"It's a mystery wrapped in a riddle inside an enigma!"
November 13, 2014 12:24 PM   Subscribe

I've realized I have a weakness for movies with "one man/woman (or at the most, a very small group) struggling against a Conspiracy That Goes All The Way To The Top" plots. From classics like The Parallax View to dreck like Extreme Measures, I'm a sucker for almost all of them. So what are your favourites in that genre that I might have missed?
posted by The Card Cheat to Media & Arts (33 answers total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
All the President's Men
posted by janey47 at 12:27 PM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Conspiracy Theory
posted by 724A at 12:32 PM on November 13, 2014


Enemy of the State.
The Game.
posted by jeffamaphone at 12:32 PM on November 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Three Days of the Condor
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
posted by 1970s Antihero at 12:35 PM on November 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


The Pelican Brief.

The Pianist is a real-life drama about one Jewish man fleeing from the Nazis, but it fits your criteria.
posted by Melismata at 12:36 PM on November 13, 2014


Sneakers
posted by Gungho at 12:53 PM on November 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Best answer: The Amateur
posted by Rob Rockets at 12:54 PM on November 13, 2014


I loved The Ghost Writer with Ewan McGregor.
posted by oceanview at 12:55 PM on November 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


The Lego Movie
posted by 256 at 12:58 PM on November 13, 2014


Page Eight (BBC short series) w Bill Nighy and John Sim
posted by Jesse the K at 1:02 PM on November 13, 2014 [3 favorites]


Best answer: The Constant Gardener
The International

And to break from the "The" trend onto a couple of tangential (but very enjoyable) films:
Good Night and Good Luck
State of Play
Side Effects
posted by apcmwh at 1:03 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Cypher.
posted by IAmBroom at 1:21 PM on November 13, 2014


Pump Up the Volume
posted by themanwho at 1:30 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Manchurian Candidate, perhaps? (Also remade in 2004.)
posted by theatro at 1:50 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


And if "the top" can include "the top of the village", there's Hot Fuzz.
posted by theatro at 1:51 PM on November 13, 2014 [4 favorites]


Seconding Enemy of the State so hard! Do not let the Tony Scott/Will Smith duo stop you. Also seconding The Ghost Writer.

A light-hearted variation: Jumpin' Jack Flash
posted by Room 641-A at 1:52 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Michael Clayton with George Clooney and Tilda Swinton.
posted by glasseyes at 2:12 PM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Great stuff here so far, thanks! I've seen (and enjoyed) The Ghost Writer, The Manchurian Candidate, The Constant Gardener, Sneakers, Three Days of the Condor, All The President's Men, Michael Clayton and The Game. More kinda obscure suggestions like The Amateur would be fantastic.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:22 PM on November 13, 2014


Serpico
posted by Right On Red at 2:29 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


What about They Live? Or Blow Out? Invasion of the Body Snatchers (any version)?
posted by Mothlight at 2:29 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Can't believe I am the first to mention The Conversation.
posted by bookgirl18 at 3:29 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh oh also The French Connection.
That Gene Hackman, always trying to uncover conspiracies and stuff!
posted by bookgirl18 at 3:30 PM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


(Last comment, I promise: I know you said movies, but just in case you haven't seen The Wire yet, this is basically the premise of the entire thing.)
posted by bookgirl18 at 3:33 PM on November 13, 2014


Kill the Messenger is in theaters right now. Based on a true story!
posted by 1970s Antihero at 3:37 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Would Syriana count? Lots of conspiracy in that one.
posted by jadepearl at 4:57 PM on November 13, 2014


It's one of those love-it-or-hate-it movies, but maybe The Forgotten with Julianne Moore?
posted by Two unicycles and some duct tape at 5:54 PM on November 13, 2014


Hmm, what about Marathon Man?
posted by Room 641-A at 6:08 PM on November 13, 2014


Possibly Cutter's Way.
posted by baseballpajamas at 6:33 PM on November 13, 2014


Z
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 9:00 PM on November 13, 2014 [2 favorites]


Hitchcock's Foreign Correspondent is a favorite of mine, and not as well known as some of his other work.
posted by dhartung at 12:29 AM on November 14, 2014


LA Confidential
posted by crocomancer at 2:05 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


The Manchurian Candidate and The Conversation are two of my favorites in this genre.
posted by brundlefly at 6:43 PM on November 16, 2014


North by Northwest? The protagonist believes he is the mistaken object of a conspiracy.
posted by Gungho at 1:48 PM on November 17, 2014


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