Promising a blockbuster blend of action, comedy and romance, The Fall Guy is set to kick off May with a bang. But the Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt-starrer also has something else going for it: A peek into movie-making magic via Gosling's titular Hollywood stuntman.
The highly anticipated flick is far from the first to peel back the curtain on Tinseltown's silver screen wizardry, though, as fans have always held a deep fascination with what goes on behind the camera. In fact, as evidenced by the following list, movies about making movies have long made for great cinematic entertainment.
Too Long, Didn't Read summary:
• Movie fans enjoy getting a peek behind the scenes, and Hollywood has happily obliged, churning out a number of silver screen hits that lift he curtain to reveal the good, the bad and the hilarious of the filmmaking business.
• This meta approach to movie-making has taken on many forms, from deep-diving biographies and industry-roasting satires to ambitious takes that spice up real Hollywood history with some fictional flair.
• While the following movies stand stand out within their respective genres, they earn some extra cred with film fans who not only appreciate what's projected on the big screen, but also the blood, sweat and tears that were shed behind the camera.
15. Three Amigos! (1986)
45% on the Tomatometer
If you're a fan of Steve Martin and Martin Short's comedic chemistry, you'll want to saddle-up for Three Amigos! – which also stars Chevy Chase in his '80s-comedy prime. Similar to Tropic Thunder's meta premise, John Landis' underappreciated classic finds its three spoiled actors – in this case, silent-film cowboys – unknowingly facing life-and-death danger when they're mistaken for real gun-slinging heroes and recruited to thwart a Mexican village-bullying bandit. This one didn't do much for critics upon release, but thanks to its superb cast, quotable lines and some enduring, laugh-out-loud scenes, it's ridden into the sunset as a cult favorite.
14. Bowfinger (1999)
81% on the Tomatometer
Like so many entries on this list, Bowfinger explores – and pokes plenty of fun at – the art of filmmaking through a comedic lens. In this case, a fledgling director/conman (Steve Martin) attempts to make it big by crafting a sci-fi blockbuster featuring Hollywood star Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy), who doesn't actually know he's in the movie. Martin – who penned the script – and Murphy – who also hilariously plays Ramsey's clueless, bespectacled twin – are firing on all cylinders here, resulting in one of the late '90s funniest films.
13. Tropic Thunder (2008)
82% on the Tomatometer
More biting send-up than subtle satire, Tropic Thunder takes aim at Hollywood's self-importance and, more so, the excessive egos and vanity of some of its stars. Directed by Ben Stiller, the dark comedy drops a spoiled action hero (Stiller), insufferable method actor (Robert Downey Jr.,) and substance-abusing comedian (Jack Black) into the jungle to film an Apocalypse Now-like Vietnam epic.
The trio's personalities unsurprisingly clash, but things get much worse for the pampered bunch when they unknowingly wind up in a real war zone. Action and hilarity ensue – and that's before Tom Cruise steals the show as Les Grossman, the fictional film's bald, obese, obscenity-spewing producer.
12. The Blair Witch Project (1999)
86% on the Tomatometer
Given its penchant for terrifying stick totems and children's creepy hand prints, you could be excused for forgetting that found-footage horror classic The Blair Witch Project was actually about a group of eager film students attempting to make a documentary about a fabled evil entity.
Of course, plans quickly go south when the aspiring artists get lost in the haunted woods of Burkittsville, Maryland. Interestingly, thanks to some clever marketing tactics, many viewers initially believed the horror movie was a factual documentary about the fictional “missing” filmmakers.
11. Hail, Caesar! (2016)
86% on the Tomatometer
Featuring the Coen brothers' unmistakable style, Hail, Caesar! packs all the quirky characters, twisty plot lines and darkly comedic details you'd expect from the directing duo's incomparable projects. But the movie – titled for a fictional sword-and-sandals big screen epic – filters their familiar, fan-pleasing formula through 1950s Hollywood and its filmmaking obsession. The result finds studio “fixer” Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin) in over his head when the fictional movie's star, hilariously played by George Clooney, is kidnapped and held for a hefty ransom.
10. Once Upon Time In Hollywood (2019)
86% on the Tomatometer
Quentin Tarantino combines his adoration for filmmaking with his own signature style in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a love letter of sorts to late '60s Tinseltown. Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt star as fading film star Rick Dalton and his bestie/stunt double Cliff Booth, respectively.
The story offers a romanticized look at Hollywood's waning Golden Age, while, of course, complementing it with Tarantino's layered storytelling and whip-smart dialog. It also cleverly blurs the line between fact and fiction, injecting the likes of Bruce Lee, Sharon Tate and Charles Manson into the characters' increasingly complex – and endlessly entertaining – misadventures.
9. Get Shorty (1995)
89% on the Tomatometer
Based on the Elmore Leonard novel of the same name, Get Shorty stars John Travolta as wicked cool loan shark Chili Palmer, a Miami mobster with lofty filmmaking aspirations. Stacked with a killer cast – that also includes Gene Hackman, Rene Russo and Danny Devito – and an incredibly slick vibe, the story skewers both the mafia and the movie biz by drawing parallels between both institutions and their unscrupulous players.
8. Barton Fink (1991)
90% on the Tomatometer
Long before the Coen brothers set their satirizing sights on Hollywood in 2016's Hail, Caesar!, the film-making siblings took a stab at the industry – albeit in a more intimate, much darker way – with Barton Fink, one of their earliest and most acclaimed movies. It stars John Turturro as a snobby, creatively-blocked playwright hired to pen a low-budget motion picture he feels is beneath his talent. John Goodman co-stars as an eccentric hotel neighbor with a sinister secret. Funny, brooding and beyond bizarre, the black comedy is some of the directing brothers' best work.
7. The Disaster Artist (2017)
91% on the Tomatometer
Fueled by a so-bad-it's-good reputation, 2003's The Room quickly earned a cult following that ultimately led to super-fan James Franco directing and starring in The Disaster Artist – based on the nonfiction novel of the same name. More than just chronicling the indie film's unconventional journey to the big screen, the biographical dramedy dives deep into the life of its eccentric director, producer, writer and star Tommy Wiseau, a Hollywood misfit who became as infamous as his bizarre film.
6. La La Land (2016)
92% on the Tomatometer
A loving ode to Los Angeles that doesn't shy away from showcasing Hollywood's heartless tendency to dash the dreams of its passionate, aspiring artists, La La Land follows a struggling musician (Ryan Gosling) and fledgling actress (Emma Stone, who won her first Oscar for the role). The story charts the pair's blossoming show business careers, as well as the toll Tinseltown takes on their love-at-first-sight romance. Of course, the appealing narrative is also framed within a rousing musical that delivers one toe-tapping, smile-inducing number after another.
5. The Fabelmans (2022)
92% on the Tomatometer
Loosely based on legendary director Steven Spielberg's formative years as an aspiring filmmaker, The Fabelmans follows young Sammy Fabelman, whose love of cinema fuels his passion to make movies himself. On top of exploring the teen's hobby-come-career, the film digs into Sammy's dysfunctional family life (with Michelle Williams and Paul Dano playing his parents) and how he leveraged his 8mm camera and a natural, burgeoning talent to cope with his personal struggles and challenging upbringing.
4. Ed Wood (1992)
92% on the Tomatometer
Tim Burton's Ed Wood tells the real-life story of a filmmaker who maybe had more gumption than God-given talent. The darkly comedic film features an all-in Johnny Depp as the titular, often derided B-movie director and Martin Landau in an Oscar-winning performance as Wood's muse, former 1930's horror star Bela Lugosi. In addition to the two performers' top-notch turns, the movie – which was filmed in black-and-white – creatively blends Burton's signature macabre style with funny, engrossing biographical storytelling.
3. Boogie Nights (1997)
93% on the Tomatometer
Boogie Nights is best remembered for featuring Mark Wahlberg as well-endowed porn star sensation Dirk Diggler. But Paul Thomas Anderson’s beloved take on the adult film industry also offers a surprisingly earnest, emotional – and often hilarious – look at this less-respected side of the movie biz. More than just a behind-the-scenes peek of how pornography was made in the late 70s, the movie provides an intimate, sometimes tragic look at the unconventional lives of the family-like community of friends and co-workers that made the films, played here by the likes of Julianne Moore, Burt Reynolds, Don Cheadle and John C. Reilly.
2. The Player (1992)
97% on the Tomatometer
At the heart of director Robert Altman's award-winning black comedy is the story of a cynical, cutthroat film executive (Tim Robbins) who murders a screenwriter he believes is threatening him. But as absorbing as that central, twisty plot is, it often takes a backseat to the film's Hollywood-skewering satire and cameo-packed cast, as everyone from Gary Busey and Bruce Willis to Terri Garr and Jeff Goldblum show up to lend the lauded film some star-studded authenticity.
1. Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
97% on the Tomatometer
You may have heard of the 1975 cult-classic Dolemite, but we promise you, the making of the blaxploitation favorite is far more entertaining than the movie itself. With Eddie Murphy in the title role – and at the top of his game – the acclaimed biography spins the true, hilarious tale of comedian/filmmaker Rudy Ray Moore, who reinvented himself as the colorful, charismatic – but not especially talented – Dolemite, to turnaround his struggling career and find an adoring audience along the way.
