Working Class Heroes

by tiltedsun | created - 21 Feb 2014 | updated - 12 Feb 2017 | Public

Movies 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

86 Metascore

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

62 Metascore

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

85 Metascore

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

91 Metascore

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

78 Metascore

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

68 Metascore

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

79 Metascore

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

59 Metascore

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

84 Metascore

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

77 Metascore

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

66 Metascore

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

56 Metascore

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

61 Metascore

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

73 Metascore

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

51 Metascore

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

68 Metascore

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

60 Metascore

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

77 Metascore

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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