Five great true crime films that aren’t Goodfellas

Let’s get one thing out of the way: Goodfellas is an incredible film. Based almost to the letter on the autobiography of wiseguy gangster Henry Hill, it’s got a very strong claim to be the all-time best of its director Martin Scorsese’s. If you haven’t seen it already, it’s on Netflix - I’d advise you watch it right now. Seriously, grab your friends and tell them it’s movie night. Done? Good! No doubt you’ll now be needing some more true-story crime dramas to fill the hole; here are five of the very best.

The Wolf of Wall Street | 2013

The true goliath of modern crime films - with an emphasis on modern - is the exercise in excess film The Wolf of Wall Street. It has continued to divide opinion since its release. Should it really be three hours long? Is the director criticising its vile protagonist, or criticising the audience for sympathising with him? Why is there a complete lack of respected or respectable female characters?! Nobody really seems sure. The one thing that’s for certain is that it will stay with you for a long time. If you see it with friends, you’ll find the conversation constantly drifting back to it for weeks. It’ll get you thinking about film in a different way, and even better, it’ll get you talking about the film itself. Perhaps that’s what makes it great.

Bronson | 2008

An extremely unique and almost indescribable sort-of-biopic of “England’s most dangerous prisoner” Charles Bronson (portrayed by Tom Hardy at his beefed-up, batshit-crazy best), Bronson is part arthouse meditation, part true-crime exploitation punch-up. If you’ve seen a Nicolas Winding Refn film before, you might be somewhat prepared for what you’ll see in this one (he directed Bronson a few years before he worked on Drive and Only God Forgives), but if not, prepare for a viewing experience you won’t soon forget.

Zodiac | 2007

A slow-burning and hypnotically engrossing investigative thriller that evokes the murky corners of the San Francisco Bay area more powerfully than any other film I could name, Zodiac follows odd pair of journalists Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) as they work with SFPD inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) to uncover the identity of the perpetrator of a string of grisly murders calling themselves “the Zodiac”.

American Hustle | 2013

Character names have been changed and endings have been rewritten for cinema’s sake, but the hilarious epigraph to the opening of American Hustle not only sets the film’s tone, but refers to its basis in a true story while indicating the utter insanity of its events: “Some of this actually happened”. When con artists Irving and Sydney (Christian Bale and Amy Adams) are caught out by an FBI agent looking to make a name for himself (Bradley Cooper), what ensues is a hysterically funny crime caper involving twisted relationships, fake Aarab sheikhs, a plot to take down the mayor of New Jersey, and the mafia (look out for the Robert De Niro cameo).

Public Enemies | 2009

Directed by none other than Michael Mann, the modern master of action shootouts, this is the story of depression-era bankrobber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) and the efforts of FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) to send him down. Brilliantly acted and shot with an excellently frantic sense of minimalism, it delivers thrill after bullet-sprayed thrill.