The 20 Greatest Black Biopics

We have arrived at February 29th, the mythical 366th day that officially marks 2016 as a leap year. It's also the end of Black History Month. To mark the occasion, I figured we might as well go out with a bang. To do that, we're going to get into what I think are the best black biopics ever made. It's also apropos since Race the biopic about legendary Olympian Jesse Owens is currently in theaters. I've not seen it, so it does not appear here. There are at least three more black biopics that have garnered some buzz lately: The Birth of a Nation about Nat Turner, Miles Ahead about Miles Davis, and All Eyez on Me about Tupac Shakur. I'll not say much more other than don't look for The Butler. It's a fairy-tale, not a biopic. Cecil Gaines, the character played by Forest Whitaker is not a real person. He is the highly fictionalized realization of a man named Eugene Allen. Moving on to the list...

Honorable Mentions (chronologically): The Temptations (1998), Something the Lord Made (2004), Cadillac Records (2008), The Express (2008), Crazy Sexy Cool: The TLC Story (2013), Get on Up (2014)

20. Why Do Fools Fall in Love

(1998)

Subject: Frankie Lymon

Starring Larenz Tate

In 1956, the song "Why Do Fools Fall in Love" by Frankie Lymon and the teenagers became one of the biggest songs in rock and roll history to that point. Like a lot of young men in his position, Frankie enjoyed the perks of stardom. Two of them got him into a whole bunch of trouble - women and drugs. This movie actually begins after his death as three women have come forward claiming to be Mrs. Lymon in the battle for his estate. From there, much of the story is told in flashbacks detailing the rise of fall of Mr. Lymon.

19. 42

(2013)

Subject: Jackie Robinson

Starring Chadwick Boseman

Any baseball fan worth his cap, and many people who have no use for baseball, will tell you that Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. This film details the road to get to that point and beyond, chronicling his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. You can dock it a few points for watering down the flat out abusive bigotry he had to deal with through 1947, perhaps to keep a PG-13 rating, but it is still a solid film giving life to a story many of us grew up hearing. Jackie Robinson told the same story when he starred as himself in the 1950 film The Jackie Robinson Story. Chadwick Boseman handles lead duties on this one, and does so effectively. He would also go on to play music legend James Brown in Get on Up.

18. The Jacksons: An American Dream

(1992)

Subject: The Jackson Five

Starring Wylie Draper (Michael), Colin Steele (Jermaine), Terrence Howard (Jackie), Angel Vargas (Tito), Marcus Maurice (Marlon), Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Joseph), Angela Bassett (Katherine)

I'll not waste time explaining who The Jackson Five were. I'll just say that this TV movie, originally aired as a miniseries, is largely the story of the relationship between patriarch Joseph Jackson and his boys, particularly Michael. We cover things from their early years in Gary, Indiana before they made it big through Michael's legendary performance of "Billie Jean" on the TV special Motown 25. It's at times campy and very much a kitchen-sink drama, as well as a musical biopic, but it's loads of fun. The true star is Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as an often crazed, always overbearing Papa Jackson, but it also includes our first sighting on this list of Angela Bassett.

17. Introducing Dorothy Dandridge

(1999)

Subject: Dorothy Dandridge

Starring Halle Berry

Since the Oscars were just last night, and all the talk of diversity in Hollywood that went on over the last month and change, this is the perfect time to be talking about Dorothy Dandridge. She was the first African-American the Academy ever nominated for Best Actress thanks to her winning turn in the musical Carmen Jones. The irony of it all is that she is played by Halle Berry, the first African American to win that same award. For me, this is a far better performance than the one for which she won.

16. The Hurricane

(1999)

Subject: Rubin Carter

Starring: Denzel Washington

Our first Denzel Washington entry sees him playing a middleweight boxing contender who's career is derailed after he is convicted of a triple homicide. He maintains his innocence and nearly 20 years down the line, three Canadian activists make a concerted effort to get the conviction overturned. It is a wonderfully told story detailing much of Carter's life, and eventually becomes an engrossing court-room drama.

15. Notorious

(2009)

Subject: The Notorious B.I.G.

Starring Jamal Woolard

Hip-Hop's first biopic is about the rapper simply known as Biggie. The film spends a little time looking at his childhood, but mostly deals with the period starting a year or so before he came to the attention of mogul Sean "Puffy" Combs until Biggie's murder in 1997. Jamal Woolard does a dead-on Biggie that is not just an impersonation, it captures the spirit of our subject. He is scheduled to reprise the role in the upcoming Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me. By the way, mark another appearance for Angela Bassett who portrays Biggie's mother Voletta.

14. The Josephine Baker Story

(1991)

Subject: Josephine Baker

Starring Lynn Whitfield

Josephine Baker is regarded by many people as the first international superstar of African-American descent. While starting off in the United States during the 1920s, she found herself in Paris where she became a huge success. This film is a sweeping epic that covers a huge chunk of her life. Lynn Whitfield gives the performance of a lifetime and was rewarded with an Emmy for her efforts (the movie was made by HBO). She gives everything to the role and us viewers are rewarded for it.

13. Basquiat

(1996)

Subject: Jean-Michel Basquiat

Starring Jeffrey Wright

Coming up from his roots as a street artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat becoming the hottest thing in the art world in the early 1980s. He was a troubled young man of immense talent who would come to be close friends with none other than Andy Warhol. This flick tells the tale of a guy struggling with the success he attains. Jeffrey Wright disappears in the role making us forget we've ever seen him before. He would also do the same as legendary blues man Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records.

12. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

(2013)

Subject: Nelson Mandela

Starring Idris Elba

This sprawling biopic covers the life and times of Nelson Mandela from his days as a lawyer in the 1940s through his inauguration as the first black president of South Africa in 1994. It's an underrated gem that serves as history lesson and intense character study. Occasionally hard to watch, but harder to tear your eyes from, we get a real sense of the man's evolution into the legendary figure we've come to know him to be. Elba's work stays true to the man and serves to draw us deep into the film.

11. Talk to Me

(2007)

Subject: Petey Greene

Starring Don Cheadle

Before seeing this film, I had never heard of Washington, D.C. radio DJ Petey Greene. He was a man who spoke his mind, consequences be damned. Often, what he had to say was quite hilarious. The situations he got himself into were also crazy making this, hands down, the funniest movie on the list. However, there are still plenty of powerful moments packed into this one. Don Cheadle, his first of two appearances on this list, absolutely kills it. He is joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Martin Sheen, and Taraji P. Henson, who are all excellent.

10. Straight Outta Compton

(2015)

Subject: N.W.A.

Starring Corey Hawkins (Dr. Dre), Jason Mitchell (Eazy-E), O'Shea Jackson Jr. (Ice Cube), Aldis Hodge (MC Ren), Neil Brown Jr. (DJ Yella), Paul Giamatti (Jerry Heller)

Once upon a time a rap group came straight outta Compton and took the world by storm. This is their story. It follows the group from a short time before their actual formation, 1986, through the death of de facto leader Eazy-E in 1995. It shows us where the angst and downright anger that led to some of their biggest songs comes from as well as giving us a rise and fall story. At its core, it's a story of brotherhood and the betrayal of that brotherhood - hip-hop style.

9. Selma

(2014)

Subject: Martin Luther King Jr.

Starring David Oyelowo

Unlike most biopics, including every other movie on this list, Selma is largely focused on a singular event. As such, it only covers a small portion of the life of Martin Luther King Jr. This helps star David Oyelowo give us a deeper, more grounded picture of a man who's legend has him bordering on becoming a mythical figure. The result is a film that is equal parts gut-wrenching and triumphant. This earned it an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture.

8. The Pursuit of Happyness

(2006)

Subject: Chris Gardner

Starring Will Smith

Among all these movies about civil rights leaders and entertainers, there's this film about a stockbroker. What makes his story worthy of telling is the way in which he got his job. Included in that is a touching story about a father and his son going through all sorts of hell in pursuit of...well...happyness. I know that's not how it's spelled. See the movie and you'll understand. You will also understand that Will smith is phenomenal in the lead role, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Actor in the process. We'll hear a little more from him just a bit.

7. Ray

(2004)

Subject: Ray Charles

Starring Jamie Foxx

"The drunk soul of a blind junkie." Ray Charles uses these words to describe his woman. He may as well have been talking about the movie itself. It covers much of the music legend's life including all sorts of ups and downs. Jamie Foxx gives a performance for the ages and won an Oscar for Best Actor for his effort. However, it's not just a film propped up by an actor, it's a film that tells a great story.

6. Ali

(2001)

Subject: Muhammad Ali

Starring Will Smith

The story of the most famous boxer in the history of the sport gets the Michael Mann treatment. The director injects it with his style and gets a fantastic turn from Will Smith to create a film that was criminally underrated at the time of release. The one aspect of it that wasn't underrated was Smith who earned his first Best Actor nomination for the role. The film covers a ten year period in Ali's life culminating in his victory over George Foreman. Ali himself covered a similar period in his own life when he starred as himself in 1977's The Greatest. It wasn't bad, but Mann made the far superior film. For Will Smith, it's his second appearance on the list. It's also the second for Jamie Foxx who shows up here as Bundini Brown, one of Ali's cornermen.

5. Lady Sings the Blues

(1972)

Subject: Billie Holiday

Starring Diana Ross

Way back in 1972, no one knew if renowned songstress Diana Ross could do justice to the role of legendary blues singer Billie Holiday. It turns out she could do much more than that and earned her a nomination for Best Actress. It's no wonder given the roller coaster of a life that Holiday led. The film mostly covers the last decade of her life, a time frame that sees her go through more than most people can imagine.

4. Hotel Rwanda

(2004)

Subject: Paul Rusesabagina

Starring Don Cheadle

Like Selma, Hotel Rwanda is focused on a singular event. In this case, we're talking about the Rwandan genocide that took place in 1994. Paul Rusesabagina runs a hotel there and suddenly finds himself surrounded by people who have taken refuge there. He must also be a negotiator as he tries to get UN forces to get people out of an extremely dangerous situation. Cheadle, his second appearance on this list, was nominated for Best Actor for his work, here.

3. What's Love Got to Do With It

(1993)

Subject: Tina Turner

Starring Angela Bassett

We follow a young girl from Nutbush, Tennessee on her road to becoming a music legend. Front and center is Tina Turner's volatile, abusive relationship with the man who plucked her from obscurity, ex-husband Ike Turner. The performance by Angela Bassett, in yet another entry on the list, is nothing short of mesmerizing, channeling every aspect of the singer's persona. By the way, Bassett has her own cottage industry of biopics going. Aside from several entries here, she's also played the lead in The Rosa Parks Story, co-lead as Coretta Scott King in Betty and Coretta, and still has one more appearance on this list. As good as she is here, she couldn't do it alone, though. She's helped mightily by a downright scary turn from Laurence Fishburne. Both were rewarded with Oscar nominations.

2. 12 Years a Slave

(2013)

Subject: Solomon Northrup

Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor

This is an amazing tale of a free man, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery where he would stay for the titular twelve years. In his second appearance on the list, Chiwetel Ejiofor gives us a man who somehow maintains his dignity while suffering an institution meant to strip him of that very thing. He may have been upstaged by two other entities, Lupita Nyong'o and Steve McQueen. Nyong'o won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her heart-wrenching performance. McQueen takes a boat load of moving parts, crafts them into an unstoppable machine, and keeps his unflinching camera on it all.

1. Malcolm X

(1992)

Subject: Malcolm X

Starring Denzel Washington

This may not be a surprise after the love letter I wrote to this film a couple weeks ago. That said, I think it earns its spot by telling its story in spectacular fashion. Much of it is taken directly from "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" and all of it is infused with director Spike Lee's particular brand of flare. Of course, getting an iconic performance from Denzel Washington helps things tremendously. He nails the essence of Malcolm X at every point along the way. Finally, there is no better way to close out this list than by mentioning that the always excellent Angela Bassett shows up yet again. This time, she plays Malcolm's wife Betty Shabazz.

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