As Scott Cooper’s “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere” hits theaters this weekend, much discourse will be spilled about the music biopic as a genre, its form and function, and its ability to mint awards season gold. So this is as good a time as any to regard the music biopic, especially the best ones. So here’s where to stream some of the most iconic music movies to pair with “Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.”
Most comparisons will be drawn to last year’s “A Complete Unknown,” in which Timothée Chalamet starred as a young Bob Dylan in the lead-up to his electrifying Newport Folk Festival performance. Directed by James Mangold, Chalamet was aiming for Oscar greatness, but fell just short. His co-star Monica Barbaro, playing Joan Baez, was also nominated for best supporting actress. Stream it on Hulu.
Austin Butler shot to instant stardom with his channeling of the king of rock ‘n’ roll in Baz Luhrmann’s 2022 film “Elvis,” a dizzying and delirious depiction of Presley’s rise and fall. Butler also earned a nomination for his uncanny, sexy, performance. Rent the film on all digital platforms.
Chadwick Boseman missed on the nomination but certainly made an impression with his incredible performance as James Brown in Tate Taylor’s 2014 film “Get On Up.” Regardless of the film’s quality, Boseman is undeniable as Brown. Stream it on Starz or rent it on other digital platforms.
Taron Egerton as Elton John in “Rocketman.” (David Appleby/Paramount Pictures/TNS)
Rami Malek won Oscar gold for playing Queen frontman Freddie Mercury in the much-maligned “Bohemian Rhapsody” (rent). That 2018 glam-rock movie overshadowed the much better Elton John biopic “Rocketman” directed by Dexter Fletcher. Imagined as a musical fever dream of inner child healing, Taron Egerton shines as John, bringing his own spectacular pipes to the 2019 performance. Give “Rocketman” a chance and rent it on all digital platforms.
While we’re talking British rockers, don’t forget to catch the Robbie Williams biopic “Better Man,” which managed to sidestep accusations of falling prey to biopic tropes by presenting its protagonist as an animated monkey. Somehow, director Michael Gracey makes it work. Stream “Better Man” (2024) on Paramount+ or Prime Video.
Back in 1984, Milos Forman took us back to the first bad boy of the music world, with his 8-time Oscar winning film “Amadeus.” Tom Hulce portrayed the musical prodigy Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as a petulant, bratty young genius with a distinctive laugh, insatiable appetite and endless talent. F. Murray Abraham won an Oscar for his performance as the jealous rival Salieri. Rent “Amadeus” on all digital platforms.
Also back in the ‘80s, Sissy Spacek won an Oscar playing country star Loretta Lynn in “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980) directed by Michael Apted (available for rent), and Lou Diamond Phillips sizzled as 1950s Chicano rocker Ritchie Valens in Luis Valdez’s “La Bamba” (available on Paramount+ or for rent).
The mid-aughts brought back-to-back Oscar winners in musical biopics, first with Jamie Foxx’s turn as Ray Charles in 2004’s “Ray,” directed by Taylor Hackford, and the next year with Mangold’s Johnny and June Carter Cash film, “Walk the Line.” Reese Witherspoon took home an Oscar; Joaquin Phoenix was nominated but lost out to Philip Seymour Hoffman (for his literary biopic, “Capote”). “Ray” and “Walk the Line” are available for rent, and “Ray” is also on Starz.
Those music movies especially influenced the parody movie “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” starring John C. Reilly and directed by Jake Kasdan, written by Kasdan and Judd Apatow. Released in 2007, it’s the music biopic (of a fictional character) to end all music biopics, smartly skewering every trope in the book. None are safe. Rent “Walk Hard” on all digital platforms.
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