10 Best Crowd-Pleasing Drama Movies, Ranked
The idea of a drama also being a crowd-pleaser might sound a little out there, but it happens. Or, it can happen. Sure, crowd-pleasers tend to be adventure-heavy (like Star Wars or The Princess Bride), or action-focused (like just about any modern superhero movie), yet films of a quieter nature can still be massively appealing and ultimately stirring in ways that make for a kind of excitement. Not the kind of excitement that comes from gunfire, explosions, or fist-fights, but it’s definitely something. These movies can be stirring and stuff; maybe that’s the better word.
The following films are most easily defined as dramas. Some also have other genres explored, like war, romance, or (very mild/low) fantasy, but if you were at a Blockbuster store back in the day (remember those?), you’d probably find these movies in the drama section. This also isn’t the same as highlighting the best dramas; more just the most approachable, and the most likely to prove moving and enjoyable (yes, enjoyable, even with some of the darker moments these films can have).
10
‘Almost Famous’ (2000)
A movie about music that isn’t a musical, Almost Famous is also potentially the best movie about classic rock that’s not really about a specific real-life classic rock artist or band. Okay, it’s got some pretty stiff competition from This Is Spinal Tap. Hmm. Well, that one was a mockumentary, and an all-time great comedy, so Almost Famous is, uh, the best (mostly) serious movie about a fictional rock band. There.
It feels authentic, though, and there’s probably more honesty and “realism” to Almost Famous than a good many actual biopics about musicians out there. It’s about a teenager who aspires to be a music journalist, so he follows a rock band as they navigate a rocky tour, and he himself navigates certain things just about everyone of a certain age does. It mixes music, heartfelt drama, and coming-of-age tropes extremely well and naturally throughout, so Almost Famous ends up being a rather effortless viewing experience.
9
‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (2012)
It’s got an appealing soundtrack, a distinctive look/feel, and compelling main characters dealing with some relatable things, so The Perks of Being a Wallflower feels like it earns the right to be called a crowd-pleaser. Of course, if the main characters knew they were in a movie, they might not love the idea of being in something so popular and mass-appeal, but oh well.
It’s easy to get swept up in emotionally, and it will either be some level of cathartic or possibly nostalgic, depending on how young or old you are.
As the title suggests, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is about being an outsider, and how being an outsider can have its perks. Which is oversimplifying things a bit, because there’s more to it than that, especially when the film chooses to get heavier, but that’s the main throughline of it all. It’s easy to get swept up in emotionally, and it will either be some level of cathartic or possibly nostalgic, depending on how young or old you are when you watch it.
8
‘Gone with the Wind’ (1939)
It just made too much money to overlook, so here’s Gone with the Wind. Call it the original crowd-pleaser or like a proto-blockbuster if you want, but it’s here because it was exceedingly popular (still is, in some ways), and also because it’s more of a drama than plenty of other rousing epic movies. Like, the Civil War is a focus of some parts of Gone with the Wind, but it’s more melodramatic than a good many other epic war films.
Also, the likes of Lawrence of Arabia and Bridge on the River Kwai didn’t seem to dominate on a financial front to quite the same extent as Gone with the Wind. There are things here to take issue with, but for its time, it clearly did something (well, a good many things) right, and its capacity to please so many crowds for so long does ultimately have to be recognized.
7
‘Little Women’ (2019)
The only disappointment that comes from reading Little Women, or watching a good adaptation of it, is the realization that what Moe said when he read from it, on The Simpsons, is completely made up. Maybe “And then they realized they were no longer little girls. They were little women” is just too perfect a line, and we can’t always have nice things.
That being said, this take on Little Women is pretty amazing, even if you are a Simpsons fan and are anticipating something that never comes. It was the movie Greta Gerwig directed to show that Lady Bird was no fluke, and it feels really effortless as a drama about family, growing up, and navigating early romantic relationships, plus some other things. It’s perhaps one of the more effective tearjerkers of the past decade or so, too.
6
‘Perfect Days’ (2023)
A perfect movie with the word “Perfect” in the title that does indeed take place over some “Days,” even if those “Days” aren’t really action-packed in the traditional sense, Perfect Days is hard to sell. It sounds very boring on paper, because it’s about a solitary man’s routine, and you sort of just observe him go about it, seeing – eventually – how certain things very slightly shake up such a routine.
It’s one of those “it’s just about life and living” sorts of movies, or a film that’s really on/about the human condition, and yet it’s really quite easy to watch and get engrossed in. Not much happening has rarely been so involving. Yes, that does all sound a bit ridiculous, but Perfect Days is not here so a writer can fool you into wasting two hours of your time on a movie where not much happens. Watching this one is genuinely rewarding, and there’s a lot that can be learned from it, too.
5
‘Good Will Hunting’ (1997)
Good Will Hunting will often show up, sooner rather than later, if you go seeking out feel-good movies, and there’s a good reason for that. It’s got heavy and sad scenes for sure, just like most of the movies being mentioned in this ranking, but it’s primarily about dealing with one’s issues and overcoming them slowly, or at least taking steps in the right direction.
More specifically, it’s about a gifted young man who’s also immensely troubled, and he ends up having a dynamic with a psychology professor who might well be able to guide him through the rough patch he finds himself stuck in. And, yes, like other movies here, it sounds cheesy when you lay it all out like that in under 150 words, but the execution of Good Will Hunting sells it, and it is an undeniably moving and easy-to-appreciate grounded drama.
4
‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946)
The definitive Christmas movie, quite arguably, It’s a Wonderful Life might seem like a slightly risky pick here, because it’s also got a bit by way of fantasy, genre-wise. Still, most of It’s a Wonderful Life is a very somber and grounded family drama about a man finding his life without purpose, and it takes a fantastical event (which involves seeing what life in his town would be like without him) for him to realize his purpose in life.
If you’ve ever seen It’s a Wonderful Life, it was probably around Christmastime, because that’s the time of year when it seems to resonate even more. You don’t have to watch it on December 24 or 25 to feel what It’s a Wonderful Life is going for, though, and its iconic ending hits hard every time, regardless of the day of the year the movie’s being watched.
3
‘Ikiru’ (1952)
There are Akira Kurosawa movies that might be a little flashier, faster-paced, or more epic in scope, but still, it’s hard to argue that any of them are more emotionally impactful than Ikiru. It rivals the best of the filmmaker’s samurai and crime/thriller movies, even if it’s straightforward as a drama and, as such, might not sound nearly as exciting as something like Seven Samurai or High and Low.
In Ikiru, there’s a man who’s lived a quiet and somewhat unsatisfying life, and then he has the misfortune of being diagnosed with a terminal illness. He uses his limited time in more daring ways than he did before he had to confront death so explicitly, and the film becomes about him leaving some kind of positive mark on the world before he leaves for good. It’s not as sappy or sentimental as such a description might make it sound, because there’s a brutal honesty to parts of Ikiru… though, at the same time, it’s being counted as crowd-pleasing here because it really feels like one of those rare movies that’ll likely impact every person who chooses to sit down, watch it, and then grapple with the central message.
2
‘Cinema Paradiso’ (1988)
Cinema Paradiso spans a good deal of time, so it starts off feeling like a coming-of-age movie, moves into more romantic territory around its halfway point, and then ends as a drama that’s sort of about memory, legacy, and other middle-aged concerns. Laying it out like that runs the risk of making it sound a bit dreary, but that’s really not the case, as Cinema Paradiso is engrossing, and something where it’s hard to imagine people watching and not feeling at least a little moved by parts of it.
It’s also mostly a feel-good movie, while occasionally dealing with some darker stuff, reflecting the whole “ups and downs” nature of life and all. Cinema Paradiso is also one of the best movies that’s not necessarily an epic, but covers a period of time you’d expect to have covered in a genuine epic, so it gives the impression of seeing much of someone’s life play out over the course of about two hours (or a bit longer, depending on which cut of Cinema Paradiso you watch).
1
‘The Shawshank Redemption’ (1994)
Adapted from one of the shorter Stephen King stories out there (okay, a novella more than a short story, but still, the guy did do The Stand), The Shawshank Redemption is one of those rare films you can point to and declare as “obviously perfect.” It’s mostly about two men surviving prison, with one slowly accepting the realities of the situation he’s in, and the other clinging onto hope that he might be able to find a way of breaking free.
The fact that it’s a prison movie could also make it classifiable as something of a crime film, but the focus is really on the characters and what they’re feeling, making The Shawshank Redemption primarily a drama. It’s very moving and eventually cathartic in ways that feel very natural, and the way it’s so confronting at some moments and comforting at other times is really something of a tonal miracle.
The Shawshank Redemption
- Release Date
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September 23, 1994
- Runtime
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142 minutes
- Director
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Frank Darabont
- Writers
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Frank Darabont
