Movies tagged with the "rags-to-riches" keyword

Genres: Adventure | Animation | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Musical | Actors: Scott Weinger, Robin Williams, Linda Larkin, Jonathan Freeman, Frank Welker, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seale, Bruce Adler, Brad Kane, Lea Salonga, Charles Adler, Jack Angel, Corey Burton, Philip L. Clarke, Jim Cummings, Directors: Ron Clements,  John Musker,  Plot Summary: Aladdin is a street-urchin who lives in a large and busy town long ago with his faithful monkey friend Abu. When Princess Jasmine gets tired of being forced to remain in the palace that overlooks the city, she sneaks out to the marketplace, where she accidentally meets Aladdin. Under the orders of the evil Jafar (the sultan's advisor), Aladdin is thrown in jail and becomes caught up in Jafar's plot to rule the land with the aid of a mysterious lamp. Legend has it that only a person who is a "diamond in the rough" can retrieve the lamp from the Cave of Wonders. Aladdin might fight that description, but that's not enough to marry the princess, who must (by law) marry a prince.

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Genres: Drama | Romance | Actors: Romola Garai, Charlotte Rampling, Lucy Russell, Michael Fassbender, Sam Neill, Jacqueline Tong, Janine Duvitski, Christopher Benjamin, Jemma Powell, Simon Woods, Alison Pargeter, Seymour Matthews, Tom Georgeson, Una Stubbs, Rosanna Lavelle, Directors: François Ozon,  Plot Summary: Based on the book by Elizabeth Taylor, "Angel", this is the story of a young woman with incredible imagination who refuses to accept the world around her, and creates her own realities.

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Genres: Drama | Actors: Greg Andrews, Monica Arnold, Brandon Bernard Benton, Adam Boyer, April Clark, Albert Daniels, Steven R. Ewing, Alvin Lee Fleming, Cameron Gipp, Bart Hansard, T.I., Khadijah, Malika, Bone Crusher, Monique Harris, Directors: Chris Robinson,  Plot Summary: As four friends prepare for life after high school, different challenges bring about turning points in each of their lives. The dramas unfold and resolve at their local rollerskating rink, Cascade.

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Genres: Adventure | Biography | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance | Actors: Phil Collins, Julie Walters, Larry Lamb, Stephanie Lawrence, Ellie Beaven, Michael Attwell, Ralph Brown, Christopher Ellison, Sheila Hancock, Martin Jarvis, Clive Wood, Anthony Quayle, Michael Byrne, Harold Innocent, Rupert Vansittart, Directors: David Green,  Plot Summary: Buster is a small time crook who pulls a big time job. When he finds that the police will not let the case drop, he goes into hiding and can't contact his wife and child. He arranges to meet them in Mexico where he thinks they can begin again, but finds that he must choose between his family and freedom.

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Genres: Biography | Drama | Sport | Actors: Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, Paul Giamatti, Craig Bierko, Paddy Considine, Bruce McGill, David Huband, Connor Price, Ariel Waller, Patrick Louis, Rosemarie DeWitt, Linda Kash, Nicholas Campbell, Gene Pyrz, Chuck Shamata, Directors: Ron Howard,  Plot Summary: During the Great Depression, a common-man hero, James J. Braddock—a.k.a. the Cinderella Man—was to become one of the most surprising sports legends in history. By the early 1930s, the impoverished ex-prizefighter was seemingly as broken-down, beaten-up and out-of-luck as much of the rest of the American populace who had hit rock bottom. His career appeared to be finished, he was unable to pay the bills, the only thing that mattered to him—his family—was in danger, and he was even forced to go on Public Relief. But deep inside, Jim Braddock never relinquished his determination. Driven by love, honor and an incredible dose of grit, he willed an impossible dream to come true. In a last-chance bid to help his family, Braddock returned to the ring. No one thought he had a shot. However Braddock, fueled by something beyond mere competition, kept winning. Suddenly, the ordinary working man became the mythic athlete. Carrying the hopes and dreams of the disenfranchised on his shoulders, Braddock rocketed through the ranks, until this underdog chose to do the unthinkable: take on the heavyweight champ of the world, the unstoppable Max Baer, renowned for having killed two men in the ring.

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Genres: Comedy | Drama | Family | Romance | Actors: James Belushi, Kelly Lynch, Alisan Porter, John Getz, Fred Dalton Thompson, Cameron Thor, Branscombe Richmond, Steve Carell, Gail Boggs, Burke Byrnes, Viveka Davis, Barbara Tarbuck, Edie McClurg, Charles Adams, James W. Bolinski, Directors: John Hughes,  Plot Summary: Bill Dancer and his young companion Curly Sue are the classic homeless folks with hearts of gold. Their scams are aimed not at turning a profit, but at getting enough to eat. When they scam the rich and beautiful Grey Ellison into believing she backed her Mercedes into Bill, they're only hoping for a free meal. But Grey is touched, and over the objections of her snotty fiance, insist on putting the two up for the night. As they get to know each other, Bill becomes convinced that this is where Curly Sue belongs - in a home, cared for by someone that can give her the advantages that his homeless, nomadic existence lacks. He plans to leave the young girl in the care of Grey and take off.... but Curly Sue has other ideas!

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Genres: Drama | History | Romance | Actors: Suzuka Ohgo, Togo Igawa, Mako, Samantha Futerman, Elizabeth Sung, Thomas Ikeda, Li Gong, Tsai Chin, Kaori Momoi, Zoe Weizenbaum, David Okihiro, Miyako Tachibana, Kotoko Kawamura, Karl Yune, Eugenia Yuan, Directors: Rob Marshall,  Plot Summary: In 1929 an impoverished nine-year-old named Chiyo from a fishing village is sold to a geisha house in Kyoto's Gion district and subjected to cruel treatment from the owners and the head geisha Hatsumomo. Her stunning beauty attracts the vindictive jealousy of Hatsumomo, until she is rescued by and taken under the wing of Hatsumomo's bitter rival, Mameha. Under Mameha's mentorship, Chiyo becomes the geisha named Sayuri, trained in all the artistic and social skills a geisha must master in order to survive in her society. As a renowned geisha she enters a society of wealth, privilege, and political intrigue. As World War II looms Japan and the geisha's world are forever changed by the onslaught of history.

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Genres: Crime | Drama | Romance | Actors: Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson, Reine Brynolfsson, Peter Vaughan, Christopher Adamson, Tim Barlow, Timothy Bateson, David Birkin, Václav Chalupa, Ian Cregg, Ben Crompton, Zdenek David, Directors: Bille August,  Plot Summary: Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

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Genres: Comedy | Fantasy | Actors: James Belushi, Linda Hamilton, Michael Caine, Jon Lovitz, Hart Bochner, Bill McCutcheon, Rene Russo, Jay O. Sanders, Maury Chaykin, Pat Corley, Douglas Seale, Courteney Cox, Doug Barron, Jeff Weiss, Tony Longo, Directors: James Orr,  Plot Summary: Larry Burrows is unhappy and feels powerless over his life. He believes his entire life could have turned out differently had he not missed that shot in a baseball game when was a kid. One night he meets this mysterious man, who could change his fate by offering him that alternative life he always dreamed of. But as Burrows embarks on this journey of self discovery he realises that even this new life has its problems and drawbacks..

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Genres: Biography | Comedy | Drama | Actors: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Thandie Newton, Brian Howe, James Karen, Dan Castellaneta, Kurt Fuller, Takayo Fischer, Kevin West, George Cheung, David Michael Silverman, Domenic Bove, Geoff Callan, Joyful Raven, Scott Klace, Directors: Gabriele Muccino,  Plot Summary: Chris Gardner has big dreams for him and his family but it doesn't seem to come together for him. Chris has an opportunity to be a stock broker but first he has to go through a grueling internship which means no pay. Chris decides to do it but when his wife leaves and he is evicted, he has to take care of his son on his own. So they find themselves sometimes living on the street and struggling to get by. But Chris is determined to make it.

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Genres: Drama | History | Sport | Actors: David McCullough, Jeff Bridges, Paul Vincent O'Connor, Chris Cooper, Michael Ensign, James Keane, Valerie Mahaffey, David Doty, Carl M. Craig, Michael O'Neill, Annie Corley, Michael Angarano, Cameron Bowen, Noah Luke, Mariah Bess, Directors: Gary Ross,  Plot Summary: In an era when Americans were in great need of heroic figures to help them forget their troubles, SEABISCUIT comes to the rescue. The picture relates a moving story of friendship and devotion in rehabilitating the main characters'fractured lives, as it interweaves the interactions between horse, jockey, trainer and owner and their adoring fans. The film accurately portrays the real people and events of those troubled times and how Seabiscuit "fixed us, every one of us."

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Genres: Crime | Musical | Thriller | Actors: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman, Timothy Spall, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jayne Wisener, Jamie Campbell Bower, Laura Michelle Kelly, Ed Sanders, Anthony Head, Peter Bowles, Ian Burford, Michael N. Harbour, Directors: Tim Burton,  Plot Summary: Based on the 19th century legend of Sweeney Todd and the hit Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Sweeney Todd a.k.a Benjamin Barker returns to London after being sent away by Judge Turpin with the help of a sailor, Anthony Hope. He opens a barber shop above Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pie Shop were she sells "the worst pies in London." With the help of Mrs. Lovett, Todd tries to rid of all the people who have ever done him wrong and hopes to be reunited with his daughter, Joanna, who is now Judge Turpin's ward.

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