The 12 Worst Biopics of All Time (and 12 You Should Watch Instead)
Andrew Dominik’s Blonde NC-17 was controversial from the start: for its ratings, for its source material (a highly fictionalized novel by Joyce Carol Oates), and then for an interview with its director . Many things can sink a biopic: a prosaic plot; bad performances; bad makeup; etc., but sometimes good enough or even great films fail in their plots, completely ignoring them in favor of telling the story the filmmakers want to tell. Any cinematic take on a celebrity or historical figure will be fiction, but some avoid the truth more blatantly than others. It is also paradoxically true that films can capture someone’s essence (or at least their public persona) without revealing all the facts. It’s a difficult genre.
The following biopics fall short of their purpose, which doesn’t mean they’re all terrible (only that most of them are), but we also have better alternatives if you’re still interested in Marilyn’s life. Tupac, Diana, Nina or any of those others.