High agency movies?

Submitted by mewtsly t3_zzytys in movies

I’m struggling to find movie lists and recommendations around this, but I’m looking for movies that celebrate or heavily feature high agency people doing what they do well.

So for this, I consider ‘high agency’ to (roughly) mean a person who pushes through adversity/ changes circumstances, using their skill set, rationality, emotional or practical intelligence, to achieve their goal.

Ones that don’t fall back on common tropes of the so called human condition, bad decision making, misunderstanding and communication failures etc. I’m after movies where the protagonists kick ass academically, practically, or otherwise.

My prime examples of high agency films include:

The Martian: use of skills and resources to hand to achieve incredible things.

Apollo 13: demonstration of the troubleshooting powers of nasa and mental resilience of the crew.

Contagion: a team of experts applying their expertise in a scientific and surprisingly-not-inaccurate manner.

Moneyball: stats guy applies his particular knowledge to a sports team in a way nobody else considered.

Others that do this, or come close, include some about whistleblowers, professional experts, self-made high achievers, sports professionals, oppressed individuals overcoming, even superhero movies sometimes…

Trouble is, when I search for ‘films like The Martian’ what I get is a load of scifi. The genre actually doesn’t matter here, that’s not the commonality I’m going for. But I can’t figure out the search terms that would get me what I want.

So here I am. Hit me up with your top movies about people doing their thing super well, who make good decisions and apply what skills they have, preferably with a feel-good element by the end. Tell me why it hits the ‘high agency’ spot.

ETA: added Moneyball to my examples list; a lot of people going solely down the action route, but I’m keen for more academic/intellectual endeavours too!

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Callerflizz t1_j2edian wrote

I think the John Wick movies do a good job of showing how a hit man would handle the situations presented to him

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SuperNntendoChlmers t1_j2ef6lp wrote

If I understand your post, then you might enjoy:

The Big Short

Mission Impossible movies

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inmyelement87 t1_j2efsk4 wrote

The Insider. It’s a true story, very academic but also pretty engrossing. It’s about a Vice President of Product Development/Senior Chemist at a tobacco company and a 60 minutes reporter who blow the whistle on tobacco additives. They team up with lawyers, scientists, other journalists and government regulators.

It’s not ‘thrilling’ like The Martian, half the movie takes place in boardrooms. But it’s still very engrossing.

I’d also recommend Frost/Nixon. It’s about a reporter who interviews president Nixon and get him to admit to his criminal dealings. Both the reporter and Nixon are high power individuals, very smart and at the top of their game. I won’t spoil it but it’s pretty engrossing too.

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mewtsly OP t1_j2eizm6 wrote

Replying to SuperNntendoChlmers (#1,234,901)

Big Short was great and agree I try ink belongs here.

I’m gonna rewatch MI based on your comment: I only ever felt they were ‘typical action movies’ (not a bad thing, love those too) but haven’t seen them all, and maybe I need to re-evaluate :)

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th3r3dp3n t1_j2ejarg wrote

Flight of the Phoenix, the original.

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mewtsly OP t1_j2ejikk wrote

Replying to inmyelement87 (#1,235,108)

Thanks! Adding both of those to my watch list. I am totally down for movies that take place in single locations (Twelve Angry Men, afterall), or show in-depth discussions and analysis rather than those that just gloss over it for the next fast-paced-whatever.

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th3r3dp3n t1_j2ek5xk wrote

Replying to mewtsly (#1,236,536)

I didn't care for it as much, and the original has a great cast. If you're not into older movies, the newer one is passable, but a pale comparison to the original, in my opinion.

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kleptophobiac t1_j2emg3z wrote

One of my favorite things about some of the Hannibal Lecter films is that characters like this appear pretty often. The whole investigation and analysis system is functional because of people like this that the main characters can depend on.

There were far fewer of these characters featured in later movies once they realized that the grand guignol of Lecter and his crimes was drawing more people to the theater. But leadership, intelligence, competence, and professional discipline and drive are major themes for Thomas Harris, who wrote the books, and there are many of those characters in the novels. I love seeing all of that represented.

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ZMysticCat t1_j2epp3k wrote

Alien: The whole crew pulls their weight and does pretty well all things considered.

Die Hard: Mostly here for John and Hans, but most of the rest of the characters are pretty capable themselves.

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JETobal t1_j2eqdo3 wrote

Pi

Real Genius

Essentially the entire series of MacGuyver

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bbobeckyj t1_j2erm8j wrote

I guess the theme is person\people on a mission working through and winning against adversity and environment by outwitting, being smart and capable, and no annoying tropes. You want films that are exhilarating or feel good despite the adversity? There's a few I can think of.

Most recent Tom Cruise movies h Mission Impossible, Top Gun, Edge of Tomorrow, Jack Reacher (not the sequel though).

I think that all Taylor Sheridan films fit this category.

Master and Commander.

Knives Out.

Aliens.

Inception.

Way of the Gun.

If you're open to TV, Jack Reacher, Band of Brothers, Justified

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Heiminator t1_j2ez19z wrote

Michael Mann’s entire filmography is about people who are absolute experts of their craft. Heat, Collateral, Thief are prime examples.

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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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mindtropy t1_j2f6xju wrote

  • Erin Brokovich
  • Moneyball
  • Jerry McGuire
  • The Secret of my Success
  • My cousin Vinny
  • The Firm
  • A Few good Men
  • The Saint
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mewtsly OP t1_j2f8o1w wrote

Replying to lucia-pacciola (#1,243,590)

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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mewtsly OP t1_j2f99fg wrote

Replying to bbobeckyj (#1,239,144)

Yeah that’s more or less it. It doesn’t have to be exhilarating necessarily (it can be compelling, or deep). I am not sure how to edit my post but I want to add Moneyball to my examples list; that’s not exhilarating per se, but it’s one of my favourites.

I also like real-life accuracy (or well researched near-accuracy) to go with this. And some academia/ thought process that is shown (so: tough spy guy just being a good tough spy guy isn’t quite enough).

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golong25 t1_j2ffnzc wrote

Dallas Buyers Club, Spotlight, Worth, Licorice Pizza, Blackkklansman, The Equaliser

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atre324 t1_j2foc97 wrote

You’re Next and The Hunt

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FeatherMom t1_j2fr4gd wrote

Margin Call

The Big Short

Zero Dark Thirty

Michael Clayton

All The President’s Men

Argo

Day of the Jackal (original 70’s version— Edward is just so amazingly diligent about his character’s craft)

Sully

Greyhound

My Cousin Vinny

Philadelphia

Ocean’s 11

Guns of Navarone

The Great Escape

This is a TV series, but The Wire— both for how the detectives work as well as the various criminal networks.

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bahardesty t1_j2fvig4 wrote

I love watching people just be good at what they do. The last couple movies I watched were in the financial world: The Big Short and Margin Call, both revolving around the 2008 housing crisis and how very competent (and sometimes corrupt) people handle it.

The Big Short is more fun. Margin Call is a slow-burn drama in which you pretty much watch the discovery of the impending housing crisis work its way up the chain of command. Really worth watching if you can get past watching Kevin Spacey.

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