Great Underdog Movies That Have Nothing To Do With Sports

Gattaca takes place in a futuristic society where people are divided into one of two categories. Some were created through genetic advancements, whereas others were created the old-fashioned biological way. Ethan Hawke portrays Vincent Freeman, one of the latter. As such, he's treated like a second-class citizen due to imperfect genes. Yearning to become an astronaut, he hatches a scheme to impersonate a “valid" and join the company that launches shuttles into space. Jude Law co-stars as Jerome Morrow, the paralyzed man who provides him with blood, hair, and urine samples to fool everyone. Trouble finds Vincent when a murder occurs and a piece of DNA evidence found on the scene matches what he's been getting from Jerome. Suddenly, he's got detectives hot on his trail. Now in a predicament, he needs to clear his name and find a way to fulfill his dream, against all odds. Vincent does end up triumphing, but not before a lot of drama takes place. Thanks to a sympathetic doctor who realizes he's done just fine by his natural genetic origins, he gets to partake in a space mission, armed with a lock of Jerome's hair, just in case he needs to continue the ruse.

Homer Hickam (Jake Gyllenhaal), the main character in October Sky, is a teenager in a West Virginia coal mining town. His father John (Chris Cooper) assumes both his sons will follow in his footsteps, working in one of those mines. Homer has other interests, though. After seeing Sputnik 1 in the sky above, he develops a passion for tinkering with homemade rockets and an ambition to somehow work for NASA someday. John views this as completely impractical, making every effort to discourage his son. October Sky is a compelling look at socioeconomic class and how it can aid or impede ambition. Because the Hickams come from a working-class area with few opportunities outside that mine, there is little reason to believe Homer could end up doing something so prominent. He isn't attending a school that specializes in advanced studies, and affording the college education required to meet his goal seems out of the question. Homer's talent and dedication overcome that, as he wins a science competition, receiving scholarships as a result. The movie is based on a true story. As revealed at the end for anyone who doesn't already know, Homer Hickam went on to become a NASA engineer.

Hidden Figures pays tribute to three Black women who played a vital role in America's space program, but didn't get the recognition they deserved until many years later. Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) work in NASA's West Computing Group. Their coworkers are mostly white men, the majority of whom look down on them, despite their superior math skills and computer savvy. The movie charts what happens to these women as they fight systemic racism (and, for that matter, sexism) to help advance America's space program. Katherine eventually works herself into a position where her ideas are valued, Dorothy heads up a computer division, and Mary lands a position working on the Mercury capsule. Hidden Figures shows how these women had to be twice as good as their white male counterparts in order to get even half the opportunity. In the process, it reminds us that talent and ability are immune to color and gender, and that the contributions of anyone with great skill should be valued.

Pixar's Ratatouille takes place inside a fancy French restaurant run by the mean-spirited Skinner. He takes pride in tormenting the new “garbage boy” Linguini. One evening, a culinary-minded rat named Remy sneaks into the establishment, tinkering with a soup recipe and creating a masterpiece that Linguini gets credit for. When Linguini finds out that a rat is really responsible, the two strike up a partnership. Remy hides under Linguini's hat, guiding him in making a variety of exquisite meals. Their concoctions are put to the test when a notoriously snooty restaurant critic shows up to give a review. The stakes are very personal in Ratatouille. Remy wants to be a chef, and Linguini wants to be more than a garbage boy. Their scheme is precarious, nearly getting exposed several times throughout the story. That critic has the power to make or break any eatery in the city, so the tension mounts. In the end, they get their wish, albeit not quite in the way they initially expect. The restaurant closes, but they team up with one of its female cooks to open a bistro all their own. The characters finally find the outlet for their creations that they've been looking for.

The Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire follows Jamal (Dev Patel), a young man from one of the poorest sections of Mumbai. To say he's dirt poor would be an understatement because he can't even afford dirt. Through flashbacks, we see the many hardships he's faced in his life, including being exploited by adults as a child, having his mother die, and seeing his brother veer toward gang life. Jamal's journey eventually leads to the most unlikely of places - a seat in the contestant's chair on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? One of the story's implications is that Jamal may not be well-educated in a formal sense, but he's learned enough from the School of Hard Knocks to earn a shot on that TV show. Slumdog Millionaire builds consistent tension as he answers more and more questions correctly, getting closer to that top prize. Because we've witnessed so many of the problems he's encountered, it's crystal clear what winning a million dollars would mean to someone who grew up without two sticks to rub together. The story ends with Jamal answering the final question correctly, winning the cash, and setting off to start a new life with girlfriend Latika (Frieda Pino), who has gone through so much with him.

Disney's Mulan tells the tale of the title character, a young woman in ancient China. Her father, who is seriously ill, looks like he's about to be drafted into the military. Wanting to protect him, she poses as a male and takes his place. This goes against all the rules of the time, as women are expected to remain docile at home. Her voyage brings her in contact with a talking dragon named Mushu (Eddie Murphy), causes her to fall in love with a captain in the army, and lets her prove her mettle in battle. Mulan uses the Disney formula to look at gender roles. Despite her impressive abilities, which are on par with those of the men, Mulan is technically not allowed to fight because of her sex. The only way she can serve is to pass herself off as a male. Once she's done that, she is able to show what she's capable of. The film ends with a welcome change. Mulan's true identity is revealed, and because she has helped to save her people, the transgression of breaking the males-only rule is overlooked. Her talents are finally appreciated, regardless of gender.

Working Girl stars Melanie Griffith as Tess McGill, an ambitious secretary who works for stockbroker Katherine Parker (Sigourney Weaver). She's furious upon learning that Katherine has taken credit for a potential merger that she came up with the idea for. When Katherine is temporarily put out of commission due to a leg injury, Tess, without authorization, steps into her job and begins working to push that merger through. She also begins a romance with Jack Trainer (Harrison Ford), a representative from another company who Katherine has been dating. One of the key points of Working Girl is that good ideas can come from anywhere, not just at the top. Katherine is clearly good at her job, but Tess has talents and ideas of her own, and just because she's a receptionist doesn't mean she can't meaningfully contribute. The movie ends with Katherine unable to explain how she came up with the idea for the merger when pressed, making it clear it wasn't her idea to begin with. Tess is revealed to be the true mastermind and is rewarded with a job at a new company - and a secretary of her own.

300 features Gerard Butler as Sparta's King Leonidas, who receives a message indicating that Persia’s leader, Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro), intends to invade his country, turning the women and children into slaves. In fact, he's supposedly sending 1 million troops to carry out this invasion. Leonidas only has 300 of his best soldiers backing him up. He therefore devises a plan to build a wall that will force the enemy troops to pass through a narrow stretch of land, where they can presumably be defeated in waves. Lots of violent mayhem occurs, all of it stylishly executed by director Zack Snyder. The thrill of 300 comes from knowing Leonidas and his men are impossibly outnumbered. There is no logical way they should be able to win. The plan makes a certain amount of sense in that it limits the number of Persians they'll need to fight at any given time. But it also means they risk becoming exhausted after a while. Against all odds, it just barely works, with Leonidas delivering the final blow to Xerxes via a spear right to the face. It's a rousing, cheer-worthy finale that reminds viewers of the old adage, “It ain't over ‘til it’s over.”

The Insider is based on a true story that rocked America. Russell Crowe plays Jeffrey Wigand, a former tobacco company executive who decides to blow the whistle on his former employers. He's got documents proving they knew cigarette smoking was addictive and dangerous, but did nothing to change their product. He takes his story to 60 Minutes reporter Mike Wallace (Christopher Plummer) and producer Lowell Bergman (Al Pacino), hoping they will help him expose what has taken place. That task proves difficult. Wigand is threatened and intimidated, the tobacco company pressures CBS to drop the segment, and threats of lawsuits make everyone anxious. The Insider is a riveting exploration of how a multibillion dollar industry uses all its resources in an effort to crush the “little guy” who could shine a light on their misdeeds. Director Michael Mann emphasizes the idea that because these corporations have so much money, it's easy to wear down anyone who attempts to challenge them. Wigand's story eventually gets out, but in the New York Times rather than on CBS.

Rogue One features Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, a woman whose father Galen (Mads Mikkelsen) reluctantly helped the Empire develop the Death Star. She hasn't seen him in years, and assumes he's dead. Then Rebel officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) arrives with news that he may still be alive. The Rebel Alliance wants to find Galen to get his plans, which are rumored to reveal a way to destroy it. Jyn joins the efforts to find her father, retrieve the plans, and get them into the hands of the Rebels. Because it came years after the initial Star Wars trilogy but takes place before, audiences understand what the stakes are in Rogue One. The Death Star, as Princess Leia found out the hard way in the original, is capable of literally destroying planets. And the Empire is a fearsome organization with a tight stranglehold on the galaxy. Excitement comes from seeing whether Jyn and crew can deliver the plans that will eventually allow Luke Skywalker and the other Rebels to foil Darth Vader. They do, in fact, pull it off, with Jyn transmitting the information to the Rebel command ship. But villain Grand Moff Tarkin uses the Death Star to zap the planet she and her cohorts are on, killing them in the process. They saved the universe, but at a personal cost.

Sally Field won an Academy Award for her performance in 1979's Norma Rae. She's the title character, a cotton mill employee frustrated by the poor conditions she and her colleagues are forced to work in, which include infrequent breaks and long hours that keep them away from their families. She has a fortuitous meeting with a union organizer, and after several encounters, she asks him for advice in setting up a worker's union at the mill. Her first challenge is getting everyone on board when they fear doing so will cost them their jobs. Then she has to face her employers' efforts to quash any plans to unionize. America has a long history of on-the-ground workers suffering while the people up top rake in large salaries. Even though the movie is several decades old, it still has extreme relevance today, as major corporations make news for resisting unionization efforts. Norma Rae is a celebration of those workers who find strength in numbers, standing together in solidarity to earn reasonable hours, safe working conditions, and days off, among other things. The character's determination leads to victory, as she and the others win the vote and successfully establish their union. And it all started because this floor worker had a belief that things could, and should, be better.

Will Smith plays Chris Gardner in The Pursuit of Happyness. He's had a get-rich-quick business plan go wrong, leaving him broke and destitute. After his wife leaves him, he becomes the single father to their son Christopher (Jaden Smith). With no real income, they're left to sleep in shelters and even a subway bathroom at one point. The pressure on Chris is high, because he can't take care of them both, so whatever food or comfort comes his way, he needs to pass down to his son. A chance encounter on the street leads him to discover that a brokerage firm is accepting applications for a six-month internship. Since he's always been good with numbers, Chris decides to apply for the unpaid position, hoping he can eventually spin it into a paying job. The hardships the character and his son endure are shown unflinchingly in The Pursuit of Happyness. Watching the movie, it's impossible not to image oneself in the position of having to sleep on the floor of a public bathroom or scrounge for something to eat. Perseverance pays off, literally, as Chris's hard work results in the company offering him a full-time job. After seeing what he's gone through, you can't avoid tearing up.

Based on John Grisham's best-selling novel, The Rainmaker stars Matt Damon as Rudy Baylor, an ambitious lawyer looking for his big break. He gets it after teaming with paralegal Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito) to take on an insurance company that declined to pay for an operation that would have saved a seriously ill man's life. The case isn't simple because they have to face the other side's ruthless lawyer, played by Jon Voight. The question becomes whether they can mount a case solid enough to withstand that guy's efforts to poke holes in it. The Rainmaker plays on an idea many people can relate to, namely being denied an important operation or procedure by their insurance company. After a great deal of research and stress, the inexperienced Rudy has his day in court, managing to get important evidence rendered admissible after the other lawyer temporarily has it quashed. He doesn't just succeed, he makes a slam dunk, winning a judgment of $50 million for his client and putting the insurance company into bankruptcy as a result. The Rainmaker is a potent wish fulfillment story about how David takes on Goliath and utterly decimates him.

Preston Tucker was a man with a vision. Portrayed by Jeff Bridges in Tucker: The Man and His Dream, he has an idea for a new car. Not just any car, but a “car of the future,” complete with swiveling headlights and other cool safety gizmos. The Tucker Torpedo, he believes, will revolutionize the auto industry. Everything he wants to do is undermined by his board of directors, who think some of his intentions are impractical and/or too expensive to implement. He also faces opposition from the Big Three automakers. They resent this outsider coming in and thinking he can do the job of manufacturing cars better than they can. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola, Tucker: The Man and His Dream examines how big companies can push the little guys out, or at least make it incredibly difficult to succeed. Anyone who challenges the status quo can find themselves under attack. Late in the film, Tucker independently tests out a new engine he's devised. It works brilliantly, but he's soon accused of stock fraud and forced to put his focus onto clearing his name. He succeeds in that, although his company goes bankrupt as a result of everything that's happened. The little guy's dream comes true in a micro sense - he builds fifty Tucker Torpedoes - yet is largely crushed in the macro sense, failing to bring them to market as fully as he wanted.

The Astronaut Farmer is one of the biggest unsung gems of the 2000s. Billy Bob Thornton plays the aptly named Charlie Farmer, a farmer from Texas who once had to drop out of NASA's training program for personal reasons. His dream was shattered as a result. Now he's building his own functional rocket out in the barn, which he plans to use to blast himself into space. Everyone in his family thinks he's crazy, the Federal Aviation Administration tries to talk him out of it, and a real astronaut (Bruce Willis) shows up to tell him what a really, really bad idea this is. Charlie is undeterred, however, remaining laser-focused on making his dream come true at last. In the third act of the movie, Charlie does the seemingly impossible. He does indeed launch his rocket into space, proving his naysayers wrong. After orbiting the Earth several times, he returns home safely and is hailed as a hero. The Astronaut Farmer is a charming and touching reminder that chasing your dreams - and believing in yourself when no one else does - is a good thing. You can never fully be happy if you don't at least try.

Buster Keaton's 1928 silent classic Steamboat Bill, Jr. finds the star playing William Canfield Jr., the son of a steamboat operator and a recent college graduate. He's reunited with his father, who is shocked and a little dismayed by his toney appearance and style. They team up to confront a rival steamboat owner who is taking away all the Canfields' business. Bill Jr. is not in any way equipped for life on one of these vessels, and even less so when his father ends up in jail. It becomes up to him to save the family business. The dramatic conclusion finds a cyclone tearing their harbor town apart. Through quick action, Bill is able to save his father when the jail is washed away. He cleverly slams their boat into it to get him out. He similarly saves the woman he loves from a house that's floating away. Piloting the ship by himself with the help of a complex pulley system that lets him operate controls below deck, he even saves their rival, whose ship is destroyed by the storm. For a guy who starts off with no nautical experience, he ends up doing a pretty good job. His college education has given him problem solving skills that come in very handy.

Politics are filled with underdog stories. The Candidate imagines one of them. Robert Redford is Bill McKay, an attorney with a decidedly liberal point of view. He's recruited by campaign manager Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle) to run for a senate seat against a Republican who will run opposed otherwise. He agrees, only to find that politics is a dirty game. To win, he'll need to appeal to the widest swath of voters possible, leading Lucas to pressure him into toning down some of his most left-leaning philosophies. The gambit works, as the race tightens. But Bill has to decide whether selling out what he believes in is really the best approach. Directed by Michael Ritchie, The Candidate offers an incisive commentary on the illusions that go into a political campaign. People like Bill McKay have to weigh what they believe against what the public wants to hear. Appeal only to your own side and you may have trouble winning. It's all about selling a massage that's acceptable to the largest number of people, even if it's not quite what you think. This idea is demonstrated perfectly in the film's famous final scene. Having won the election, Bill pulls Lucas aside and asks, “What do we do now?” The underdog has triumphed in the election, yet no longer knows how his values will factor into his term.

Woody Allen cast himself as the title character in Broadway Danny Rose. He’s a talent agent known for representing low-rent acts who have very little chance of getting anywhere. His luck changes when washed-up lounge singer Lou Canova begins to have a career revitalization. It could be a big deal for both of them. Then things get messy. The married Lou asks Danny to pose as the boyfriend of his mistress Tina (Mia Farrow), and take her to his concert. Tina's ex-boyfriend, who still has feelings for her, is a mobster, and he orders a hit on Danny, wrongly believing him to be mistreating her. The rest of the movie details his efforts to prevent the mobster from hurting him and to help Lou achieve a full comeback. There's an old saying about how some days you're the dog, and other days you're the hydrant. In the case of Broadway Danny Rose, the underdog is the hydrant. After helping Lou prep for a big performance, his client ditches him for a more prestigious talent manager. He doesn't get whacked by the mobster, though, so that's something. And in the final scene, we learn Danny had a sandwich named after him at a popular deli - a sign that he was respected, if not always successful.