TalentCODEAcademy
We recognize and reinforce the Spark and Perfect Practice
Talent Code Parents and students: Your mastery starts with a spark. Sometimes that spark needs to be given some air. People around you might be telling you what you can’t do. They might put a bucket over your dream. They might be confused by your purpose. The movies recommended on this page are choices. Parents can help their children make good choices. One might be best for an athletic high school aged boy. Another might be best for a younger person. Some are better at different stages or align with different family values. Make good choices.
1. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
PG-13 | 117 min | Biography, Drama
8.0 Rate this 64 Metascore
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Jaden Smith, Brian Howe
Votes: 381,091 | Gross: $163.57M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
"Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right?"
"You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period."
2. Good Will Hunting (1997)
R | 126 min | Drama
8.3 Rate this 70 Metascore
Will Hunting, a janitor at M.I.T., has a gift for mathematics, but needs help from a psychologist to find direction in his life.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 704,878 | Gross: $138.43M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
You're not perfect, sport, and let me save you the suspense: this girl you've met, she's not perfect either. But the question is whether or not you're perfect for each other.
3. 3 Idiots (2009)
PG-13 | 170 min | Comedy, Drama
8.4 Rate this 67 Metascore
Two friends are searching for their long lost companion. They revisit their college days and recall the memories of their friend who inspired them to think differently, even as the rest of the world called them "idiots".
Director: Rajkumar Hirani | Stars: Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Mona Singh, Sharman Joshi
Votes: 266,481 | Gross: $6.53M
at Amazon
"Today my respect for that idiot shot up. Most of us went to college just for a degree. No degree meant no plum job, no pretty wife, no credit card, no social status. But none of this mattered to him, he was in college for the joy of learning, he never cared if he was first or last."
4. Rocky (1976)
PG | 120 min | Drama, Sport
8.1 Rate this 69 Metascore
Rocky Balboa, a small-time boxer, gets a supremely rare chance to fight heavy-weight champion Apollo Creed in a bout in which he strives to go the distance for his self-respect.
Director: John G. Avildsen | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Carl Weathers
Votes: 435,921 | Gross: $117.24M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
Ah come on, Adrian, it's true. I was nobody. But that don't matter either, you know? 'Cause I was thinkin', it really don't matter if I lose this fight. It really don't matter if this guy opens my head, either. 'Cause all I wanna do is go the distance. Nobody's ever gone the distance with Creed, and if I can go that distance, you see, and that bell rings and I'm still standin', I'm gonna know for the first time in my life, see, that I weren't just another bum from the neighborhood.
5. Braveheart (1995)
R | 178 min | Biography, Drama, History
8.4 Rate this 68 Metascore
When his secret bride is executed for assaulting an English soldier who tried to rape her, Sir William Wallace begins a revolt against King Edward I of England.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan, Angus Macfadyen
Votes: 835,513 | Gross: $75.60M
Every man dies, not every man really lives.
6. October Sky (1999)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Drama, Family
7.8 Rate this 71 Metascore
The true story of Homer Hickam, a coal miner's son who was inspired by the first Sputnik launch to take up rocketry against his father's wishes.
Director: Joe Johnston | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, Laura Dern, Chris Owen
Votes: 71,064 | Gross: $32.48M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
God's honest truth, Homer. What are the chances... a bunch of kids from Coalwood... actually winning the national science fair?
7. Peaceful Warrior (2006)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Romance, Sport
7.3 Rate this 40 Metascore
A chance encounter with a stranger changes the life of a college gymnast.
Director: Victor Salva | Stars: Scott Mechlowicz, Nick Nolte, Amy Smart, Tim DeKay
Votes: 23,183 | Gross: $3.96M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
"The journey is what brings us happiness not the destination"
"Socrates: Where are you?
Dan Millman: Here.
Socrates: What time is it?
Dan Millman: Now.
Socrates: What are you?
Dan Millman: This moment."
8. Coach Carter (2005)
PG-13 | 136 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
7.3 Rate this 57 Metascore
Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.
Director: Thomas Carter | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri'chard, Rob Brown
Votes: 103,677 | Gross: $67.26M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
9. Remember the Titans (2000)
PG | 113 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
7.8 Rate this 48 Metascore
The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.
Director: Boaz Yakin | Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst
Votes: 175,722 | Gross: $115.65M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
Fifty thousand men died right here on this field, fighting the same fight that we are still fighting among ourselves today. This green field right here, painted red, bubblin' with the blood of young boys. Smoke and hot lead pouring right through their bodies. Listen to their souls, men. I killed my brother with malice in my heart. Hatred destroyed my family. You listen, and you take a lesson from the dead. If we don't come together right now on this hallowed ground, we too will be destroyed, just like they were. I don't care if you like each other of not, but you will respect each other. And maybe... I don't know, maybe we'll learn to play this game like men.
10. Evil (2003)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
7.8 Rate this 61 Metascore
A teenage boy expelled from school for fighting arrives at a boarding school where the systematic bullying of younger students is encouraged as a means to maintain discipline, and decides to fight back.
Director: Mikael Håfström | Stars: Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård, Linda Zilliacus
Votes: 32,375 | Gross: $0.02M
11. The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
R | 142 min | Crime, Drama
9.3 Rate this 80 Metascore
Two imprisoned men bond over a number of years, finding solace and eventual redemption through acts of common decency.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler
Votes: 1,930,953 | Gross: $28.34M
"Get busy living, or get busy dying"
"There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone, and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a *beep* word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a *beep*
12. The Green Mile (1999)
R | 189 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
8.5 Rate this 61 Metascore
The lives of guards on Death Row are affected by one of their charges: a black man accused of child murder and rape, yet who has a mysterious gift.
Director: Frank Darabont | Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt
Votes: 918,313 | Gross: $136.80M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
He kill them wi' their love. Wi' their love fo' each other. That's how it is, every day, all over the world.
13. Seven Pounds (2008)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama, Romance
7.6 Rate this 36 Metascore
A man with a fateful secret embarks on an extraordinary journey of redemption by forever changing the lives of seven strangers.
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Will Smith, Rosario Dawson, Woody Harrelson, Michael Ealy
Votes: 255,894 | Gross: $69.95M
From $9.99 (SD) on Prime Video
George Ristuccia: You know, Ben, I keep asking you this but why me?
Ben Thomas: Because you are a good man.
George Ristuccia: No, really.
Ben Thomas: Even when you don't know that people are watching you.
14. The Intouchables (2011)
R | 112 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
8.6 Rate this 57 Metascore
After he becomes a quadriplegic from a paragliding accident, an aristocrat hires a young man from the projects to be his caregiver.
Directors: Olivier Nakache, Éric Toledano | Stars: François Cluzet, Omar Sy, Anne Le Ny, Audrey Fleurot
Votes: 609,129 | Gross: $13.18M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
My true disability is not having to be in a wheel chair. It's having to be without her.
15. Rocky Balboa (2006)
PG | 102 min | Drama, Sport
7.2 Rate this 63 Metascore
Thirty years after the ring of the first bell, Rocky Balboa comes out of retirement and dons his gloves for his final fight; against the reigning heavyweight champ Mason 'The Line' Dixon.
Director: Sylvester Stallone | Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Tarver, Milo Ventimiglia, Burt Young
Votes: 178,597 | Gross: $70.27M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't how hard you're hit; it's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done. Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get what you're worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you. You're better than that!
16. Invincible (2006)
PG | 105 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
7.1 Rate this 63 Metascore
Based on the story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.
Director: Ericson Core | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks, Kevin Conway
Votes: 57,385 | Gross: $57.79M
Even if you're down there for an hour, you're down there.
17. The Great Gatsby (2013)
PG-13 | 143 min | Drama, Romance
7.3 Rate this 55 Metascore
A writer and wall street trader, Nick, finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor, Jay Gatsby.
Director: Baz Luhrmann | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire
Votes: 406,788 | Gross: $144.84M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
Nick Carraway: You can't repeat the past.
Jay Gatsby: Can't repeat the past? ... Why, of course you can... of course you can.
19. Fearless (2006)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Biography, Drama
7.7 Rate this 70 Metascore
A biography of Chinese Martial Arts Master Huo Yuanjia, who is the founder and spiritual guru of the Jin Wu Sports Federation.
Director: Ronny Yu | Stars: Jet Li, Li Sun, Yong Dong, Yun Qu
Votes: 66,669 | Gross: $24.63M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
"because, "If you're sad", my Grandma told me "then cry", "After you cry, you still have to live life"
20. Dead Poets Society (1989)
PG | 128 min | Comedy, Drama
8.1 Rate this 79 Metascore
English teacher John Keating inspires his students to look at poetry with a different perspective of authentic knowledge and feelings.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Robin Williams, Robert Sean Leonard, Ethan Hawke, Josh Charles
Votes: 325,208 | Gross: $95.86M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
“No matter what anybody tells you, words and ideas can change the world.”
"Seize the day... Because, believe it or not, each and every one of us in this room is one day going to stop breathing, turn cold and die"
21. The Blind Side (2009)
PG-13 | 129 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
7.7 Rate this 53 Metascore
The story of Michael Oher, a homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family.
Director: John Lee Hancock | Stars: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Jae Head
Votes: 249,710 | Gross: $255.96M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
Beth: You're changing that boy's life.
Leigh Anne Touhy: No. He's changing mine.
22. Unbroken (I) (2014)
PG-13 | 137 min | Biography, Drama, Sport
7.2 Rate this 59 Metascore
After a near-fatal plane crash in WWII, Olympian Louis Zamperini spends a harrowing 47 days in a raft with two fellow crewmen before he's caught by the Japanese navy and sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.
Director: Angelina Jolie | Stars: Jack O'Connell, Miyavi, Domhnall Gleeson, Garrett Hedlund
Votes: 122,132 | Gross: $115.64M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
"If you can take it, you can make it."
"A moment of pain is worth a lifetime of glory."
23. The Theory of Everything (2014)
PG-13 | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
7.7 Rate this 72 Metascore
A look at the relationship between the famous physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife.
Director: James Marsh | Stars: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Tom Prior, Sophie Perry
Votes: 327,058 | Gross: $35.89M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
24. Pay It Forward (2000)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
7.2 Rate this 40 Metascore
A young boy attempts to make the world a better place after his teacher gives him that chance.
Director: Mimi Leder | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment, Helen Hunt, Jay Mohr
Votes: 103,391 | Gross: $33.52M
From $2.99 (HD) on Prime Video
25. Forrest Gump (1994)
PG-13 | 142 min | Drama, Romance
8.8 Rate this 82 Metascore
The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, Vietnam, Watergate, and other history unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field
Votes: 1,461,260 | Gross: $330.25M
From $2.99 (SD) on Prime Video
