This month, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces the nominees for its 96th Academy Awards. As with every year, the academy’s choices are sure to excite some and anger others. Well, we thought we’d do the very same by handing out Oscar nominations to our own favourite (or favourite for the wrong reasons) films that feature a business.
First, some ground rules:
- The business has to be featured prominently.
- Someone has to be working for or with the business at some point in the film.
- Bonus points if the business name is in the title.
- Our candidate list only included movies we could watch by press time.
Okay, let’s get to it.
Most Unrealistic Portrayal of an Entrepreneur
Mario and Luigi, The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Sure, the ad at the beginning is cute. But The Super Mario Bros. Movie doesn’t really have anything funny or smart to say about the legendary characters it’s based on. Are we the only ones who wanted to watch the brothers stay in Brooklyn, try to earn five-star reviews on Google and scale up their business in a sustainable and smart way?
Best Film Constructed as a Vehicle for You to Play Phil Knight
Ben Affleck’s film about Nike signing Michael Jordan totally wasn’t a barefaced effort on Affleck’s part to fulfill a clearly long-held dream of playing Nike boss Phil Knight. Either way, it’s enjoyable as heck.
Best Film About Finance
It’s not exactly The Big Short, but Dumb Money—about the GameStop stock manipulation attack and the investors that held the line on it—is one of those real-life stories that makes you want to believe in the little guy. Even if the little guy does cringe streaming videos.
Most Cringe Insertion of Corporate Overlords
Barbie, in general, is pretty great. Margot Robbie, Ryan Gosling and the rest of the stacked cast are hilarious. For the most part, Greta Gerwig’s direction and script are sharp. Could we have skipped the whole part where Mattel executives insert themselves into the story and are played by the likes of Will Ferrell? We think so.
Best Film About Cheetos
Now, did the events that take place in Flamin’ Hot actually happen as they’re portrayed? Maybe. Maybe not really at all. But that doesn’t make this film not fun.
Best (and Most Unfortunate) Portrayal of a B.C. Entrepreneur
Bill Camp as Ray Loewen, The Burial
Bill Camp is a treasure. At 62 years old, the veteran actor is showing signs of speeding up, lending his talents over the years to seemingly everything from Joker and The Queen’s Gambit to ESPN’s Quest for the Stanley Cup. He’s at his best when he’s allowed to ham it up, and boy does he ever go full greaseball as former Burnaby MLA and funeral home magnate Ray Loewen. Classically, Burnaby doesn’t get a mention in the film—Camp’s Loewen is sued by good guys Tommy Lee Jones and Jamie Foxx—but maybe that’s a good thing in this instance.
Creepiest Film About a Business
You probably never want to go to this movie’s titular bar or anywhere like it. But following Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) there is time well spent—if your idea of time well spent is sitting on the edge of your seat for an hour and a half.
Best Portrayal of a Real-Life Entrepreneur
Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, BlackBerry
It’s possible that we’re catering to the Canadians in the crowd here. But with apologies to Adam Driver’s Italian accent (Ferrari) and to Paul Dano (Dumb Money) this award has to go to Howerton’s slightly (okay, incredibly) exaggerated version of Waterloo’s own Jim Balsillie. The film is a laugh-out-loud romp that takes you through Research in Motion’s incredible highs and brutal lows while shining a light on the ridiculous and ultimately very human people at the top.
Best Film About a Business
Best in show goes to Theater Camp, a delightful film about a kids’ summer camp and the counsellors (Ben Platt and Molly Gordon) trying to keep it alive. There was no film in the year 2023 that made us laugh (or feel) as much as this one did.
