Working Class Heroes
by tiltedsun | created - 21 Feb 2014 | updated - 12 Feb 2017 | PublicMovies that reflect a sense of integrity and character, from underdog tradesmen to borderline outlaws.
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1. Nobody's Fool (1994)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
A stubborn man past his prime reflects on his life of strict independence and seeks more from himself.
Director: Robert Benton | Stars: Paul Newman, Bruce Willis, Jessica Tandy, Melanie Griffith
Votes: 22,521 | Gross: $39.49M
Sully just wants to get paid what he is owed. The problem is his former employer always seems to win...but not this time.
2. Hud (1963)
Passed | 112 min | Drama, Western
Honest, hard-working Texas rancher Homer Bannon has a conflict with his unscrupulous, selfish, arrogant, egotistical son Hud, who sank into alcoholism after accidentally killing his brother in a car crash.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Paul Newman, Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, Brandon De Wilde
Votes: 23,936 | Gross: $10.00M
A bitter conflict develops between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer over their diseased cattle.
3. Mac (1992)
R | 117 min | Drama
Mac is the ambitious, overbearing, irresistible oldest of three brothers who struggle against all odds to scrape together enough money to start their own business in Queens, New York.
Director: John Turturro | Stars: John Turturro, Michael Badalucco, Carl Capotorto, Nicholas Turturro
Votes: 1,023 | Gross: $0.47M
Mac only wants to be build decent homes for people but he has to battle the competition and his own family first.
4. The Wages of Fear (1953)
Not Rated | 131 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
In a decrepit South American village, four men are hired to transport an urgent nitroglycerine shipment without the equipment that would make it safe.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot | Stars: Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Peter van Eyck, Folco Lulli
Votes: 66,543
5. Breaking Away (1979)
PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
A working-class Indiana teen obsessed with the Italian cycling team vies for the affections of a college girl while searching for life goals with his friends.
Director: Peter Yates | Stars: Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid, Daniel Stern, Jackie Earle Haley
Votes: 25,465 | Gross: $16.42M
A group of four working class kids struggle with being unfocused and unmotivated in life, until one finds motivation in cycling.
6. I, Daniel Blake (2016)
R | 100 min | Drama
After surviving a heart-attack, a 59-year-old carpenter must fight bureaucratic forces to receive Employment and Support Allowance.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy, Briana Shann
Votes: 64,761 | Gross: $0.26M
7. Sorcerer (1977)
PG | 121 min | Adventure, Drama, Thriller
Four unfortunate men from different parts of the globe agree to risk their lives transporting gallons of nitroglycerin across dangerous Latin American jungle.
Director: William Friedkin | Stars: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou
Votes: 27,592 | Gross: $12.00M
8. Spring Forward (1999)
R | 110 min | Drama
An ex convict befriends an elderly coworker as they both try to find meaning in life and forgiveness for their past.
Director: Tom Gilroy | Stars: Campbell Scott, Ned Beatty, Liev Schreiber, Ian Hart
Votes: 1,499 | Gross: $0.10M
Paul and Murph work maintenance for the local park system. Soon, they become good friends despite being completely different in every way.
9. Lakeboat (2000)
R | 98 min | Drama
Film adaptation of David Mamet's comic play Lakeboat about a grad student who takes a summer job on a Great Lakes freighter and sees life through the eyes of his low-brow crew members.
Director: Joe Mantegna | Stars: Charles Durning, Peter Falk, Denis Leary, Robert Forster
Votes: 745
Dale is a college student who briefly joins a world-weary crew on a Great Lakes cargo ship. The seafaring lifestyle falls short of his literary visions, he instead finds the experience rich in unexpected ways.
10. Rancho Deluxe (1975)
R | 93 min | Comedy, Romance, Western
Two drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in contemporary Montana.
Director: Frank Perry | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Sam Waterston, Elizabeth Ashley, Clifton James
Votes: 2,148
Jack McKee and Cecil Colson are modern day cattle rustlers who make an enemy of a rich rancher who enjoys pretending he's a cowboy.
11. Giant (1956)
G | 201 min | Drama, Western
Sprawling epic covering the life of a Texas cattle rancher and his family and associates.
Director: George Stevens | Stars: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Carroll Baker
Votes: 42,233
Jett Rink grows up in the shadow of a rich family until he becomes an imposing figure in his own right.
12. EvenHand (2002)
R | 92 min | Drama
Set in a dirt-poor neighborhood in the fictional city of San Lovisa, Texas, EvenHand tells the story of two very different cops, working together for the first time. Rob Francis, recently ... See full summary »
Director: Joseph Pierson | Stars: Bill Sage, Bill Dawes, Lawrence Stringer, Lee Stringer
Votes: 484
The best film about cops and their motivation I've ever seen with a soundtrack by M. Doughty.
13. The Color of Money (1986)
R | 119 min | Drama, Sport
Fast Eddie Felson teaches a cocky but immensely talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling, which in turn inspires him to make an unlikely comeback.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver
Votes: 93,239 | Gross: $52.29M
Fast Eddie Felson tries to teach a talented protégé the ropes of pool hustling but some grifters have ethics.
14. Diggers (2006)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
A story about a tight-knit group of friends, who try to maintain their small-town way of life in the face of enormous changes in 1970s Long Island.
Director: Katherine Dieckmann | Stars: Paul Rudd, Ken Marino, Maura Tierney, Ron Eldard
Votes: 3,015 | Gross: $0.07M
Diggers is a tale of a small clamming community on Long Island. Like most working class towns, the people all know each other from school days and just growing up in close proximity with parents of similar occupation.
15. The Navigators (2001)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
Five Yorkshiremen try to survive after the British Rail is bought out by a private company.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Dean Andrews, Thomas Craig, Joe Duttine, Steve Huison
Votes: 3,104 | Gross: $0.00M
Five Yorkshiremen try to survive after the British Rail is bought out by a private company. Spending cuts come at a cost to safety.
16. Falling Down (1993)
R | 113 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Robert Duvall, Barbara Hershey, Rachel Ticotin
Votes: 206,595 | Gross: $40.90M
Watch a man fall apart in response to indifference.
17. Norma Rae (1979)
PG | 114 min | Drama
A young single mother and textile worker agrees to help unionize her mill despite the problems and dangers involved.
Director: Martin Ritt | Stars: Sally Field, Beau Bridges, Ron Leibman, Pat Hingle
Votes: 12,828 | Gross: $22.23M
18. Matewan (1987)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, History
A labor union organizer comes to an embattled mining community brutally and violently dominated and harassed by the mining company.
Director: John Sayles | Stars: Chris Cooper, James Earl Jones, Mary McDonnell, Will Oldham
Votes: 8,908 | Gross: $1.68M
19. God's Pocket (2014)
R | 88 min | Crime, Drama
A blue collar worker tries to cover things up when his stepson is killed in a suspicious accident, but a local reporter senses that something's amiss.
Director: John Slattery | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Christina Hendricks, Richard Jenkins, John Turturro
Votes: 12,400 | Gross: $0.10M
20. Scrapper (2013)
Not Rated | 85 min | Drama
Did you know that scrap metal is America's 4th largest export? Well, Hollis Wallace does, and he makes his quiet living trolling the back alleys of Seattle looking for cast-off copper, ... See full summary »
Director: Brady Hall | Stars: Michael Beach, Aidan Gillen, Anna Giles, Joanna Angel
Votes: 286
21. Chef (2014)
R | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
A head chef quits his restaurant job and buys a food truck in an effort to reclaim his creative promise, while piecing back together his estranged family.
Director: Jon Favreau | Stars: Jon Favreau, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Dustin Hoffman
Votes: 231,650 | Gross: $31.42M
22. Sweet Bean (2015)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
Burdened with a heavy and ever-increasing debt, a dorayaki baker hires a kind ageing woman, after tasting her delicious surprise. Little by little, she unravels her beautiful inner world. Could she be holding the secret to his success?
Director: Naomi Kawase | Stars: Kirin Kiki, Masatoshi Nagase, Kyara Uchida, Miki Mizuno
Votes: 12,701 | Gross: $0.12M
23. Riff-Raff (1991)
Unrated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
The story of construction-worker Stevie and his unemployed pop-singer girlfriend shows the living conditions of the British poor class.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Robert Carlyle, Emer McCourt, Jim R. Coleman, George Moss
Votes: 4,885 | Gross: $0.30M
24. Blue Collar (1978)
R | 114 min | Crime, Drama
When three automotive factory workers who're struggling financially try to steal from their own labor union, they discover corruption, and reluctantly decide to use this information for blackmail.
Director: Paul Schrader | Stars: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto, Ed Begley Jr.
Votes: 10,634
25. The Navigators (2001)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama
Five Yorkshiremen try to survive after the British Rail is bought out by a private company.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Dean Andrews, Thomas Craig, Joe Duttine, Steve Huison
Votes: 3,104 | Gross: $0.00M
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