The music industry is a fickle beast, but it is fruitful when it comes to providing fodder for film. Movies that take place in, or are about the music biz, have a special spot in the lineage of Hollywood. See, even if an actor has enormous success in the thespian arts, most will admit to desiring a taste of the musical stardom that comes with having a hit song.
The Movie Mensch has a soft spot for flicks about the music business. It combines two of our favorite things—music and movies. So, without further ado, here is an extensive list of the best of the cinematic arts that celebrates the musical arts.
Almost Famous
The movie that started it all (for me). Upon leaving the theater, my wife said that the protagonist reminded her of me. As soon as we got home, I showed her a picture of myself holding the cover of Rolling Stone with a reporter’s hat … I was 10. She suggested I write a review. I did, submitted it to the free weekly paper at the end of the block. Not only did they publish it, but they also hired me. Now, Almost Famous has a special spot in the hearts of countless folks and their level of passion for music can be different, but their shared embrace of Cameron Crowe’s classic is universal.
The story of a young Rolling Stone reporter charged with getting the inside story on a band on the cusp of massive fame has endured exponentially in the two decades since it premiered. At the end of the day, it truly is a love letter to rock and roll, the music business (before corporate took over), and a celebration of how music touches each one of us in a different way. A perfect example of that is the iconic Tiny Dancer scene. So much may divide us. Yet, something as simple as the opening piano notes of Elton John can, for a singular moment, make our disagreements go by the wayside while a song and a singer unites.
This Is Spinal Tap
There is no better (humorous) look at the music biz than what Rob Reiner gifted to us in the early 80s. This is Spinal Tap is the gift that keeps on giving, as each new generation discovers its glorious hilarity. Spinal Tap was every metal band in the 70s and 80s and their music industry journey was spot-on in ways that produced seemingly countless laughs.
That old saying, “it’s funny, ‘cause it’s true” could not be more apt for the so-called “mockumentary.” The entire film is pitch-perfect. Seriously, start it at any point from beginning to end and I promise you there will be laughs and an industry skewered in the finest of fashions.
Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce
People might wonder why the Netflix concert documentary is a list that chronicles the music industry side of music movies. Watch Homecoming: A Film by Beyonce and what you’ll see is that enormous pressure the legendary singer was under to return to the studio. In fact, what she went through—documented in Homecoming—is emblematic of the modern record industry and how they’ve gotten away from nurturing artists and encouraging their artistry. Got to give it to the Crazy in Love singer for sticking to her guns and documenting the entire process that was her “coming back” to the musical landscape after having twins with her hubby, Jay-Z.
It is unreal what she went through to get ready for her headlining set at Coachella in 2018. She had to get “in shape” physically, mentally, and musically. Beyonce also had to work with a legion of dancers and musicians to put together a musical set that was worthy of her history and headlining that music fest. It is hard to discern whether the documentary was extraordinary, or it merely put a mirror up to a subject who is extraordinary at that moment in time and locale. Of course, I jest, the entire thing was otherworldly on so many levels. Watching Beyonce, her African-American school band and dancers came together and deliver one of the most epic live performances ever captured on film is beyond blissful. Witnessing how the entire thing came together is a gift to music fans, Beyonce appreciators, and above all else—those who treasure someone celebrating where they come from while firmly spotlighting where we all should aspire to go.
The Commitments
Comparing the experience of blue-collar Irish workers in Ireland to the African-American experience in major cities across America in the mid-to-late 60s may have seemed like a stretch when Roddy Doyle put pen to paper and wrote the novel that Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, and Doyle based their The Commitments screenplay on. The truth is that’s not that far of a stretch. Both groups are on the outside looking in, fighting for a livable wage, and working conditions that are worthy of their humanity. So, this story of a Dublin, Ireland soul and R&B band hit all the right notes when it hit theaters in 1991 and delivered much more than a listen-on-repeat soundtrack.
Director Alan Parker has a long history of crafting music movies that work and resonate beyond their genre, from Evita to Pink Floyd: The Wall and Fame. Casting is always key for any director, but that certainly was integral to the success of The Commitments. Starting with lead singer Andrew Strong as Deco Cuffe, right on down the line, Parker found singers and musicians that could excel at music first, and work on the acting second. By casting real music men and women, the authenticity of his entire project exploded. There is a reason why The Commitments soundtrack is still one of the most played in the movie soundtrack arena. On Spotify alone, there are over 20 million listens to the movie’s score.
The character that is the manager who creates this Irish musical supergroup, Robert Arkins’ Jimmy Rabbitte, embodies what it is that can drive purists mad about the music industry. Rabbitte knew he had a group that could blow the doors off of arenas and if given the chance, would sell quite a few albums along the way. The music industry is a finicky beast, and it is portrayed brilliantly in The Commitments. All it took was one little thing (Wilson Pickett not showing up to a gig) for the entire house of cards that was the band to come blowing down.
Yesterday
Danny Boyle (127 Hours, Slumdog Millionaire) and screenwriter Simon Curtis (Love, Actually) joined forces for Yesterday and created an instant gem that this writer will be revisiting annually for decades to come. The filmmakers imagine a world where The Beatles do not exist and never existed. Our protagonist Jack Malik (Himesh Patel in a star-making turn) is faced with an enormous moral dilemma. Does he create all these Beatles classics and claim they’re his? One could argue, and it is Jack’s sentiment, that this is music that the public needs to hear so it’s not plagiarism when the world has to have the Beatles’ songbook in it.
How it drifts into its portrayal of the music industry largely centers around the character of Debra Hammer (portrayed by SNL’s Kate McKinnon). There’s a large amount of exploitation of artists that is portrayed in Boyle’s film. That is not far from the truth and anyone who has dealt with industry insiders can attest to that fact. That’s why (spoiler alert) when Jack decides what to do with The Beatles’ music in that final act, is not just altruism—it’s a way for our fictional characters to thumb their collective noses at the entity that is the music industry. Besides having a great soundtrack, an intriguing premise, and fantastic performances from top to bottom—Yesterday is a smash hit on its fictionalized version of how the music industry would deal with a Paul McCartney-John Lennon hit writing machine. Makes you think … a lot.
The Biopics:
Walk the Line, Straight Outta Compton, Ray, Rocketman, and Bohemian Rhapsody are each mind-blowingly awesome in their own right and in their own ways of portraying how these legends became legendary and what the music industry looked like and sounded like during their rise to the top. Walk the Line and Ray share a time period in our history, but each is polar opposites in terms of their portrayal of the musician at the heart.
Whereas Johnny Cash always found an affinity in the classic American trope of the outlaw—even famously performing at Folsom Prison and releasing a live album from that event, Ray Charles had to overcome a seemingly never-ending list of hindrances. From his blindness disability to the immense guilt he received over the death of his brother and coming up in a southern landscape ripe with racism, Ray and Jamie Foxx could not have served as a better salutation to an American treasure. Joaquin Phoenix’s performance itself was a seismic salute to Cash while its window into the Man in Black’s life with June Carter (Reese Witherspoon, who won an Oscar for the role)—both musically and romantically, was sublime.
Then, there’s Rocketman and Bohemian Rhapsody. Although grossly different stories and modes of storytelling, there are natural parallels between Freddie Mercury and Elton John.
Both men are gay and saw a majority of their seemingly endless hit parades strike across the 70s and 80s. Yet Rhapsody was more of a straight-forward biopic that played with the facts to accommodate the dramatic needs of the film, while Rocketman was a classic golden-era type musical that used John’s songbook as a means to tell the superstar’s story.
Both struck chords in their own way and both were decorated with awards (Oscar for Rami Malek for Best Actor (Bohemian) and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for Rocketman’s Taron Egerton).
In a league of its own, for various reasons, Straight Outta Compton was clearly a tale written “by the victors.” The story of “the most dangerous group in the world” is a biopic, sure, but it also serves as a love letter to following one’s passion and dreams, all while the obstacles laid out by society tries its best to handicap your opportunities. The flick also is a study of hip-hop music in America and its explosion in popularity and all the struggles that accompanied that.
Lastly, we have to salute one of the most underrated music biopics ever made… Notorious. The story of Biggie, his life, and impact on the music business is laid out there brilliantly in a music biopic that too few of you saw.
8 Mile
I don’t include Eminem’s cinematic breakout 8 Mile in the biopic list because it’s more “loosely based on” than “inspired by” tale. There are countless parallels, but this is not exactly how Marshall Mathers became Eminem and found a music industry who could not live “Without Me.” Through the expert direction of Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential), a rich, highly entertaining, and enlightening script by Scott Silver (The Fighter, Joker), and a cast elevating their gifts around every turn—8 Mile is the gift that keeps on giving as the years pass.
The Oscar winner for Best Original Song was re-visited with a surprise performance at the 2020 Academy Awards. It served as a fresh reminder of how this flick has permeated our larger culture. How many superstars and not-so-famous folks were singing every single word along with Em as he belted out his hit song? It is a rhetorical question whose answer is … a lot, a whole lot.
Jem And The Holograms
“Wait, what?!” I’m sure you’re asking right now. Sorry, actually no—I will not apologize—Jem and The Holograms is a fantastic music industry movie, and better still, it can be revisited routinely as viewers will find something different to cherish with each experience. The film that was based on the cult-favorite animated series from the mid-80s through the early 90s, sought to forge its own path, but one that was loosely based on what was central to the beloved television show.
One of the most powerful aspects of Jem and the Holograms is its all-too-real reflection of the music industry, circa 2015. The character played by Juliette Lewis embodies the entire industry and how it tries to pigeon-hole artists into a category that they may never break out of … it also portrayed an industry that is obsessed with the individual and is not sure how to market a band, i.e. a group. The 2015 film had all the makings of a hit. Filmmakers probably thought there was major sequel potential. Sadly, most critics didn’t get it and that set off the dominos that included audiences avoiding the film as it flopped.
The Jon M. Chu (In the Heights) flick missed the mark at the box office—largely due to misguided journalistic strife from critics. It did have a beyond catchy soundtrack and an affable, good-looking cast (led by Aubrey Peeples as the titular character) that should have been a home run with audiences. Trust us when we say that it is the feel-good flick of 2015 and if you haven’t seen it, run—don’t walk—to find a way to witness this Jem of a musical film.
John Carney’s Trilogy: Once , Sing Street and Begin Again
When Once arrived in theaters in 2007, it could never have been predicted that Irish filmmaker John Carney was in fact commencing a trilogy of music industry films. It seemed like any number of one-offs in its chronicling of Guy (Glen Hansard), a singer-songwriter and his new acquaintance, known simply as “Girl” (the angelic Markéta Irglová).
The two would melodically and methodically come together in the most romantic and realistic of means that would so resonate with audiences, it would inspire an award-winning Broadway musical (it scored 11 Tony nods, won 8, including Best Musical).
Then, in 2013, Carney returned to the genre with Begin Again, starring Keira Knightley as a singer-songwriter and Mark Ruffalo as a music industry insider looking to make her a star. Like Once, it was musically romantic, and also like Once, it featured a stellar soundtrack that not only reflected the narrative of the film but transcended it in ways that wholeheartedly enhanced the overall cinematic experience.
Then, in 2016, Carney rocked the house with Sing Street. That film is an outright love letter to 80s music and the bands that defined that era.
Lady Sings the Blues
Lady Sings the Blues is the musical biopic of Billie Holiday. As portrayed by Diana Ross, the singer’s triumphant and tragic life story of the legend is brought to the screen, based loosely on her autobiography of the same name. It’s a stellar cast, what with Ross joined by Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Scatman Crothers, and James T. Callahan.
It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including scoring a nod for Ross for Best Actress and Best Music, Original Song Score and Adaptation. What’s fascinating about Lady Sings the Blues is how it seems to be telling a familiar story (see previous biopics), but is further proof that drug addiction, fame and the demands of the music industry can be a recipe for disaster—regardless of the performer’s musical genre, time period and background.
That Thing You Do!
Tom Hanks made his writer-director debut in a film that at the time was seen as being pretty “safe.” Hard to go wrong with a tale of a one-hit-wonder from the early 60s when it combines a good-looking group of guys (led by Tom Everett Scott, Johnathon Schaech, and Steve Zahn) and girls (Liv Tyler and Charlize Theron), and a compelling story that was clearly close to Hanks’ heart. They say, “write what you know.” Hanks grew up during this period and as The Beatles and other bands were dominating radio waves with a pop hook, That Thing You Do! appeared to be ripped from that headlines.
The group scores a number one hit with the titular song and rides that as long as they possibly can, before infighting, jealousy, and the raw reality of the music industry rears its head. Hanks’ command of the material is top-notch and time has shown that the film is not only beloved in musician circles, but throughout the landscape of pop culture.
The Five Heartbeats
The Robert Townsend helmed 1991 musical drama The Five Heartbeats is a beloved flick by the legions who have embraced it since it arrived on screens a few decades back. Townsend co-wrote the script with the one and only Keenen Ivory Wayans and is loosely based on the real lives of singing groups of the late 50s and throughout the 60s. From The Temptations to the Four Tops and The Dells, one could see a little bit of a slew of musical artists from that era in The Five Heartbeats.
The flick follows the three-decade life of the fictional titular group. The story follows the rhythm and blues group as they rise and fall and is told through the eyes (and ears!) of Donald “Duck” Matthews (played by Townsend, one busy man!). The Five Heartbeats lands on our list of best music industry-centric cinema due to its incredible ability to capture the rhythm and blues scene of that era and the raw reality that surrounded those who rocked this part of the musical spectrum.
Inside Llewyn Davis
The Coen Brothers tackling the folk music scene of the 60s is as amazing as it sounds, especially with the cast of towering thespian talents that fill out his ensemble. The film chronicles one week in the life of a folkie as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk music scene that had an enormous influence over not only pop culture, but American culture as a whole. Inside Llewyn Davis also has a lot of fun while painting a picture of the musical life of a traveling folk musician during that period.
Oscar Isaac (recently “heard” in the animated The Addams Family) who serves as our entry into the folkie musical movement and is accompanied by the stellar cast—Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Adam Driver, Justin Timberlake, and Garrett Hedlund.
The Coens always paint rich pictures with their words and their direction and Inside Llewyn Davis is no different. It’s another treasure to behold regardless of if you’re a fan of folk music. This is a study in the American music business and how it looked at the folkies and tried to package them in a manner that would add up with dollar signs. It is also a lesson in the raw reality of the music business and how for every success, there is a litany of failures.
The Harder They Come
Sometimes the most pointed portrayal of a subject matter can come from the least likely of places. That is firmly the case with the film The Harder They Come. Jimmy Cliff starred, wrote, and sang the title track, as a reggae singer who records his first song, The Harder They Come, with hopes of it being a hit and that it will lift him out of his poverty-laden life. It doesn’t paint the brightest of pictures of the music business, particularly since our antagonist in this film is an evil producer who goes by the name of Hilton (Bob Charlton).
Martin and Hilton are at odds and in order for the singer to get his track released, he will have to commit crimes including selling pot and taking out some evil policemen. In the process, he becomes a local hero (mostly for taking down those nasty cops) as his song shoots up the charts.
Nashville
Nobody does large ensemble pieces with powerful messages like Robert Altman. The filmmaker’s 1975 classic Nashville simultaneously looks at the music business (specifically the country music scene), but also American politics. As a political party gears up for its convention in the titular city, a slew of fascinating characters finds their stories crisscross, all leading up to a bonanza of a conclusion from the wizard of ensemble-rich filmmaking.
Altman’s stellar cast includes Ned Beatty, Karen Black, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Shelley Duvall, Scott Glenn, Jeff Goldblum, Lily Tomlin, Elliott Gould, and Julie Christie.
The satire works both as a farcical look at our political system (which doesn’t look like it’s changed all that much in four decades) and through its spotlight on the country genre, the music industry. The film was universally hailed and earned five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress for Lily Tomlin, Best Supporting Actress for Ronee Blakley, Best Original Song, Best Director for Altman.
Beyond the Lights
Back in 2014, a film arrived that, sadly, largely went unnoticed. Beyond the Lights is a terrific music industry movie, with a twist. It’s wildly romantic and it is the romance at the heart of the story that is our entry into this lesson in music industry politics 101.
It’s 1998 in London and Noni Jean (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) has a mother that could easily be called a “showbiz mama.” She’s young and talented, but when Noni comes in second place in a talent competition, her mother forces her to destroy the trophy. Remember when Ricky Bobby repeated, ad nauseam, that if you “ain’t first, you’re last?” That’s firmly the sentiment of Minnie Driver’s Macy Jean. It also gives us a view into a certain segment of the music industry that hasn’t been spotlighted here—the parent who seeks to live their pop star dreams vicariously through a child.
The music movie wrinkle here arrives in the form of a Los Angeles Police Department officer who meets Noni in the most stressful of situations. Kaz Nicol (Nate Parker) is thankfully there when Noni needs someone most and the spark between the LAPD officer and the now superstar singer is electric, palpable, and largely why Beyond the Lights is a must-see movie.
How it portrays the music industry is not necessarily flattering. But one could argue that if anyone in this fictional tale is an antagonist, it is Noni’s mother. How it all comes together is brilliantly achieved, rooted in a reality that anyone can relate to, and most of all—is wildly entertaining with the most toe-tapping and emotively powerful soundtrack.
Hustle & Flow
Before Hustle & Flow, Terrence Howard was a character actor whose face was familiar to countless film fans, but there was nothing that “certified” that he was a big star. That changed in 2005, thanks to writer-director Craig Brewer’s deeply intimate film about a Memphis pimp (and drug dealer) who has the loftiest dreams of hip-hop stardom. At the 2006 Oscars, Howard would score a Best Actor nomination—firmly putting him on the stardom map—and it won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp from Three 6 Mafia.
Hustle & Flow features a stellar cast, including Anthony Anderson, Taryn Manning, Taraji P. Henson, DJ Qualls, and Ludacris. They all bring their A-game and collectively achieve greatness in the process. Few films (at that point) had so stunningly portrayed the hip hop world as Brewer’s flick does as it gives us a front-row seat to the American dream arriving in the form of some serious Hustle via Djay (Howard) with his killer Flow.
A Star is Born (all versions)
There are four incarnations of A Star is Born and each belongs on this list of films that give an unflinching look at the music industry. Beginning with 1937’s A Star is Born that starred Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, through the 1954 version with Judy Garland and James Mason, the iconic 1976 flick starring Barbra Streisand and Kris Kristofferson, and of course, the Oscar-winning 2018 version with writer-director-star Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga, they all share something in common. Each tells the tale of a veteran music industry star who is taken aback—via musical talent and a romantic tsunami of feelings—by a young upstart whose fame and success will eclipse his and the tragedy that that causes.
The music industry is a cruel and dark-hearted business. So too is the film industry and many businesses for that matter. Yet in A Star is Born, the ice coldness of that world is portrayed in such a way that it grabs audiences by the heart, raises it up, entertains it with some sensational music and performances, and then breaks that heart into a million little pieces.
It’s a powerful combination of elements that has four times added up to something extraordinary that moves each generation as immensely as it did previously.