The 10 Best Character-Driven Movies on Paramount Plus

The 10 Best Character-Driven Movies on Paramount Plus

April 11, 2024

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As one of the oldest film studios in the world, Paramount has given us a host of memorable, iconic characters over the decades. You wouldn’t be wrong to assume that their box office presence has been thanks in part to recognizable actors filling out strong roles. Now with Paramount Plus, you have access to much of their classic library, as well as smaller gems that are led by equally interesting characters. To get you started, we’ve listed 10 films you can find on the service that tell stories driven by people either complex and nuanced, or focused on a singular goal with intensity and feeling—either way, always compelling.

1. The Station Agent (2003)

best

9.2

Country

United States of America

Director

Tom McCarthy

Actors

Bobby Cannavale, Ileen Getz, Jase Blankfort, Jayce Bartok

Moods

Character-driven, Sunday, Sweet

The Station Agent is about loneliness, change and friendship. Sounds corny right? It’s not. The characters are developed, they have their own reasons for the choices they make and nothing feels forced, neither actions or conversations. It’s a small and wonderful movie about a little man that moves out of the city and his comfort zone when his only friend dies, moves to said friend’s old train station and sets his life there. From there on it follows his social interactions with a slew of people, the relationships he forms with them. Oh, and the little man? Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister), who pulls off a great performance, albeit a quiet one.

2. Seven Psychopaths (2012)

7.6

Country

UK, United Kingdom, United States of America

Director

Martin McDonagh

Actors

Abbie Cornish, Amanda Warren, Brendan Sexton III, Christian Barillas

Moods

Character-driven, Funny, Well-acted

If you like any of the following: Irish accents, Woody Harrelson, Pulp Fiction, or dark comedy;  then this is the movie for you. This mix of violence, mafia, existential talk, and painfully comical situations might not be for everyone, but it has every component to make its target audience very pleased. And given how chaotic and crazy it can get, it should be enjoyed one take at a time, focusing on each delightful scene rather than the overall plot. Directed by Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths makes a perfect comeback after In Bruges, without veering very much from it (consequently if you like this movie make sure you check out In Bruges too).

3. Seabiscuit (2003)

7.1

Country

United States of America

Director

Gary Ross

Actors

Annie Corley, Cameron Bowen, Camillia Sanes, Carl M. Craig

Moods

A-list actors, Character-driven, Feel-Good

Though it paints in overly broad strokes and takes a while to get going, this tale of broken people finding each other eventually reaches an irresistibly feel-good conclusion. Like many good sports movies, Seabiscuit isn’t really dependent on the final outcome of a matchup between underdog and high-profile contender. What becomes important, then, is the perseverance of a handful of individuals in doing something just to prove they can beat the odds. And while there aren’t actually as many racing sequences in Seabiscuit as you might be led to believe, they’re well worth the wait—punctuating the drama with sharp editing and beautiful, period-specific production design.

4. Breakdown (1997)

6.9

Country

United States of America

Director

Jonathan Mostow

Actors

Ancel Cook, Gene Hartline, Helen Duffy, J.T. Walsh

Moods

Action-packed, Character-driven, Intense

Sometimes all a movie needs to be entertaining is a character having a really bad day. Breakdown might not have the most story or thematic depth to it, but having Kurt Russell try to track down the men who kidnapped his wife leads to one tension-filled scene to the next. It’s a great showcase for the small towns and empty stretches of highway that make up so much of America, lending to the film the feel of a western, with violence and stuntwork that feel edgier than most ’90s action fare. There are no guarantees here that our hero will win the day, which makes the danger he’s in that much more exciting.

5. Little Wing (2024)

4.9

Country

United States of America

Director

Dean Israelite

Actors

Brian Cox, Brooklynn Prince, Che Tafari, Hank Cartwright

Moods

Character-driven, Dramatic, Well-acted

There is a world where all of Little Wing’s ideas make thematic sense, as a story about a young woman reeling from the difficulty of her home life. But as it is now, the film just isn’t tightly woven enough, with various characters and subplots making little effect on the whole and major conflicts barely leaving consequences for the characters to deal with afterwards. It’s definitely unique; you aren’t likely to find many movies about pigeon racing anywhere. But even then, Little Wing doesn’t allow us to get an insider look into pigeon racing as a sport, nor how this underground network is even supposed to operate. Without a strong enough setting to support this story, it becomes much harder to suspend one’s disbelief and enjoy the strange things it shows us.

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