Movie Dramas
By Shane Rivers
Movie dramas will make you think, and they’ll often bring a tear to the eye. A1 Movie Reviews has a number of drama movie reviews and drama movie essays.
1. A Few Good Men – (1992, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon) Can you handle the truth in one of the best drama movies to ever take place in a courtroom?
2. The Green Mile – (1999, Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan) On Death Row in 1935, a remarkable story about the cell block’s head guard, who develops a poignant relationship with an inmate with miraculous powers. Written by Stephen King.
3. The Shawshank Redemption – (1994, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman) Andy Dufresne is in the Shawshank Prison for murder in the 1940s. Sincere performances, plus an uplifting message about humanity and hope. Based on a Stephen King novel. Be sure and read our drama movie reviews and drama movie essays for more movies like this.
4. Dead Man Walking – (1995, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon) The relationship between a death-row inmate and a nun whom the inmate turns to for spiritual guidance days before his execution. Oscar for best actress (Sarandon).
5. Mystic River – (2003, Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Lawrence Fishburne) The murder of a young girl reunites four childhood friends, one of which was abused as a child. One of the best drama movies of the new century, and it was appropriately awarded by the Academy.
6. Men of Honor – (2000, Robert De Niro, Cuba Gooding Jr.) Inspiring, true-life story of Carl Brashear, who became the Navy’s first black deep-sea salvage retrieval diver. Movie will make you believe you can do anything.
7. The Truman Show – (1998, Jim Carrey, Ed Harris) The life of Truman Burbank has been broadcast around the world since he was born. Truman is a star, but doesn’t know cameras are in every corner of his world. Very original.
8. Gangs of New York – (2002, Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz) Set in New York City in the mid 1800s, a young man seeks vengeance against the man who killed his father. Worth watching just to see Day-Lewis’ performance.
9. Forrest Gump – (1996, Tom Hanks, Robin Wright Penn, Sally Field) A simple-minded fellow looks for love and happiness amidst the turbulent backdrop of the ’60s and ’70s. Along the way, he rubs elbows with some of the most famous people alive and inadvertently influences history. Tom Hanks won an Oscar for Best Actor in one of the best drama movies of the last few decades.
10. Sleepers – (1996, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Jason Patric, Kevin Bacon) Four teens in Manhattan in the 1960s, pull a prank that goes awry and serve time at a juvenile school where they are abused by guards. As adults, the foursome battle the emotional repercussions of their abuse.
11. Runaway Jury – (2003, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and John Cusack) Dustin Hoffman is a plucky lawyer representing a women whose husband was killed in a workplace shooting. Gene Hackman is the arrogant attorney representing the gun company getting sued. John Cusack is the juror with his own agenda.