As we’ll no doubt be reminded when we see Amelia, which opens today, biopics are often a bummer. Just once I’d like to see the plane not crash, or the assassin miss, or Andy Kaufman not die of cancer. It can get depressing.
Still, I have a soft spot for these films. When an actor truly embodies the familiar figure who’s being, er, biopicked, there’s no doubt it can be riveting; I could watch Meryl Streep make boeuf bourguignon all day long. And biopics can even be fascinating when things go wrong, in a Bobby-Darin-must-be-rolling-over-in-his-grave kind of way.
I thought I’d revisit a few of both kinds in order to mentally prepare myself for the moment when Hilary Swank goes down over the Pacific. By the way, if I’m already dead when they begin looking for someone to play me in the story of my life, please tell them: definitely Zac Efron.
