12 biopics that were criticized by relatives (13 photos)

28 January 2025
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Category: movie, 0+

The films on this list are not necessarily bad or officially considered disastrously inaccurate, but they have been complained about. And not just anyone there, but those about whom the films were made, direct participants in the events shown or those close to them.





Biopics, or films based on real events, present a creative challenge. After all, the story must be shown as reliably as possible (in theory), and besides, all the facts and events must be played out in such a way that, from the point of view of drama, the film is interesting to the viewer. Often these two objectives conflict with each other.

However, if you make a film about the personalities and events of some fifteenth century, only historians will challenge its realism, but viewers and film critics may really like the picture, despite its inaccuracies. An example of such a case is the film “Braveheart” (1995), which is almost entirely woven from historical jambs, but at the same time it has five Oscars.

It’s a completely different matter when a biographical film shows the story of a person who lived in the second half of the twentieth century or even a contemporary. Then, if suddenly the picture turns out to be filled with obvious inaccuracies, it will immediately be criticized by relatives, friends, or even the heroes of the story shown.

1. Green Book (2017)



The film was criticized by the relatives of pianist Don Shirley. The musician's brother Morris Shirley claimed that the facts in the film were manipulated, and the relationship between Don and his driver Frank Vallelonga never went beyond the boundaries of "employee - employer". According to Morris, in reality the characters in the film were never friends.

In addition, in the film, Don Shirley told Frank that he had lost contact with his family - this, according to the pianist’s brother, is also a lie. Also, the image of Don itself was seriously distorted for the sake of cinematography, this was noted not only by relatives, but also by simply people familiar with the musician.

As a result, the actor who plays Don Shirley, Mahershala Ali, even publicly apologized for the film and his work in it. By the way, the actor received an Oscar for this role, but the facts that emerged and the reaction of his relatives became an unpleasant surprise for him.

2. Black Mass (2015)





The film was criticized by two participants in the events shown in it - the famous American gangster James Bulger (played by Johnny Depp) and his underworld ward Kevin Weeks. Both of them claimed (Bulger through his lawyer) that the film blamed them for all the crimes, ignoring the involvement of the federal government in many of the "dirty dealings" in Boston at the time.

Weeks also noted that the actor who played him in the film, Jesse Plemons, created the image of him as a “jerk and a nonentity.” It is worth noting that Kevin Weeks, who was released long ago, at least actually saw the film, but James Bulger, who was serving a double life sentence in prison (he died in 2018), only heard about “Black Mass” from hearsay.

3. Social Network (2010)



Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, noted that because of the cinematic embellishments of how his famous social network was created, the film was difficult to take seriously. However, at the same time he admitted that in reality it was too boring a process to build an interesting film out of it.

Zuckerberg's main complaint about David Fincher's film was the incorrect motivation of the main character. In reality, Mark Zuckerberg did not invent Facebook in order to pick up girls, because at that time he was already dating his future wife. The viewer sees her in the prologue of the picture, but she and Mark had no intention of parting, as was shown. This plot and motivational detail was called "offensive" by Zuckerberg.

4. Moving Up (2017)



The film was criticized by relatives of the USSR national basketball team coach Vladimir Kondrashin and national team player Alexander Belov. They noted that a large number of events in the film are shown at least inaccurately, in particular the personal lives of athletes, and the on-screen Alexander Belov, in their opinion, was very different from what he was like in life.

Here's what Evgenia Kondrashina said:

The film completely distorts personal life - they literally made up whatever they wanted.

5. Catch Me If You Can (2002)



Initially, Frank Abagnale, an American fraudster and now an expert in the field of document security, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, received the film well. In particular, he enjoyed the escapism associated with his relationship with his father.

However, a few years later, Abagnale admitted that he was dissatisfied with the very fact of the existence of this film and the fact that his atrocities, which he actually regrets, were perpetuated in culture, and even romanticized.

6. I Seduced Andy Warhol (2006)



Bob Dylan threatened to sue the filmmakers, saying through his lawyers that the film's script hinted at his responsibility for the drug addiction and death of Edie Sedgwick, the main character. Although his name was changed to Billy Quinn, it did nothing to soften Dylan's anger.

Another American musician featured in the film, Lou Reed, truly hated the film:

I read this script. This is one of the most disgusting and vile things I have seen in a long time. There is no limit to how low some people will stoop to make money.

7. Tsoi (2020)



Despite the title, the central character of the film was the bus driver, from a collision with whom the famous musician died.

The father and son of Viktor Tsoi called the film a “vulgar spectacle” and even wrote to the president of the country with a letter asking him to remove the film from distribution.

People like Viktor Tsoi belong not only to the history of their family, but also to the history of their country. And if society has such heroes, it should not be used as a vulgar source of income, using “free interpretations.”

8. Jobs: Empire of Temptation (2013)



Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, criticized the film. He said that he refused to cooperate with the creators of this biopic about Steve Jobs, because, after reading the initial version of the script, he considered it worthless.

The images were very wrong, although mine was more or less... and our relationship was not at all the same as it was shown.

At the same time, Wozniak acted as a consultant to the screenwriter of the film “Steve Jobs,” starring Michael Fassbender, which was released just two years after “Empire of Seduction.” And it was the 2015 film that was much better received by the public and critics.

9. The Fifth Estate (2013)



Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, played by Benedict Cumberbatch in the film, went the furthest on this list and reacted negatively to the film even before its appearance, trying in every possible way to prevent filming. And all because, having read the script given to him, he considered it a massive propaganda attack. Assange even corresponded with Cumberbatch (who, by the way, fully supports the journalist and his organization) in order to dissuade the actor from participating in this project.

As a result, Assange called the resulting film “poisonous”, but at the same time praised Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance.

10. Healer Adams (1998)



American doctor Patch Adams, played by Robin Williams in the film, was an outspoken critic of the film, saying its creators sacrificed much of his actual work to make the project marketable. In his opinion, the film narrowed him down to just a funny doctor, simplifying all his ideas to the extreme.

Despite the fact that Adams personally treated Robin Williams well, the doctor has another rather eloquent quote:

I hate this movie.

11. Summer (2018)



Another film story with the participation of Viktor Tsoi was criticized by Boris Grebenshchikov, calling the film “deceitful from beginning to end.” One of the founders of the Kino group, Alexey Rybin, also reacted negatively to the film:

They sent me the script. After reading it, I wrote to the director that I was categorically against the use of my image in this story. My ideas about morality are too different from the ideas of the author of “Summer”.

12. The Blind Side (2009)



Michael Oher, whose story is told in the film, expressed dissatisfaction with the resulting picture, paying particular attention to the portrayal of his intelligence:

It seemed to me that in this film they showed me as stupid, and not just a child.

Another reason for the athlete’s irritation was a story thread where he is shown not understanding football. In fact, Michael has been studying this game since he was a child.

At the same time, Oher admitted that he liked the message of the film and the way it showed his relationship with his adoptive family.

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