Top 25 Inspirational Movies About Business Success

Watching people taking on extraordinary goals inspires us in one or the other way. As a matter of fact, we all need inspiration. And movies are the best way to get it.

When we relate ourselves to these stories, they leave a great impression on our lives.  Dealing with cut-throat competition in the digital age, sometimes we get tired of trying and struggling in our life.

This is the very moment when we feel discouraged and want to give up. But movies make us look inside ourselves and, often, become a source of our inspiration.

Sometimes art imitates life, and sometimes life imitates art. But a good movie has the ability to do both. Such movies have the power to change someone’s life instantly. Here is a list of 25 movies about success in business that everyone should watch.

1. Pursuit of Happyness

The Pursuit of Happyness is an American biographical drama film, casting Will Smith as the main character. Will Smith in the movie, is featured as a homeless salesman who holds a great trust in a product that he is unable to sell.

It is based on a true story of a man called Christopher Gardner. He invests a lot of money in a device named “bone density scanner”. While Chris tries to make ends meet, he ends up losing his house, wife and his money.

The extraordinary movie is emotional roller coaster with a happy ending where the homeless salesman turns into a millionaire.

2. The Aviator

The movie is based on the non-fiction book of 1993 Howard Hughes. The film is a reflection of the life of Howard Hughes who was an aviation pioneer and the director of Hell’s Angels.

The story portrays his life from the late 1920s to mid -40s, during which, he becomes a well-known and a successful film producer and an aviation magnet.

He was a victim of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and faces many difficulties but manages to hold his own against rival companies and hateful rumors. Apart from all the wealth he raised, he had something much greater to focus on.

He had a desire of making something which the world would have never seen or thought of.  This set him apart from the competition. He tried hard, faced many obstacles but nothing could keep him from becoming who he wanted to be.

3. American experience Henry Ford

This movie is a great story of a boy named Henry Ford who rose from the ground to the heights of sky and becomes the most influential American innovator of the 20^th century.

He had a dream that would change the world forever. He went against his investors, believing that there should be an automobile easily affordable by the working class.

The movie is extremely inspirational. Moreover, it dives into some of the hidden demons ford faced throughout his entrepreneurial journey.

4. Wall Street

The story of the movie revolves around a man named Bud Fox, an ambitious stockbroker, doing whatever it takes to make his way to the top. He takes desperate measures to rise to the top of Wall Street.

In this story, Bud fox takes risky and illegal insider trading tactics from the one he admires i.e. an unscrupulous corporate raider Gordon Gekko.

Fox gets obsessed with underhanded schemes and greed which eventually affects the livelihood of his beloved father.

5. Wolf of Wall Street

It is an inspirational movie as Jordan Belfort (the main character of this story) becomes from nothing to something really big.

The story depicts how business cultures are created in fast-paced companies. The Wolf of Wall Street shows the rise and fall of wealthy stockbroker Jordan Belfort.

6. The social network

The movie is based on a real story of the world’s youngest billionaire, creator of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg. He is a young, successful and an intelligent man.

The story depicts his struggle and the reason behind the invention of the world’s most popular social site. Starting off as a student at Harvard with a high potential and strong streak of arrogance, he successfully creates a new social network in the country.

7. Forrest Gump

Well, here the film is about a simple man having a low level of I.Q. along with a good heart. Forrest Gump is an American romantic comedy-drama film based on the 1986 novel “Forrest Gump”.

The story is the depiction of the long life of Forrest Gump who was a witness to several historical events in the 20^th century, in the US. He became successful just by living his life in the best way he knew.

Further in the movie, he owns a huge game company and becomes a source of inspiration for people around the world. Also, he joins the army and wins several medals. At last, he proves that one does not need to be a super genius to make something work. All you need to do is, give it a try.

8. The Corporation

This is a documentary firm which captures the development of the modern business corporation. It focuses primarily on corporations in the North American Region.

How the corporation got to be recognized as a person or a separate legal entity, distinct from the members who constitute it, is interesting to note.

This movie aims at explaining and exploring the concepts of a corporation and the malpractices inherent to this form of business.

9. Jerry Maguire

The film is about a man named Jerry who is respected and loved by everyone. He has a beautiful partner and is at the top of his game.

While everything was sound and good, he suddenly decides to step back. He plans new thoughts for his company. Unfortunately, he ends up losing everything.

After this, nobody is with him and is left alone. But one of his clients named Rod Tidwell supports him. This is the time where he realizes and works very hard to get everything on track.

10. StartUp

The movie is about two best friends Kaleil &Tom and their trials in business. They were friends since their high school and one day come up with an idea of creating a website for people to conduct business with the municipal government.

Kaleil raised money and Tom became the technical chief. There was a third partner who wanted a buyout.

Their business trials and their friendship causes dispute among them. So the question arises, will the business crashes first or the friendship?

11. Tucker: The Man and His Dream

It is a real story of Preston Tucker who produced the best cars ever made. With the support of Abe Karatz, he obtained funding and began to build his factory with his excellent salesmanship on his own.

The entire story has many parallels with the director’s own effort to build a new movie studio of his own.

12. Jobs

The movie is based on the life of Steve Jobs, story from 1947 when a student at Reed College introduces iPod in 2001.

After being drop out from college, Steve Jobs rose as the most respected and creative entrepreneurs of the 20^th century.

13. The founder

This film is based on the biography of the founder of McDonald’s. The story revolves around a businessman named Ray Kroc who owns a burger operation in southern California.

Ray is portrayed as a salesman who turned two brothers’ innovative fast-food eatery i.e. McDonald’s, into the biggest restaurant business in the world, with a combination of ambition, persistence, and ruthlessness.

14. Something Ventured

The movie revolves around the original venture capitalists and the companies. The main characters are individuals who help the companies such as Apple, Intel, Genentech, Cisco, Tandem, and Atari to start and grow.

These companies’ capitalists were the original venture capitalists.  Something Ventures uncovers the struggle of building some of the greatest companies of the 20^th centuries.

15. Pirates of silicon valley

The movie shows the rise of companies such as Microsoft, apple etc. Steve is the Apple founder while Bill Gates the founder of Microsoft.

They work day and night to create something that is unique and one of their own. Basically, the movie explores the impact of the rivalry between Bill and Steve on the creation of their personal computer.

16. Money ball

The movie is based on the real story of Oakland A and Billy. It is about their hard work and successful attempt to bring their team together.

This movie is for anyone who dreams of taking on the system with an intention to improve it. Finally, they manage to bring the teams of baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

17. Ctrl+Alt+complete

This short inspiring film is about the startup and emerging businesses, viewed through the eyes of five founders and their teams.

The story involves passion, fortitude, and insanity that bring startup to life. The movie shows and proves the facts regarding the struggle of people in a business. It is about, how difficult it is for an idea or thought to become one of the products that are used by everyone in their daily life.

18. 12 Angry man

There is a big group of twelve people in this movie who tries to find methods of consensus building. They face a lot of difficulties while searching for it. Instead of names, these people are identified by their numbers.

The defendant is referred to as “the boy”, and the witnesses as “the old man” and “the lady across the street”. Basically, the story begins in a New York City courthouse, where a nineteen-year-old Hispanic boy from a slum is on trial for allegedly stabbing his father to death.

Even though the movie is not about success in business there is something in this movie which is critical for any business. Even though all odds are against us we have to sometime march forwards based on instinct.

19. How to get ahead in advertising

The movie is said to be one of the fabulous British horror movies. The story revolves around a young man who struggles to come up with a slogan for his pimple cream product. He tries every possible way to sell it, but fails.  He has a sympathized wife. His obsession towards selling his product affects his relationship with his family, friends, and wife. Later in the story, he is seen with boils all over his head, mustache, and shoulder and realizes that he has gone crazy.

20. The startup kids

The movie is about young web entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Europe. It is about the growing number of young web dynamos such as the founders of Vimeo, Soundcloud, Kiip, InDinero, Dropbox, and Foodspotting in the U.S. and Europe.

The movie shows the comparison of different environments, resources, and attitudes of entrepreneurs on either side of the Atlantic.

21. Burnt

The story revolves around a simple man named Adam Jones (Bradley Cooper) who is a chef. He destroys his career with drugs and diva behavior.  Later, he cleans up and returns to London.

It’s about his struggle of coming back to his real self. He is now more strong and determined to redeem himself back. He does that through spearheading a top restaurant that can gains three Michelin stars.

22. The big short

The movie is based on a real story directed by Adam McKay. It is about the financial crisis that took place in 2007-2008, triggered by the US housing bubble.

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The film clearly presents and explains the reality of shorting the housing market, the subprime mortgage crisis, and Credit default swaps.

23. Margin Call

Margin Call os an American drama film, directed by J.C. Chandor.  This is a movie about a group of employees who response and take actions over a 24-hour period, prior to the financial crisis of the year 2008.

It is based on a financial company that was downsizing and nobody had any idea about it. Finally, someone attempts to complete the analysis and finds out the true reason behind their financial downfall.

24. Indie games (2012)

Indie Game is a documentary film made by two Canadian filmmakers James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot.

The movie looks at the underdogs of the video game industry, indie game developers, who sacrifice money, health and sanity to realize their lifelong dreams of sharing their creative visions with the world.

With the creation of various games, this awarding movie captures the tension and drama by focusing on these developers’ vulnerability and obsessive quest to express them through a 21st-century art form.

25. Catch me if you can (2002)

The story revolves around a Pan Am pilot Frank W. Abagnale. The character successfully impersonated an airline pilot, doctor, lawyer, and professor during his job as a deceitful cheque casher.

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The most amazing thing about this movie is the way he manages to achieve success under stressful conditions, in a tough environment while being pursued by a seasoned FBI agent.