Dave Tompkins :: DVD Library :: 2-Genre Table :: Crime :: Biography


(text-only version)

American Gangster (2007)

In 1970s America, a detective works to bring down the drug empire of Frank Lucas, a heroin kingpin from Manhattan, who is smuggling the drug into the country from the Far East.

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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.

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Basketball Diaries (1995)

Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction...

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Bidder 70 (2012)

Tim DeChristopher is Bidder 70, a young man who derailed an illegal BLM oil and gas auction in a courageous act of civil disobedience.

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Blow (2001)

The story of George Jung, the man who established the American cocaine market in the 1970's.

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Bonnie and Clyde (1967)

A somewhat romantized account of the career of the notoriously violent bank robbing couple and their gang.

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Bugsy (1991)

The story of how Bugsy Siegel started Las Vegas.

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Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)

Two Western bank/train robbers flee to Bolivia when the law gets too close.

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Capote (2005)

Truman Capote (Hoffman), during his research for his book In Cold Blood, an account of the murder of a Kansas family, the writer develops a close relationship with Perry Smith, one of the killers.

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Captain Phillips (2013)

The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

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Carlos (2010)

The story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.

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Casino (1995)

Greed, deception, money, power, and murder occur between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife over a gambling empire.

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Casino Jack (2010)

A hot shot Washington DC lobbyist and his protégé go down hard as their schemes to peddle influence lead to corruption and murder.

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Catch Me If You Can (2002)

A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor.

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Donnie Brasco (1997)

An FBI undercover agent infilitrates the mob and finds himself identifying more with the mafia life to the expense of his regular one.

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Freedom Writers (2007)

A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

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The Frozen Ground (2013)

An Alaska State Trooper partners with a young woman who escaped the clutches of serial killer Robert Hansen to bring the murderer to justice. Based on actual events.

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Goodfellas (1990)

Henry Hill and his friends work their way up through the mob hierarchy.

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Heavenly Creatures (1994)

Two girls have an intense fantasy life; their parents, concerned the fantasy is too intense, separate them, and the girls take revenge.

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Holy Rollers (2010)

In Brooklyn, a youth from an Orthodox Jewish community is lured into becoming an Ecstasy dealer by his pal who has ties to an Israel drug cartel.

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The Iceman (2012)

The true story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor daughters have any clue about his real profession.

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J. Edgar (2011)

As the face of law enforcement in America for almost 50 years, J. Edgar Hoover was feared and admired, reviled and revered. But behind closed doors, he held secrets that would have destroyed his image, his career and his life.

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Midnight Express (1978)

Story of a man who is caught smuggling drugs out of Turkey and thrown into prison.

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Monster (2003)

Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.

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Papillon (1973)

A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.

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Public Enemies (2009)

The Feds try to take down notorious American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd during a booming crime wave in the 1930s.

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Serpico (1973)

The true story about an honest New York cop who blew the whistle on rampant corruption in the force only to have his comrades turn against him.

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Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose.

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The Whistleblower (2010)

A drama based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.

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The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

Based on the true story of Jordan Belfort, from his rise to a wealthy stock-broker living the high life to his fall involving crime, corruption and the federal government.

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