Random Films About Historical Figures That Got Blasted By Their Family And Friends (14 items)

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  (#14) Grace of Monaco

  • Nicole Kidman, Tim Roth, Paz Vega, Parker Posey, Milo Ventimiglia, Frank Langella, Derek Jacobi, Robert Lindsay, Geraldine Somerville, Jeanne Balibar, Roger Ashton-Griffiths, Nicholas Farrell, Olivier Rabourdin, André Penvern, Pascaline Crêvecoeur

  Grace Kelly was a Hollywood star seen in classics like High Noon and Rear Window before she married Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1956 and retired from acting. This transition in her life became the focus of the 2014 film Grace of Monaco, which stars Nicole Kidman as Kelly.

  Not only did producers and director Olivier Dahan publicly fight about the movie, but the royal family of Monaco spoke out against it. "The Princely family does not in any way wish to be associated with this film which reflects no reality and regrets that its history has been misappropriated for purely commercial purposes," they said.

  The family claimed their attempts to correct errors in the script were ignored and the trailer for the film "appears to be a farce and confirms the totally fictional nature of this film."

  Both Kidman and Dahan brushed off the royal family's claims, insisting the movie was meant to be a work of fiction. "This is not a biopic or a fictionalized documentary of Grace Kelly, but only a small part of her life where she reveals her great humanity as well as her fears, and weaknesses," Kidman said.

  "I am an artist," Dahan said, addressing the family's concerns. "I understand their point of view. After all, it is their mother. I do not want to provoke anyone. Only to say that it's cinema."

  The family may have felt satisfaction with the film's ultimate fate. After flopping at the Cannes Film Festival, the movie had so many problems that it ended up airing on Lifetime rather than in movie theaters. Original screenwriter Arash Amel was so displeased with what had been done to his work, he live-tweeted throughout the broadcast, writing gems like, "The whole tone of this movie was for some reason Vertigo. Which Grace Kelly was never in."
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  (#6) Kathy Scruggs's Colleagues Were Furious About Her Indecent Proposal In 'Richard Jewell'

  Clint Eastwood’s film Richard Jewell professes to tell the true story of a security guard whose life-saving actions during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Park bombing resulted in Jewell being investigated by the FBI and having his life upended in a public firestorm. Ironically, however, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ended up blasting the film for its defamation of Kathy Scruggs, a real-life AJC reporter, claiming she was unfairly maligned by the film’s loose interpretation of her character.

  In the film, Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) makes an indecent proposal to an FBI agent (Jon Hamm) in exchange for landing a scoop, an event which, according to the AJC (and not directly disputed by Warner Bros.), never actually happened. Kevin Riley, an editor at the AJC, called it “lazy storytelling” and proclaimed “it was very upsetting to see Kathy Scruggs portrayed in a way that demeans not just her work, but the work of the AJC.”

  Ron Martz, Scruggs’s longtime colleague at the paper, added, “If they had actually contacted me it might have ruined their idea of what they wanted the story to be.”

  An attorney for the paper pointed out, “It is highly ironic that a film purporting to tell a tragic story of how the reputation of an FBI suspect was grievously tarnished appears bent on a path to severely tarnish the reputation of the AJC.” 

  Warner Bros. responded that the film was “based on a wide range of highly credible source material.” The movie also ends with the disclaimer, “The film is based on actual historical events. Dialogue and certain events and characters contained in the film were created for the purposes of dramatization.”

  Wilde passionately defended her portrayal of Scruggs, claiming, “I did a ton of research, I really embraced her dynamic, multidimensional nuanced personality,” and “I think it’s a shame that she has been reduced to one inferred moment in the film.”
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  (#7) Wired

  • Michael Chiklis, J. T. Walsh, Alex Rocco, Ray Sharkey, Patti D'Arbanville, Lucinda Jenney, Jere Burns

  When Bob Woodward wrote the John Belushi biography Wired in 1984, many thought the legendary reporter who helped uncover Watergate would shed new light on the comedian's life. However, when the book was released, both Belushi's family and friends spoke out against the inhuman character Woodward presented in his work.

  Members of Belushi's family were so angry, John's brother, Jim, even called Woodward a "c*cksucker." Belushi's wife, Judy, originally hired Woodward to write the book, since she valued his investigative skills and thought he might uncover any hidden facts about the way the police handled her husband's passing. Despite her intentions, Belushi's family and friends accused the book of focusing on his problems with substances and not bothering to examine the talented man behind them.

  "I hated Woodward's book because I don't believe he made an honest attempt to understand John, who despite his sometimes gruff exterior was a gentle soul," fellow comedian Al Franken said.

  When Woodward's book was made into a film in 1989, the criticism continued. Despite the negative feedback received, bidding rights for the book reportedly reached $2 million. Filmmakers cast the then-unknown Michael Chiklis as Belushi, and the film opens with him waking up in the morgue and running around naked, screaming.

  It becomes a sort of meta-tale as it includes Woodward's investigation, gives Belushi a guardian angel friend, and depicts the comedian as a casual bigot. Although it probably has nothing to do with the book's criticism and was judged by its own failures, the movie has a 4% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

  Dan Aykroyd called the book "exploitation, pulp trash," and Judy claimed, "The man in Wired is not the man I knew... He was a very likable person. He had a terrific presence, and Woodward missed all that."
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  (#4) Walk the Line

  • Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Dallas Roberts, Dan John Miller, Larry Bagby, Shelby Lynne, Tyler Hilton, Waylon Payne, Shooter Jennings, Dan Beene, Lucas Till, Ridge Canipe, Brad Birkedahl

  Before Johnny Cash met and furthered his country music stardom with June Carter, he was married to Vivian Liberto Distin. Considering her importance to Cash's life and story, she is depicted in Walk the Line, although the film focuses on Cash and Carter's relationship.

  For Kathy Cash, daughter of Cash and Distin, the movie was hurtful. Kathy objected to the film's depiction of her mother and believed it reduced her to a narrative element meant to propel Cash's career forward. "My mom was basically a nonentity in the entire film except for the mad little psycho who hated his career," she said.

  Kathy claimed that, in reality, "[Distin] loved his career and was proud of him until he started taking [substances] and stopped coming home." She apparently didn't hold a grudge against the film, however, as she also claimed to have believed the performances of Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix were well done and the overall movie positive.

  Despite these claims, Kathy allegedly made several attempts to watch the film at a special family screening, but walked out five times.
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  (#13) Tolkien

  • Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, Colm Meaney, Derek Jacobi, Anthony Boyle, Patrick Gibson, Tom Glynn-Carney, Craig Roberts, Harry Gilby, Adam Bregman, Albie Marber, Ty Tennant, Laura Donnelly, Genevieve O'Reilly, Pam Ferris

  Born on January 3, 1892, J.R.R. Tolkien served in World War I and became a university professor before gaining widespread acclaim as a fantasy author with works that include The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In 2019, filmmakers decided to make a film about Tolkien's life. Starring Nicholas Hoult in the title role, Tolkien depicts "the formative years of the renowned author's life as he finds friendship, courage and inspiration among a fellow group of writers and artists at school," according to the studio.

  While the author's fans may have looked forward to the film, the Tolkien estate was less than thrilled. "The family of J.R.R. Tolkien and the Tolkien Estate are aware of the Fox Searchlight motion picture entitled Tolkien that is due for release in May 2019," his family declared. "The family and the Estate wish to make clear that they did not approve of, authorize, or participate in the making of the film. They do not endorse it or its content in any way." 

  Despite the Tolkien family's stance, the movie studio stood their ground. "We are so proud of Dome Karukoski's film Tolkien, which focuses on the early years of J.R.R. Tolkien's extraordinary life and does not depict subject matter from his novels," Fox Searchlight wrote in a statement. "While we did not work with the Tolkien Estate on this project, the filmmaking team has the utmost respect and admiration for Mr. Tolkien and his phenomenal contribution to literature."

  Protective of their father's legacy, the Tolkiens also sued Warner Bros. for copyright infringement in 2017, claiming digital merchandising for the Lord of the Rings films harms Tolkien's name.
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  (#8) The Theory of Everything

  • Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Charlie Cox, Simon McBurney, Maxine Peake, Charlotte Hope, Tom Prior, Enzo Cilenti, Gruffudd Glyn

  Physicist Stephen Hawking's first wife, Jane, wrote about their life together in her memoir, Traveling to Infinity. Director James Marsh later used the book as source material for his 2014 film, The Theory of Everything.

  Jane claims she asked Marsh to be faithful to the events depicted in the book, but soon learned the filmmakers had taken liberties with their story, most likely due to the limitaitons of its runtime. "I knew if there were mistakes in the film that they were going to be immortalized, which they have been," Jane recalls.

  The movie includes her relationship and marriage with Hawking over a span of 30 years, but Jane claims it glosses over the events, and thus makes her feelings during the time period meaningless.

  She remembers:

  I'm sorry to say that none of these extensive travels - with all the organizing, packing for a family with a severely disabled member, transporting them, driving them, as well as the usual day-to-day care - really appears in The Theory of Everything. I asked for a frenzied fast-forward version - even simply getting all the suitcases, wheelchair and passengers in the car to represent this aspect of our lives - but I was told this was not possible because of the time constraints.

  Jane also alleges the movie glosses over the fact she gave up her own career to take care of her husband, depicting the couple parting ways in a clean and respectful manner - unlike the angry fight she describes in her book, full of screaming and bitter tears.

  "Don't ever believe what you see in films," Jane told attendees of the Henley Literary Festival.

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