The Top-5 movies every businessman should watch at least once

The responsibilities and the duties that the owners have to handle for managing their business is huge. And sometimes, it is completely normal to feel puzzled and clueless. In such a situation, we start the hunt for some wholesome means of entertainment, but with a tinge of knowledge.

Movies can teach us good lessons when we imagine ourselves as the protagonist and start dealing with some relatable problems. The most common examples that entrepreneurs take inspiration from are the ones where the main character quits the 9-5 job only to develop a business on their own.

We just lack the ability to brainstorm ideas at some moments, and movies supply us with that lost inspiration and push us to think and rethink again until we manage to find out the right path for starting.

Here comes the list of the best business movies of all time

The Pursuit of Happiness (2006)
The Godfather (1972)
Boiler Room (2000)
Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
Wall Street (1987)
The Social Network (2010)
Jerry Maguire (1996)
Chef (2014)
Citizen Kane (1941)
The Apartment (1960)
Office Space (1999)
Tommy Boy (1995)
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Founder (2016)
Joy (2015)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Rogue Trader (1999)
Baby Boom (1987)
Big Night (1996)
You’ve Got Mail (1998)

We see our favourite storytellers taking on extraordinary decisions and despite all the troubles and struggles, they do manage to survive through the intense competition of the modern era. In most of the cases, we try to believe that this is not possible in reality. However, these are the main sources of our inspiration.

These movies play a major role to motivate the small businessmen and entrepreneurs who are thinking of giving up on major ambitions and dreams. Somewhere within, they are tired of trying again and again, they are tired of accepting the defeat.

But for a moment, they just need to calm down and deal with the situation lightly. Facing the problem with a cool mind helps us tackle it better and most of us just fail to get this point. This is when you need to take an evening off, sit with a bucket full of popcorn and watch any of the movies that we list down for you. It will help you to look inside yourself and will surely motivate you a lot.

Here come the top 5 movies which are a must-watch for all businessmen

1) Wall Street (1987)

Wall Street narrates the story of Bud Fox, an ambitious stockbroker of Wall Street who is desperate to become rich like his hero, Gordon Gekko, a stock trader and a corporate raider. Gekko is one of the richest, heartless and vicious businessmen of the country who uses secret corporate knowledge to make deals even when the complete method is illegal.

After several failed attempts, Bud succeeds to meet Gekko and he manages to impress him with his tactics and ideas that are just impossible to describe until you watch it in the movie with your own eyes.

Bud starts working for Gekko as he promises to offer lots of added perks if he can utilise the money well. The benefits start to pour in Bud’s life but he soon learns about the dark secrets of Gekko and how he willingly breaks the laws just to destroy any company.

Wall Street is one of the greatest and best business movies of all time as it portrays the emotional ups and downs and the shattering low points of the business world. This movie lets the viewers take a glance in the cruel world of corporate investment and shows clearly how terrific the ultimate consequences can be of fraud and illegal practices.

2) Jerry Maguire (1996)

Jerry Maguire is fired from a successful company where he was working as a high-powered sports agent as he recommended that the agents should add their personal touch in a broader way and must appoint few consumers and more opportunity to understand them. After getting fired, he sets up his own sports management company with just a single client who does manage to believe in his ideas.

Rod Tidwell is a volatile football player and his financial and family need Jerry to work in his best version. This movie revolves around self-discovery and ultimately at the end, it can be seen that Jerry ends up to prioritise his client’s needs over his desires to earn more money.

This movie solely depicts that your customers mostly pay you for the person you are and not necessarily for the money which you might help them to earn. This movie gradually draws a clear differentiation between actual and perceived success which makes it easier for the viewers to understand. Jerry finally realises that people are more valuable to him than the idea of making more money indeed.

3) Joy (2015)

Just a handful of the movies capture the real struggles of the small business so accurately as done in ‘Joy’. The story is quite relatable in the case of many business owners as the life of Joy Mangano takes a toll. This is similar for most of us and we go through that stage at some point or the other of our life.

The movie narrates the life of Mangano where she is shown to be living in a rundown house with two of her kids, divorced parents, her grandmother and her ex-husband. Her future looks dull and monotonous until that magnificent moment when the idea of producing a cleaning product, called the Miracle Mop, strikes her.

This movie strongly promotes gender equality and showcases how one should never feel scared of applying different marketing techniques and strategies to boost sales and promote brand awareness.

4) Baby Boom (1987)

In this movie, we get to see a workaholic couple working all day and night. They are more obsessed with their career than their better halves. J.C. Wiatt is further appointed to look after a baby girl when a distant relative dies. And that is when everything starts to fall apart.

Her professional life takes an unwelcoming turn and her career loving boyfriend leaves her too. The corporate promotion for which she was working hard all these while, falls in the pit as her newly adopted child seems to keep her busy for most of the time. Soon enough, a coworker stabs behind her back too and that is when she chooses to quit from her job.

After that, J.C. buys a house in Vermont and starts producing her own baby food. Crashing down all the troubles, she becomes the founder of a brand new company.

5) Office Space (1999)

This dark comedy was a complete flop at the time of its release. But the depressed and frustrated IT workers of that period could not manage to get over this movie ever as it was relatable to a completely different extent. These young tech-powered professionals were trying everything right and were working hard to make a huge number of bucks.

But they could not find any way to satisfy their boss, no matter how badly they tried. Politics and work relationships are the main parts of the movie plot. Peter finally does resign from his job and gets rid of the boring traditional corporate life to opt for a career of his interest and that is where all businessmen can relate to.

Conclusion

In all of these movies, the common part is continuous hard work and endless commitment towards your aim. The best business movies are the ones that can be relatable for the viewer and acts as an instant source of inspiration too.

As a business owner, you might go through sudden unwelcoming struggles and setbacks. Overcoming each of these with a calm mind and moving ahead towards success is what we get to learn the most from these amazingly directed movies. Another motivating factor here can be having a hobby that makes one feel better. Anything that the person would love & enjoy doing is a direct source of inspiration.

Also read:
Top 5 books every businessman should read
Business Success Tips Every Business Owner Should Know

FAQs

Q. What are the best movies for business motivation?

A. There are many movies that can motivate you in your career. However, some of the best business motivation movies are, Wall Street, Jerry Maguire, Joy, Baby Boom and Office Space. You can consider watching these.

Q. Can movies provide inspiration for a career?

A. Yes, there are many movies that are very motivating for people for their lives as well as business. However, if you are driven with your career, you should be selective about the movies that you watch. You can start by watching this list of the best movies for businessmen.

Q. Are there any international movies for business motivation?

A. Yes, there are many. The ones on this list are international as they are in English. Movies in regional or country-specific languages are difficult for everyone to understand without dubbing or subtitles, so we have considered only English movies here.