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lucia-pacciola t1_j2f3xhz wrote

Pretty much any action movie or heist movie. Olympus Has Fallen, Nobody, James Bond, Commando, Margin Call, Kill Bill, For a Fistful of Dollars, Tombstone, Air Force One, Tears of the Sun, Willy's Wonderland, Brick, Heat, Escape From New York, Suicide Kings, Ocean's 11, Ocean's 8, Heist, The Fast and The Furious, Point Break, The Town, U.S. Marshals, Sicario, Way of the Gun...

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mewtsly OP t1_j2f8o1w wrote

I’m not sure about any action movie fitting the bill (this is partly why I find this ‘category’ hard to define and convey to others). Heist movies are closer.

For me this particular want is not about somebody being a pro fighter or running around with all the action; I’m thinking about movies that show the thought process more: the application of intellect. For example, Moneyball is another of my examples: a sport where somebody applies maths and statistics and gets a result; they applied their own particular knowledge and ability in a novel way.

The writing and direction of such a story also makes a difference I expect; there are lots of movies about people doing great things, but fewer that show you the details, or pull the curtain aside to reveal the Oz, to demonstrate how smart it all is.

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