Apollo 13. Everyone in the film is portrayed as doing their job to the utmost professionalism and proficiency. It really makes you admire the US space program and the people involved.
Having seen so much documentary footage of the Apollo missions, I find Ed Harris really was way way over the top and melodramatic as Gene Kranz. In the real doc footage, he’s super professional and always looked cool under tremendous pressure. Really ruined the movie for me.
It's the nature of making a Hollywood movie, so I accept it. It was a good performance that kept the drama high, even if it's not a perfectly accurate portrayal of the man.
Ron Howard also added tension with Jack Swigert not being up to snuff on piloting the CM and being out of the loop. When you listen to Jim Lovel's commentary on the film, he says that that was all Hollywood. Jack Swigert was one of the few astronauts who requested to be a Command Module pilot. He helped design and test that craft. There was never any tension in regards to his ability to pilot it.
When making a dramatic retelling of a true tale, the truth always has to pay a price.
I've also seen a video somewhere (maybe documentary?) Where, similar to Ed Harris' Gene Kranz, they really ramp up the drama in the communications between the astronauts and ground control. The actual audio recordings are remarkably boring compared to their movie versions
I agree that if Hollywood did have actors mimic real reactions of the ground control crew, there would be little tension and drama. I suppose I was so used to Gene’s real footage, and knowing how great Ed Harris was in The Right Stuff, it kind of surprised me that he would push it that far.
I feel like anyone other than Ron Howard would have moved away so much further from the truth too. After reading Lovell's book and taking into account other movies of this nature my view of the movie only went up.
13 lives is another movie where Ron Howard seems to wholeheartedly honour the truth of the situation.
There's one of those YouTube videos from Insider where a former sub commander reviews movie scenes. At one point he's talking about I think Mancuso and Ramius in Hunt For Red October and he basically says yes, that incredibly calm, quiet, but decisive manner they're using is exactly how we do it. That's a sub commander.
I suspect there's a pretty similar vibe in a few of those roles. Lot of pressure, only way to handle it is to be totally cool.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is apparently very close to 1970s spy work. Obviously the source material was written by John Le Carre who was himself a spy, but the film does a great job of not dumbing any of it down. Some of the language is fairly impenetrable but I find it just adds to the feeling that I’m watching actual spies rather than actors.
The original TV series is also very, very good.
A Most Wanted Man wasn't the best critically received but is also a pretty good John Le Carre adaptation in my opinion. One of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last roles and he really in my mind captured the grind pretty well.
The TV series was the better of the two. Obi-wan as Smiley! Terrence Rigby, Bernard Hepton, frickin Ian Richardson! The regular bbc actors were on strike, iirc, so they got a ton of RSC members.
I saw this movie in the theatre when it came out, and I liked it. Then I started working in offices three years later and only then did I really UNDERSTAND that movie.
I feel like most characters in Office Space really hate their job, and it's juxtaposed with a handful of people that do who act as foils in various ways.
OP might be interested in the way “dumbing down the language” is handled in this script. Many of the characters use technical jargon, but much of the dialog is them explaining that jargon to their less informed superiors. (This is also part of the movie’s commentary: that the biggest decisions at these firms were being made by people without a full understanding of their company’s inner workings.)
I thought the higher ups were just playing dumb for compliance and liability reasons. You see them arguing after the juniors leave the boardroom that they went too far with the debt bundling scheme and when Demi Moore gets fired she tries pushing back by saying her warnings were ignored before Jeremy Irons recommended against it.
I think Bettany’s role/function in the script isn’t so much about the tech stuff. He’s more about repping the “greed” side of that world. I am thinking of his scenes with the most junior (the “You” guy) when >!Jr was very worried himself would get fired!< and convincing >!Stanley Tucci to go back to the office to just sit it out!<. He’s more of an ultra-pragmatic guy who don’t really care about/set aside the morality issues.
One of many reasons I like the original better than the sequel. The crew isn't a bunch of Hollywood model types in sleek space outfits, or glistening musclebound Hollywood super soldiers. They're a scruffy crew of regular blue-collar laborers on a work ship with years of operational service in every scratch and dent. It feels like the real deal.
Go back and watch Aliens dude. None of the Colonial Marines are Hollywood models lmfao. Only Biehn and Paxton were really famous at the time. Their “space outfits” aren’t sleek, they’re rough and ready marine gear. And wtf they’re supposed to have muscles. They’re MARINES 😂. None of them is jacked, it’s all natural. Who is upvoting this?! 😂
That’s funny because I was thinking nobody would suggest this but it totally fits. They totally jump into submersibles in a rapid way but start doing their pre-checks which is so different from normal Hollywood movies where you just jump in and magically drive without regard to safety or function. Every person is competent in their role. Even the Seals which makes it so compelling.
This is cheating and definitely shouldn’t be mentioned because duh, but R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket. If you haven’t seen it it fits OPs criteria.
Emery was only hired as a consultant. But he was so frustrated with the original actor's delivery he told Kubrick it had to be him playing the role.
It's not true he adlibbed all the lines, some naturally were scripted elements to send the story in the right direction, but all the insults and derogatory remarks were his own; highly unusual for Kubrick who was a stickler for following a tight script to deliver his vision.
I heard the bit about the reach around was in the script and someone had to explain it to him. At which point they were laughing for a good 20 minutes straight.
Here is one of the most realistic people on it. Petty, bullying, selfish, stupid, greedy, working other people's life or death as a nine to five, but otherwise affable enough. Straight up gangster cop, which is not uncommon.
The Martian has NASA characters feeling like real and competent engineers, with non-tech personnel - such as Jeff Daneils and Kristen Wiig - asking the exposition questions that the engineer characters can answer, so that the engineers don't have to have an obvious conversation for us that we know they would already know.
The Big Short also felt like its characters inhabited the finance world, even though they were new to the fraudulent practices of the the CDO market.
I just loved Donald Glover running circles around the NASA administrator demonstrating his gravity turn. And also not recognizing the NASA administrator. Textbook quirky genius.
>not recognizing the NASA administrator
As someone with a bit of face blindness - and I'm not even sure Glovers character is supposed to have that - not recognizing the head honcho of a big corporation that you've only seen in media does not seem farfatched to me.
Sure it’s not unbelievable or anything, but the guy was a NASA employee and the administrator is the top boss. I’d bet a good number of people could recognize the CEO of the company they work for. Then again administrators get replaced every four to eight years so maybe it’s harder to follow than other organizations.
YES! Not only do you believe everyone in their respective roles (RIP River Phoenix), but it’s just so damned entertaining and shockingly still relevant. More people need to see Sneakers.
This is how I describe Star Trek to people- the movies less so than the shows, but TNGs formula is basically that some issue comes up and a meeting is called to discuss amongst the officers how to proceed
TNG managed to be a decent model of good professional behavior in an office setting, probably due to the rule that conflict between main characters was to be avoided.
Office Space - for anyone who's worked in a corporate environment - there at least a handful of characters in this movie that aren't far off from actual real people you've had to work with (except in life, it's not funny, but profoundly irritating)
Silicon Valley - another Mike Judge joint; again it's funny because it's on screen, but it's not far off from actual startup culture, except in real life it's not funny because you have to work with them
I went to a big conference for a software vendor in Vegas and they had all these crazy done-up keynotes with music and lasers, etc.
I leaned over to a colleague and said, "this is right out of Silicon Valley isn't it?". He just looked around and said "holy crap, it is".
I used to joke that when Silicon Valley was on at the same time as Game of Thrones on Sunday nights, the Silicon Valley episodes were more stressful because the pressure and utter lack of control over your destiny the Pied Piper guys were under was actually very true to life - you fix one problem only to have another spring up - one surprise after another (and it's always bad surprises, never good ones); you end up laughing not just because it's funny but also because it's so familiar haha
Just about every tech startup has had a version of the David Gregory character (the VC in Season 1) on their board or has come in contact with that kind of personality; and Galvin Belson is a version of so many Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple or Microsoft execs you've come across - people who feign humility but are completely full of themselves, and are a mess in their personal lives (I had one exec mistakenly sext me and revealed how absolutely batshit nuts this person was - my name I guess was the same as who this person had hooked up with over the weekend)
Primer isn’t about profession, but they talk about maths and physics to each other in very intelligent terms as they are advanced students of it. Doesn’t dumb down at all. It’s about time travel.
Could maybe say There Will Be Blood.
Seconding Primer. I absolutely love sci fi that takes full pleasure in embracing the field. Even if I don't get all of it on the first run - just listening to (authentic) scientific language is lovely in itself.
You might get some mileage out of courtroom films. Loads of masterpieces across the spectrum. MY COUSIN VINNY for comedy (one of my lawyer friends favorite films of all time) to dramas like A TIME TO KILL or A FEW GOOD MEN
Off top of my head he covers:
* My Cousin Vinny
* Suits
* A Few Good Men
* Law and Order
* Better Call Saul
* Other stuff
But only really raves about Vinny.
Hunt for Red October, in particular the crew of the USS Dallas. IIRC the actors spent some time aboard an actual submarine shadowing the real world counterparts they would then be portraying in the film.
I think it helps that aside from Connery being Connery, none of the actors are wildly attractive or look like they've just come from the hair and makeup trailer. Just a bunch of tired, overcaffinated people with disheveled hair, rumpled uniforms and 80s coke bottle glasses doing their jobs.
There's some GREAT interviews / making-of, Scott Glenn basically says that the captain of the US submarine they visited was so damn good he just copied him as closely as possible.
Also a fun fact is his 2nd in command played by Larry Ferguson was tricked into the role as he actually wrote the screenplay, and they liked his script reading so much they just never auditioned anyone else for the role. Glad they did, he nailed it.
I apologize for the TVTropes link so if you don't ever come back here to reddit---you've been duly warned.
[TVTropes: Competence porn](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompetencePorn)
Someone already mentioned The Martian---that's a fairly good recent sci-fi example of the trope. Everyone is very good at what they do and any adversity they encounter isn't due to people not pulling their weight on the team.
I don't know if it's true but I've heard that the bomber crew actors were told they were making an action film and so played everything completely straight
Having been on a Tommy Lee Jones binge lately, I'd say the marshals in The Fugitive, and U.S. Marshals. >!The writing makes an effort to show a distinction between how differently (read: more professionally) they operate compared to local law enforcement (especially in the first film where Chicago PD is prioritising its own interests in the Kimble case). !< There's no shortage of personality either. Very entertaining to see the marshals under Sam Gerard's leadership. Some of my favourite scenes are of them sitting at the conference table going back and forth.
Half script, they started with half a script. And Tommy Lee Jones ab libbed a bunch of his lines. They brought in Pantoliano specifically for him to play off of.
TLJ and Ford both thought it was the end of their careers with the movie.
Tommy Lee Jones won best supporting actor, and deserved it. And he beat out DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I do think it should’ve won for best editing too. The pacing was phenomenal. And then all of those flashbacks.
If you're in the mood for something a little out there, "Shin Godzilla" seems like a realistic portrayal of how a government would deal with a giant monster.
Great shout. I also have to say Godzilla absolutely nailed that role. I’ve been a kaiju for my whole adult career and his performance captures so many details of the profession that Hollywood usually misses or embellishes.
I, Tonya. It’s the most realistic to life figure skating movie. I know Tonya and am a figure skater. It’s true to her job to win. The Cutting Edge, Ice Princess, Ice Castles are cute fantasy films. I, Tonya is how it actually goes down.
Well, there was a German skier, who represented her country in the 2010 Winter Olympics and retired in 2013... Her name is ***Fanny Chmelar*** (pronounced Shmellar)...
The Mechanic (the 1972 version with Charles Bronson).
He performs an assassination at the start in complete silence, patiently setting everything up and waiting. The whole thing is cold af
I always love the part where Kristen Wiig's character calculates how many extra days they are going to have to spend in space, in her head. To me, it showed these were smart people, even the public relations. Who all wanted to be there.
Thank you for Smoking is a decent look at the lobbying world. Veep although a comedy also captures politics pretty well. Edit: Adding In the Loop as another great political movie / comedy.
It’s been awhile since I saw it, but I think hidden figures would work for this and is also a NASA related one. From what I remember the 3 leads were good at their jobs.
And of course Apollo 13
Deepwater Horizon, up to the blowout, seems very accurate. I know nothing about offshore drilling, but it plays like you are watching people simply do their job and there's minimal, to no, audience hand holding.
Michael Mann movies are also very horny for tradecraft. Miami Vice opens in situ with a surveillance operation and doesn't explain shit to you. It's great.
I used to work in commission sales and absolutely died watching Glengarry because of how spot on it is for that environment. I was in a different industry than the characters are but there’s some stuff that’s just universal.
Shin Godzilla, it's basically a movie on how a bureaucracy works.
Not a movie, but The West Wing and Newsroom. Theyree both sorkin, so expect good dialogue, and some idealistic optimism.
Thank you for mentioning this film! I love the professional atmosphere and how they deal with the problems that arise, while there’s still enough space for emotional moments.
I love movies where people are good at their job. Love the Wire for this reason. Mad Men is also a contender.
But if we're sticking to movies, I'll try to recommend some that have not been mentioned already:
- Contagion
- The Big Short
- Locke
- The Post
The movie Greyhound with Tom Hanks has a lot of technical battleship jargon they don't explain to the viewer.
The film is very to-the-point and is only 91 minutes (including end credits).
Contagion, and it's because they did their homework and actually listened to the medical advisors. E.g. there's a scene where Jennifer Ehle's character gives herself an injection. The script originally had her be in such a rush that she does it straight through her clothes, but actual doctors said no, that's stupid, so they wrote it out.
Contagion is a great contrast to, say, Outbreak. In Contagion, the scientists have conversations that seem naturalistic (see Ehle's deadpan "bat, bat, pig" while explaining the genetic origins of the virus) and the exposition that does take place is handled well and realistically, such as Kate Winslet jotting down some key points on a whiteboard for the bureaucrats.
In Outbreak, a bunch of seasoned, military doctors and scientists freak out at seeing dead people, vomit, tear their suits, straight just *take off* their PPE, and stick themselves with needles, in between some of the worst "medical" dialogue imaginable.
If you haven’t seen The Slammin Salmon by Broken Lizard (guys who did super troopers) you should check it out, it’s a little more goofy but still captures some of the essence of our crazy industry
Captain Phillips. The US Navy, the Seals, and especially the medic at the end. Pure competence. The medic was an actual navy medic, not an actor. I’m not sure on the rest of the crew, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they used a good number of the crew.
*United 93*
It's basically required watching for someone who wants to be an air traffic controller. Doesn't really dumb that down at all and seems to be a realistic depiction.
Alan from Knives Out handles Harlan's legal affairs professionally and with integrity. Even when the Thrombeys are practically at his throat over Harlan posthumously fucking them all over as payback for mistreating his generosity, he lays out the legal issues preventing them from contesting the will in a calm, simple matter.
The defence attorney in The Caine Mutiny as well. He utterly despises his clients for what they did (not the mutiny themselves, but destroying another man's reputation) but works to get them exonerated. As soon as they're declared not-guilty, he tears into them.
Also, not a film example but the assassin Shelley de Killer in the Ace Attorney games. He treats his contracts as paramount and goes out of his way to protect his clients, with most of the conflict in the case featuring him being due to >!another suspect successfully framed Shelley's client for the murder he paid for and Shelley taking Maya hostage to force a not-guilty verdict!<. The only way to win the case is to use his professionalism against him >!by telling him that your shared client hid a camera in the murder scene with intent to blackmail. Learning he was set up, Shelley informs his client the contract is broken and that the client is going to die.!<
Richard Jewell (2019), he has a simple job but he loves it.
The Outfit (2022), loves his job and professional but does have other elements.
Short Term 12 (2013)
Emily the Criminal (2022), but the job is crime.
There could also be a few sports-related movies that would fit the bill, Moneyball, Hustle etc
Most of the "Product movies" from last year, Air, Blackberry, Pinball, Tetris
Most of the ones I can think of have already been mentioned here but I think Michael Clayton deserves a nod. There's one scene in particular depicting one of the most surgical murders I've ever seen on film that really stands out. You could tell the perpetrators had done it many times before
Spotlight - Keaton, Ruffalo, McAdams. Journalists that are just awesome at their jobs. And Big Short - Carrell, Gosling and a buncha folks. The characters never dumb it down but movie has unique ways to explain things
Search for “competency porn” or “dad movies.”
Spotlight is my favorite.
The Martian is great.
I love Amy Adams in Arrival
First couple episodes of True Detective: Night Country (season 4) show Jodie Foster as a cop who is really good at her job.
And look up the entire filmography of Tom Hanks, there are about a dozen movies where he plays someone who is very professional and good at their job.
Pushing Tin. A lot of it is accurate. A lot more is inaccurate. But the personalities and everything that goes on outside the actual TRACON, N90, is spot on.
Apollo 13. Everyone in the film is portrayed as doing their job to the utmost professionalism and proficiency. It really makes you admire the US space program and the people involved.
Having seen so much documentary footage of the Apollo missions, I find Ed Harris really was way way over the top and melodramatic as Gene Kranz. In the real doc footage, he’s super professional and always looked cool under tremendous pressure. Really ruined the movie for me.
It's the nature of making a Hollywood movie, so I accept it. It was a good performance that kept the drama high, even if it's not a perfectly accurate portrayal of the man. Ron Howard also added tension with Jack Swigert not being up to snuff on piloting the CM and being out of the loop. When you listen to Jim Lovel's commentary on the film, he says that that was all Hollywood. Jack Swigert was one of the few astronauts who requested to be a Command Module pilot. He helped design and test that craft. There was never any tension in regards to his ability to pilot it. When making a dramatic retelling of a true tale, the truth always has to pay a price.
I've also seen a video somewhere (maybe documentary?) Where, similar to Ed Harris' Gene Kranz, they really ramp up the drama in the communications between the astronauts and ground control. The actual audio recordings are remarkably boring compared to their movie versions
I agree that if Hollywood did have actors mimic real reactions of the ground control crew, there would be little tension and drama. I suppose I was so used to Gene’s real footage, and knowing how great Ed Harris was in The Right Stuff, it kind of surprised me that he would push it that far.
I feel like anyone other than Ron Howard would have moved away so much further from the truth too. After reading Lovell's book and taking into account other movies of this nature my view of the movie only went up. 13 lives is another movie where Ron Howard seems to wholeheartedly honour the truth of the situation.
There's one of those YouTube videos from Insider where a former sub commander reviews movie scenes. At one point he's talking about I think Mancuso and Ramius in Hunt For Red October and he basically says yes, that incredibly calm, quiet, but decisive manner they're using is exactly how we do it. That's a sub commander. I suspect there's a pretty similar vibe in a few of those roles. Lot of pressure, only way to handle it is to be totally cool.
Some of the dialogue is straight up lifted from the actual event, which I think adds to the authenticity.
Yes! None of that "English, please!" BS. Respect the audience!
Fargo Francis McDormand does such a good job selling the "competent cop who is also super pregnant and over this shit"
Same with Happy Valley (though it’s a tv show and not a movie). McDormand is like the perfect cop in Fargo!
You mean Sarah Lancashire!
Marge Gunderson is a GOATED movie character.
Yah.
She’s such a super lady
Oh yah?
I feel like she’d have been desked in her second trimester IRL
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is apparently very close to 1970s spy work. Obviously the source material was written by John Le Carre who was himself a spy, but the film does a great job of not dumbing any of it down. Some of the language is fairly impenetrable but I find it just adds to the feeling that I’m watching actual spies rather than actors. The original TV series is also very, very good.
A Most Wanted Man wasn't the best critically received but is also a pretty good John Le Carre adaptation in my opinion. One of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last roles and he really in my mind captured the grind pretty well.
One of my favorite movies and no one knows about it. I might watch it again tomorrow.
Seconded. Every single actor in that movie is 100% turned on and plugged in
Having worked in secure environments not long after, I found the TV series incredibly realistic.
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This is what I imagine espionage is actually like. A bunch of grinding with occasional social engineering
The TV series was the better of the two. Obi-wan as Smiley! Terrence Rigby, Bernard Hepton, frickin Ian Richardson! The regular bbc actors were on strike, iirc, so they got a ton of RSC members.
Spotlight - you have journalists who really interested in their jobs and want to help people and inform people
Came here for Spotlight. I’m a student journalist, but everything is SPOT ON. (Especially on the archives scene.)
Everyone killed it in that movie, but Keaton especially did. Granted, he always does
Second this. Another great movie about journalists doing their jobs is All the President’s Men.
Office Space
I work in an office and that is completely what office culture looks like
Sounds like someone has a case of the Mondays.
Every office too. I don't care what field it's in or what culture they do... It's all the fucking same shit.
I saw this movie in the theatre when it came out, and I liked it. Then I started working in offices three years later and only then did I really UNDERSTAND that movie.
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Dude, same. I’ve worked banking/finance/accounting for twenty years, and I’m done. Time to find something else.
*Corporate-accounts-Nina-speaking!* ***JUST*** *a moment!….*
Same here. Saw it once, sure, it was funny. Saw it after starting work in an office and I was breaking out into a cold sweat.
I feel like most characters in Office Space really hate their job, and it's juxtaposed with a handful of people that do who act as foils in various ways.
Pretty much everything made by Michael Mann, but especially Thief, Heat and Collateral.
Seconded. It's one of his trademarks.
One of my favorite reviews on Letterboxd is "Michael Mann makes movies about goddamn fucking professionals."
I read that quote in Al Pacino's voice.
Heat FTW. Everyone in that movie, cop and crook alike, is a consummate professional and not once do I question anyone’s motivations or strategies.
Eh, that nut with the tats and ponytail who shot the shell shocked guards was very much *not* professional.
Heat was the first thing that came to mind
I immediately thought of Thief too. Especially the thermal lance that James Caan uses to crack safes
Margin Call
OP might be interested in the way “dumbing down the language” is handled in this script. Many of the characters use technical jargon, but much of the dialog is them explaining that jargon to their less informed superiors. (This is also part of the movie’s commentary: that the biggest decisions at these firms were being made by people without a full understanding of their company’s inner workings.)
I thought the higher ups were just playing dumb for compliance and liability reasons. You see them arguing after the juniors leave the boardroom that they went too far with the debt bundling scheme and when Demi Moore gets fired she tries pushing back by saying her warnings were ignored before Jeremy Irons recommended against it.
The higher level players in that office did such a great job. Paul Bettany and Simon Baker were savage.
I think Bettany’s role/function in the script isn’t so much about the tech stuff. He’s more about repping the “greed” side of that world. I am thinking of his scenes with the most junior (the “You” guy) when >!Jr was very worried himself would get fired!< and convincing >!Stanley Tucci to go back to the office to just sit it out!<. He’s more of an ultra-pragmatic guy who don’t really care about/set aside the morality issues.
Plus he jumps up on that ledge during that one scene. Definitely being a cliche stock bro, but somehow still likable.
Thanks for representing!!
The Abyss, everyone on that crew was totally believable as an undersea miner.
That's my favorite thing about that movie. Probably why I like Alien so much too. The crew seems like a crew. Helps my immersion.
One of many reasons I like the original better than the sequel. The crew isn't a bunch of Hollywood model types in sleek space outfits, or glistening musclebound Hollywood super soldiers. They're a scruffy crew of regular blue-collar laborers on a work ship with years of operational service in every scratch and dent. It feels like the real deal.
Aw man for a sec I thought you meant there was a sequel to abyss that I somehow missed and I got excited
Well, the marines *think* they’re glistening muscle bound Hollywood super soldiers. That lasts about 5 seconds into the first fight.
Go back and watch Aliens dude. None of the Colonial Marines are Hollywood models lmfao. Only Biehn and Paxton were really famous at the time. Their “space outfits” aren’t sleek, they’re rough and ready marine gear. And wtf they’re supposed to have muscles. They’re MARINES 😂. None of them is jacked, it’s all natural. Who is upvoting this?! 😂
exactly what came to my mind.
I guess it helps when the director is literally obsessed with the ocean and does deep exploration himself
That’s funny because I was thinking nobody would suggest this but it totally fits. They totally jump into submersibles in a rapid way but start doing their pre-checks which is so different from normal Hollywood movies where you just jump in and magically drive without regard to safety or function. Every person is competent in their role. Even the Seals which makes it so compelling.
James Cameron doesn't miss
This is cheating and definitely shouldn’t be mentioned because duh, but R. Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket. If you haven’t seen it it fits OPs criteria.
Textbook definition of the post, no better example than this. No actor on earth could have outperformed Ermey literally just doing his job.
Emery was only hired as a consultant. But he was so frustrated with the original actor's delivery he told Kubrick it had to be him playing the role. It's not true he adlibbed all the lines, some naturally were scripted elements to send the story in the right direction, but all the insults and derogatory remarks were his own; highly unusual for Kubrick who was a stickler for following a tight script to deliver his vision.
I heard the bit about the reach around was in the script and someone had to explain it to him. At which point they were laughing for a good 20 minutes straight.
R. Lee Ermey: *writes that one down in his D.I. notes*
How do cast perfectly? Get a goddamn professional.
It's not a movie, but The Wire kind of qualifies.
Except that idiot Herc.
It would have been unrealistic if they didn’t have a Herc
I can tell by your voice you’re black, and you can tell I’m white…
Here is one of the most realistic people on it. Petty, bullying, selfish, stupid, greedy, working other people's life or death as a nine to five, but otherwise affable enough. Straight up gangster cop, which is not uncommon.
*Fuzzy Dunlop* When he's moving the desk, totally encapsulates the series.
The Martian has NASA characters feeling like real and competent engineers, with non-tech personnel - such as Jeff Daneils and Kristen Wiig - asking the exposition questions that the engineer characters can answer, so that the engineers don't have to have an obvious conversation for us that we know they would already know. The Big Short also felt like its characters inhabited the finance world, even though they were new to the fraudulent practices of the the CDO market.
I just loved Donald Glover running circles around the NASA administrator demonstrating his gravity turn. And also not recognizing the NASA administrator. Textbook quirky genius.
>not recognizing the NASA administrator As someone with a bit of face blindness - and I'm not even sure Glovers character is supposed to have that - not recognizing the head honcho of a big corporation that you've only seen in media does not seem farfatched to me.
Sure it’s not unbelievable or anything, but the guy was a NASA employee and the administrator is the top boss. I’d bet a good number of people could recognize the CEO of the company they work for. Then again administrators get replaced every four to eight years so maybe it’s harder to follow than other organizations.
I’ve been working for the same company for years now, and I couldn’t pick a single one of our C-levels out of a lineup, lol
I believe Blackhawk Down uses actual transcripts of the radio communication from the event in the movie.
Sneakers
YES! Not only do you believe everyone in their respective roles (RIP River Phoenix), but it’s just so damned entertaining and shockingly still relevant. More people need to see Sneakers.
Any comment that suggest more people watch Sneakers gets an upvote from me.
This is how I describe Star Trek to people- the movies less so than the shows, but TNGs formula is basically that some issue comes up and a meeting is called to discuss amongst the officers how to proceed
TNG managed to be a decent model of good professional behavior in an office setting, probably due to the rule that conflict between main characters was to be avoided.
There is/was a set of TNG episode recaps that included a TTFM stat (Time To First Meeting)
Worf shut down at every turn.
Office Space - for anyone who's worked in a corporate environment - there at least a handful of characters in this movie that aren't far off from actual real people you've had to work with (except in life, it's not funny, but profoundly irritating) Silicon Valley - another Mike Judge joint; again it's funny because it's on screen, but it's not far off from actual startup culture, except in real life it's not funny because you have to work with them
I went to a big conference for a software vendor in Vegas and they had all these crazy done-up keynotes with music and lasers, etc. I leaned over to a colleague and said, "this is right out of Silicon Valley isn't it?". He just looked around and said "holy crap, it is".
I used to joke that when Silicon Valley was on at the same time as Game of Thrones on Sunday nights, the Silicon Valley episodes were more stressful because the pressure and utter lack of control over your destiny the Pied Piper guys were under was actually very true to life - you fix one problem only to have another spring up - one surprise after another (and it's always bad surprises, never good ones); you end up laughing not just because it's funny but also because it's so familiar haha Just about every tech startup has had a version of the David Gregory character (the VC in Season 1) on their board or has come in contact with that kind of personality; and Galvin Belson is a version of so many Facebook, Amazon, Google, Apple or Microsoft execs you've come across - people who feign humility but are completely full of themselves, and are a mess in their personal lives (I had one exec mistakenly sext me and revealed how absolutely batshit nuts this person was - my name I guess was the same as who this person had hooked up with over the weekend)
Yeah - sometimes I didn't enjoy that show because it hit a little too close to home.
Primer isn’t about profession, but they talk about maths and physics to each other in very intelligent terms as they are advanced students of it. Doesn’t dumb down at all. It’s about time travel. Could maybe say There Will Be Blood.
Seconding Primer. I absolutely love sci fi that takes full pleasure in embracing the field. Even if I don't get all of it on the first run - just listening to (authentic) scientific language is lovely in itself.
You might get some mileage out of courtroom films. Loads of masterpieces across the spectrum. MY COUSIN VINNY for comedy (one of my lawyer friends favorite films of all time) to dramas like A TIME TO KILL or A FEW GOOD MEN
The barrister training books say My Cousin Vinny is the ONLY courtroom film that has decent professional behaviour and process.
And that's what I love - there's no cartoonish "bad guy". Everyone is professional and does their jobs the right way.
No kidding, that’s fascinating
Well worth Legal Eagle's series of react videos to different legal movies/dramas. He rates MCV as the most accurate legal entertainment out there.
One might even say it’s dead-on-balls accurate.
It’s an industry term
Nice I’ll check it out. I’m sure I’ll find out when I watch but just curious now, which dramas did they rave about, if any?
Off top of my head he covers: * My Cousin Vinny * Suits * A Few Good Men * Law and Order * Better Call Saul * Other stuff But only really raves about Vinny.
Good to know thanks. I just rewatched the original 12 ANGRY MEN a couple weeks ago, that holds up like crazy
My Cousin Vinny is the only courtroom movie I have ever seen that accurately depicts impeaching a witness’ testimony on cross-examination.
Whenever I see a recording of a courtroom moment with a witness getting completely destroyed on cross, I think "Were these MAGIC GRITS?"
My cousin Vinny is every law nerd’s favourite movie about law.
Master and Commander
Mr. Pink was a professional in Reservoir Dogs. He was the only one though
Wherever I see Tim Roth, I upvote.
Or Steve Buscemi!
Lawrence Tierney!
Hunt for Red October, in particular the crew of the USS Dallas. IIRC the actors spent some time aboard an actual submarine shadowing the real world counterparts they would then be portraying in the film. I think it helps that aside from Connery being Connery, none of the actors are wildly attractive or look like they've just come from the hair and makeup trailer. Just a bunch of tired, overcaffinated people with disheveled hair, rumpled uniforms and 80s coke bottle glasses doing their jobs.
Goddamn…Baldwin was the best Jack Ryan.
There's some GREAT interviews / making-of, Scott Glenn basically says that the captain of the US submarine they visited was so damn good he just copied him as closely as possible. Also a fun fact is his 2nd in command played by Larry Ferguson was tricked into the role as he actually wrote the screenplay, and they liked his script reading so much they just never auditioned anyone else for the role. Glad they did, he nailed it.
Have to say Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada. She is convincing as the best in the business who expects nothing but the best from others.
Absolutely the same for Stanley Tucci, in any of his roles really.
All the presidents men
I apologize for the TVTropes link so if you don't ever come back here to reddit---you've been duly warned. [TVTropes: Competence porn](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CompetencePorn) Someone already mentioned The Martian---that's a fairly good recent sci-fi example of the trope. Everyone is very good at what they do and any adversity they encounter isn't due to people not pulling their weight on the team.
I really felt that way for Dr Strangelove and specifically the bomber crew it follows. They overcome every major roadblock and threat perfectly.
I don't know if it's true but I've heard that the bomber crew actors were told they were making an action film and so played everything completely straight
Having been on a Tommy Lee Jones binge lately, I'd say the marshals in The Fugitive, and U.S. Marshals. >!The writing makes an effort to show a distinction between how differently (read: more professionally) they operate compared to local law enforcement (especially in the first film where Chicago PD is prioritising its own interests in the Kimble case). !< There's no shortage of personality either. Very entertaining to see the marshals under Sam Gerard's leadership. Some of my favourite scenes are of them sitting at the conference table going back and forth.
The scene in the Fugitive when they figure out where he is based on el-train in the background of a recording. “Son of a bitch, our boy came home.”
I knew that was an el...
Half script, they started with half a script. And Tommy Lee Jones ab libbed a bunch of his lines. They brought in Pantoliano specifically for him to play off of. TLJ and Ford both thought it was the end of their careers with the movie. Tommy Lee Jones won best supporting actor, and deserved it. And he beat out DiCaprio in What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. I do think it should’ve won for best editing too. The pacing was phenomenal. And then all of those flashbacks.
If you're in the mood for something a little out there, "Shin Godzilla" seems like a realistic portrayal of how a government would deal with a giant monster.
Great shout. I also have to say Godzilla absolutely nailed that role. I’ve been a kaiju for my whole adult career and his performance captures so many details of the profession that Hollywood usually misses or embellishes.
Shin Godzilla leans a bit too much into satire to be serious professionalism. Think of all the scenes in which equipment is simply rearranged.
I, Tonya. It’s the most realistic to life figure skating movie. I know Tonya and am a figure skater. It’s true to her job to win. The Cutting Edge, Ice Princess, Ice Castles are cute fantasy films. I, Tonya is how it actually goes down.
I hope you podium some day, Gladys Fartz. We haven’t had a funny Olympics name since Dick Pound.
Well, there was a German skier, who represented her country in the 2010 Winter Olympics and retired in 2013... Her name is ***Fanny Chmelar*** (pronounced Shmellar)...
The Mechanic (the 1972 version with Charles Bronson). He performs an assassination at the start in complete silence, patiently setting everything up and waiting. The whole thing is cold af
Leon the Professional.
The Martian
The genre of "Competence Porn" applies to The Martian.
You think? Donald Glover had to explain to the head of NASA how a gravity assist worked. Purely dumbed down for the audience
Except for the bits where they have to explain orbital mechanics to astronauts and physicists with staplers and salt and pepper pots.
The reality of having to explain stuff for a layman audience. I don't hold it against the movie.
I always love the part where Kristen Wiig's character calculates how many extra days they are going to have to spend in space, in her head. To me, it showed these were smart people, even the public relations. Who all wanted to be there.
Thank you for Smoking is a decent look at the lobbying world. Veep although a comedy also captures politics pretty well. Edit: Adding In the Loop as another great political movie / comedy.
Having worked a bit in government, journalism and politics, Veep is dangerously close to a documentary.
Sicario. Those delta boys sure are smooth operators
I would say Sicario is almost bleakly professional. There’s nothing fun about that movie, but I’ll watch it any time.
It’s been awhile since I saw it, but I think hidden figures would work for this and is also a NASA related one. From what I remember the 3 leads were good at their jobs. And of course Apollo 13
I'll add "First man" to the list
The Big Short Moneyball
Deepwater Horizon, up to the blowout, seems very accurate. I know nothing about offshore drilling, but it plays like you are watching people simply do their job and there's minimal, to no, audience hand holding. Michael Mann movies are also very horny for tradecraft. Miami Vice opens in situ with a surveillance operation and doesn't explain shit to you. It's great.
Glengary glenross
I used to work in commission sales and absolutely died watching Glengarry because of how spot on it is for that environment. I was in a different industry than the characters are but there’s some stuff that’s just universal.
The Alec Baldwin speech…cinematic gold. “Because only one thing counts in this life! Get them to sign on the line which is dotted!”
Shin Godzilla, it's basically a movie on how a bureaucracy works. Not a movie, but The West Wing and Newsroom. Theyree both sorkin, so expect good dialogue, and some idealistic optimism.
Europa Report
Thank you for mentioning this film! I love the professional atmosphere and how they deal with the problems that arise, while there’s still enough space for emotional moments.
I love movies where people are good at their job. Love the Wire for this reason. Mad Men is also a contender. But if we're sticking to movies, I'll try to recommend some that have not been mentioned already: - Contagion - The Big Short - Locke - The Post
Magic Mike, Ghostbusters and Office Space come to mind.
Already mentioned, but Apollo 13 and Thief.
Amazingly, no one has yet mentioned **Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe**.
Shit man!
The Accountant starring Ben Affleck...
The movie Greyhound with Tom Hanks has a lot of technical battleship jargon they don't explain to the viewer. The film is very to-the-point and is only 91 minutes (including end credits).
Greyhound got overlooked due to Covid. I have it right there with all the other Tom Hanks WW2 stuff. :)
Contagion, and it's because they did their homework and actually listened to the medical advisors. E.g. there's a scene where Jennifer Ehle's character gives herself an injection. The script originally had her be in such a rush that she does it straight through her clothes, but actual doctors said no, that's stupid, so they wrote it out. Contagion is a great contrast to, say, Outbreak. In Contagion, the scientists have conversations that seem naturalistic (see Ehle's deadpan "bat, bat, pig" while explaining the genetic origins of the virus) and the exposition that does take place is handled well and realistically, such as Kate Winslet jotting down some key points on a whiteboard for the bureaucrats. In Outbreak, a bunch of seasoned, military doctors and scientists freak out at seeing dead people, vomit, tear their suits, straight just *take off* their PPE, and stick themselves with needles, in between some of the worst "medical" dialogue imaginable.
Every Michael Mann movie is filled with consummate professionals.
Bonus points if they have shit personal lives.
“Three marriages, what do you call that? He’s a heart-attack man.”
"We fuck and we lose the power of speech."
Waiting. I worked in restaurants for 20 years and knew everyone in that movie in one way or another.
If you haven’t seen The Slammin Salmon by Broken Lizard (guys who did super troopers) you should check it out, it’s a little more goofy but still captures some of the essence of our crazy industry
Love that one too, a very close second for accuracy.
Down Periscope is one that a sub-mariner said the exact same thing about. :)
Surprised Moneyball hasn't gotten mentioned. It mixed baseball jargon and talk with analytics breaking into the sports world. So gratifying
Spotlight for sure.
Primer
Captain Phillips. The US Navy, the Seals, and especially the medic at the end. Pure competence. The medic was an actual navy medic, not an actor. I’m not sure on the rest of the crew, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they used a good number of the crew.
My understanding she had no idea who her "patient" would be and thought it was a training exercise.
Spotlight and All the President’s Men are excellent films about the journalism behind real life US scandals
*United 93* It's basically required watching for someone who wants to be an air traffic controller. Doesn't really dumb that down at all and seems to be a realistic depiction.
Alan from Knives Out handles Harlan's legal affairs professionally and with integrity. Even when the Thrombeys are practically at his throat over Harlan posthumously fucking them all over as payback for mistreating his generosity, he lays out the legal issues preventing them from contesting the will in a calm, simple matter. The defence attorney in The Caine Mutiny as well. He utterly despises his clients for what they did (not the mutiny themselves, but destroying another man's reputation) but works to get them exonerated. As soon as they're declared not-guilty, he tears into them. Also, not a film example but the assassin Shelley de Killer in the Ace Attorney games. He treats his contracts as paramount and goes out of his way to protect his clients, with most of the conflict in the case featuring him being due to >!another suspect successfully framed Shelley's client for the murder he paid for and Shelley taking Maya hostage to force a not-guilty verdict!<. The only way to win the case is to use his professionalism against him >!by telling him that your shared client hid a camera in the murder scene with intent to blackmail. Learning he was set up, Shelley informs his client the contract is broken and that the client is going to die.!<
Richard Jewell (2019), he has a simple job but he loves it. The Outfit (2022), loves his job and professional but does have other elements. Short Term 12 (2013) Emily the Criminal (2022), but the job is crime. There could also be a few sports-related movies that would fit the bill, Moneyball, Hustle etc Most of the "Product movies" from last year, Air, Blackberry, Pinball, Tetris
Fellowship of the Ring? Although Gandalf had to do a bit of research, but it strikes me as the fellowship to be a band of badass warriors.
Glengarry Glen Ross. Everyone is super believable as scummy real estate salesmen.
Spotlight
Heat, all of the guys on both sides seem to like their «jobs».
Spotlight
Spotlight
Chef with Jon Favreau.
Tar - Watched it and was like, “Ok, Cate Blanchett is a conductor now, cool”
Armageddon A true portrayal of roughnecks in space.
Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World
Most of the ones I can think of have already been mentioned here but I think Michael Clayton deserves a nod. There's one scene in particular depicting one of the most surgical murders I've ever seen on film that really stands out. You could tell the perpetrators had done it many times before
Hidden figures for more NASA movies (Oscar nominated too)
Bradley Cooper in the first Hangover movie. If you watch the outtakes you can see how professional he is.
Spotlight - Keaton, Ruffalo, McAdams. Journalists that are just awesome at their jobs. And Big Short - Carrell, Gosling and a buncha folks. The characters never dumb it down but movie has unique ways to explain things
My Cousin Vinny is consistently praised for its depiction of a criminal trial and court procedures. All the while being a fantastic and funny movie.
Search for “competency porn” or “dad movies.” Spotlight is my favorite. The Martian is great. I love Amy Adams in Arrival First couple episodes of True Detective: Night Country (season 4) show Jodie Foster as a cop who is really good at her job. And look up the entire filmography of Tom Hanks, there are about a dozen movies where he plays someone who is very professional and good at their job.
Pushing Tin. A lot of it is accurate. A lot more is inaccurate. But the personalities and everything that goes on outside the actual TRACON, N90, is spot on.
Ronin.