The "based on a true story" label is a lucrative one for movies, whether they're heavyweight dramas gunning for critical adoration or horror films looking to add a verite feel to their gruesome tales. As we move into Oscar season, we're due another wave of prestige films trumpeting their real life credentials in a bid for statuettes. However, films based in real life often have a tendency to massage the truth in an attempt to make their stories more palatable, either to conservative Academy voters or the wider cinemagoing public. The simple fact of the matter is that real people tend to be flawed, and famous people tend to be even more flawed. Often, with the more dramatic Oscar bait, there's little room for narrative complexity, particularly when it could cast a shadow over otherwise uplifting material. The old journalistic quip that you should never let the facts get in the way of a good story also seems to be true for cinema. Sometimes, the character flaws that these films gloss over are perfectly forgivable and make sense in terms of streamlining the narrative. There are occasions, though, when these decisions seem to be predicated on a desire to simplify the facts of the story rather than the creative impetus to make a better film.
Freelance film journalist and fan of professional wrestling. Usually found in a darkened screening room looking for an aisle seat and telling people to put away their mobile phones. Also known to do a bit of stand-up comedy, so I'm used to the occasional heckle.
