GivenClint Eastwoodhas been around for a while (he celebrated his 95th birthday in 2025), it’s not too surprising that he’s directed his fair share of historical movies about real-life people. Of his 40 feature films, in fact, a quarter of them can be called biopics, being either mostly or entirely about true-to-life stories (not counting something likeMidnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which is more inspired by real-life events).
Not all of these biopics are great, and the first one to be mentioned actually might be kind of bad, but the rest tend torange from pretty decent to pretty damn good. Eastwood’s biographical films might not be as great as his war or Western movies, but there are some worthwhile titles in the pack that do justice to the true-life stories they retell.
10’The 15:17 to Paris' (2018)
Starring: Ray Corasani, Spencer Stone, Anthony Sadler
Thatone kind of bad Eastwood-directed biopicis, unfortunately,The 15:17 to Paris, which at least tries to do something novel, or, if you’re feeling a little less charitable, you could call it gimmicky. Essentially, it recreates a real-life act of heroism with the people involved with thwarting a terrorist attack playing themselves.
At the risk of sounding a bit rude, they’re not quite up to the task of playing themselves, and what was supposed to probably feel natural and true-to-life ends up being oddly stilted and honestly quite awkward in places.The 15:17 to Parishas good intentions, andthe casting choices here do admittedly make it stand out from most biopics, but it doesn’t really stand out in a good way, and what you get in the end is a rather skippable movie.
15:17 to Paris
9’J. Edgar' (2011)
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Naomi Watts, Armie Hammer
At the center ofJ. Edgaris an admittedly interesting historical figure:J. Edgar Hoover. He was active for a long time, and was the director of the FBI during an eventful time in history (to say the least), being a central figure in law enforcement for close to half a century, spanning from the 1920s (at first as the director of the Bureau of Investigation) until his death in 1972.
Also, the performance at the center ofJ. Edgar, given byLeonardo DiCaprio, is big and flashy, andprobably the best thing about the movie, but it’s not quiteenough to make the film a great one. You get some insight into the titular figure’s life, and the drama does occasionally come alive, while other stretches ofJ. Edgarfeel a bit directionless and, sadly, a little boring, too.
8’Jersey Boys' (2014)
Starring: John Lloyd Young, Vincent Piazza, Michael Lomenda
While some might want to classify it as more of a musical than a straightforward biopic,Jersey Boysdoes still tell the story ofFrankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and the way the group rose to prominence.It spans a good many years, and actually feels a little stronger when it does lean into being a musical, rather than focusing on the actual narrativeat hand.
It’s not a bad story, and it’s not terribly told or anything, but it’s probably more the pacing that feels a little less than satisfying inJersey Boys. It kind of just comes and goes, and maybe overstays its welcome a little, feeling a fair bit longer than its actual runtime of 134 minutes. But still, definitely not bad, andit’s neat to see a semi-musicaldirected by Eastwood; there’s some novelty value there.
Jersey Boys
7’Sully' (2016)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Anna Gunn
ThoughNathan Fieldermight’ve made the superior biopicaboutChesley Sullenberger, Clint Eastwood’s take on the topic at hand isn’t terrible, by any means. His film was simply calledSully, and it gets off to a pretty compelling start, recreating the emergency landing Sullenberger did in 2009, landing an Airbus A320 on the Hudson River after the plane flew into a flock of birds.
The aftermath is the side of things that Sully focuses on most, and while it’s not bad, dramatically speaking, it does kind of go through the motions, to some extent.
Everyone on board survived, but there were some consequences for Sullenberger, with an investigation threatening his future career, despite what he did. It’s that side of things thatSullyfocuses on most, and while it’s not bad, dramatically speaking, it does kind of go through the motions, to some extent. Still,the rather modest runtime (just 96 minutes) keeps things from feeling too drawn-out, thankfully.
6’Invictus' (2009)
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge
Serving as botha historical dramaand something of a sports movie,Invictustells a story that takes place in South Africa shortly after the end of the apartheid era. It’s aboutNelson Mandelatrying to unite a previously divided nation through sport, and he strikes up a partnership withFrancois Pienaar, who’s captain of the Springboks, which is South Africa’s rugby union team.
It doesn’t rewrite the book when it comes to biographical movies, nor does it do anything particularly surprising as a sports film, butInvictusis still a pretty satisfying and all-around well-made film. It also contrasts quite nicely withMillion Dollar Baby, which is another Eastwood-directed sports movie that starsMorgan Freeman(that one is, to put it mildly,much darker thanInvictus).
5’Changeling' (2008)
Starring: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Jeffrey Donovan
Changelingis one of thedarker films Clint Eastwood has directed, focusing on the story ofChristine Collinsand the things she went through after her son,Walter Collins, went missing in 1928. The police claim to find him, eventually, though she has her doubts that he’s her real son, and then there’s an ongoing struggle between her and the law that reveals further upsetting things.
It’s a fairly ambitious movie, recreating a period in time about 80 years removed from when the film was actually made,all the while having its rather bleak story play out over a fairly lengthy 141 minutes. Along the way, it’s not perfectly paced or always engrossing, but it retells the events at hand with relative care, and things are further improved by an impressiveAngelina Jolieperformance at the film’s center.
Changeling
4’Flags of Our Fathers' (2006)
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
There’s an admirable sense ofauthenticity toFlags of Our Fathers, and an honest look at the story behind a well-known image that was a whole lot more complex than what initially met the eye. The picture,Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, in that sense, tells more than 1000 words, withthe aftermath of the Battle of Iwo Jima being shown through the eyes of people involved in the image who also survived said battle.
It’s a bit of a post-war movie, rather than one super concerned with combat all the time, butFlags of Our Fathershandles both sides of things pretty well, and the combat is still intense and brutal when it is there; when it needs to be. It’s also worth watching alongside its companion film,Letters from Iwo Jima, which admittedly isn’t quite as biographical, given it features some real-life figures alongside fictional characters.
Flags of Our Fathers
3’American Sniper' (2014)
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Kyle Gallner
There’s a matter-of-fact quality toAmerican Sniperthat might be potentially off-putting to some, though others may find its approach quite admirable. The person atthe center ofAmerican SniperisChris Kyle, who was known for his skills as a sniper and served in such a position through the Iraq War, ultimately doing several tours of duty and proving to be extremely lethal.
Kyle’s success in war contrasts with a certain directionless quality to his life as a civilian, back in the U.S., which makes it feel like a little more down-to-earthThe Hurt Locker. Or, you could compare it toRaging Bull, which shows how one man’s skill in his profession hurts aspects of his personal life, when he’s not working.American Sniperisn’t quite as good as either of those movies, truth be told, but it still has quite a lot to offer for those who don’t mind war films taking the kind of matter-of-fact approach it does.
American Sniper
2’Richard Jewell' (2019)
Starring: Paul Walter Hauser, Jon Hamm, Kathy Bates
Admittedly,Richard Jewellis a somewhat controversial movie, bothfor reasons that are understandableand because ofsome more bizarre/small-scale things, too. It’s a bit likeSullyin its investigation of a person, the titularRichard Jewell, doing a heroic thing that has consequences, with Jewell becoming a suspect in the terrorist attack he just so happened to prevent.
It’s an engaging look at justice and the media’s role in making someone look either very good or worthy of doubt, and ittouches upon things that Eastwood has exploredin various other films, too. It’s largely well-acted and quite engaging throughout, even with some of the drawbacks, andit’s also one of the best Clint Eastwood-directed films made in the last decade or so, helping to show he’s still got it, as a director, even in his 80s (and now 90s).
Richard Jewell
1’Bird' (1988)
Starring: Forest Whitaker, Diane Venora, Michael Zelniker
Among all the biopics Clint Eastwood has directed, he’s on record assayingBirdis his favorite, and it’s not too hard to see why. The focus of this one is on jazz musicianCharlie Parker, covering his short yet eventful life, and providing insight into why he ended up being so influential in his field, with his music ultimately living on far longer than he did.
As a biopic, it takes quite a few risks, and has this odd sort of feel throughout that’s genuinely unique, and maybe even offbeat. It is long, and it does ramble, but it feels like it mirrors the sort of jazz that’s featured throughout.Birdcaptures the spirit of Parkermore than it tries to linearly describe the events of his life, and that novel approach is what inevitably helps it stand out(in a good way).
