci’s passion project. It’s hardly a bad movie, just a bit slow and stilted. Some miscasting and more than a little waiting around are mostly to blame.

That said, entrepreneurs of all stripes can benefit from seeing Big Night, a cas…

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WikChip Video Il Timpano: A dish to die for.
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "BigdaddyDave's Review":/movie_reviews/297...
Pirates of Sili...
Great 78 Points 1999

Surprisingly strong biopic of Steve Jobs & Bill Gates, circa late 90s, when Gates was the more prominent of the two. Now that the legend of Jobs has eclipsed that of Gates, the story has new resonance.

The movie portrays each entrepreneur’s unsavory sides, especially that of Jobs, who is show…

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WikChip Image Looks like Jobs. Acts like Jobs. Isn'...
1 Reply
  • Wick – Godspeed Steve Jobs.
There Will Be B...
Great 104 Points 2007

Great – if sadly flawed – exploration of the early California oil industry, dramatized through the exploits of an entrepreneurial ogre. A Chinatown for Oil, the movie serves as fascinating Golden State period piece and socialist screed, decrying the imagined crimes of tycoons as it celebrates …

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2 Replies
  • Wick – Regarding "Wolfman898's Review":/movie_reviews/1697-...
  • Wick – First of all, my apologies if an alert went out twic...
Flash of Genius
Very Good 83 Points 2008

Flash of Genius is an involving and interesting, albeit frustrating, biopic of a guy who succeeds at invention, fails at business and craters at life. It’s well recommended for those interested in cars and/or entrepreneurs, and for fans of Greg Kinnear.

Being a successful inventor wasn’t en…

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WikChip Image Kearns through a windshield doggedly
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/1688-fl...
Sunshine Cleaning
Very Good 83 Points 2008

A quality date movie for grownups, Sunshine Cleaning shares more than just an ironically radiant title with 2006’s Little Miss Sunshine. Both are about overcoming failed dreams, not to mention both feature Alan Arkin as a kooky grandfather. While this year’s model doesn’t reach the inspired…

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Coco Before Chanel
Very Good 66 Points 2009

Coco Before Chanel is a well mounted biopic of iconic fashion queen Coco Chanel.

This simply fashioned, handsome movie reveals her humble origins & early successes. Hmm.
Simple & revealing brings to mind – why yes – the Chanel design aesthetic. The movie suits its subject.

Chanel f…

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WikChip Video Chanel Trailer
Coco Chanel & I...
OK 66 Points 2010

Visually scintillating, musically avant-garde, dramatically turgid: This biopic of two cultural giants goes down like Brussels sprouts instead of foie gras. IOW, it takes effort to work through the two hour running time, when it should feel like savoring a rich delicacy. Pity, since Coco & Igor…

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WikChip Image Great design barely trumps turgid drama.