How true-crimey is Leonardo DiCaprio's c.v.?
The Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage picks a winner.
the true crime that's worth your time
With Killers of the Flower Moon finally hitting Apple TV+ tomorrow, it’s (past?) time to assess Leonardo DiCaprio’s IMDB page for its relative true-crime-itude. That’s right: Scorsese’s boy (…lol; he turns 50 this year) is getting the Best Evidence True-Crime Résumé Percentage (BET-CRP) treatment.
“Wait, how’s that work again?” Here’s how Best Evidence analyzes the true-crime levels of an actor or director’s c.v.:
1 point for each true-crime property, regardless of size/nature of role
2 points for playing a “name figure” in case
1 point if the role received awards attention (i.e., Emmy, Globes, or Oscar nods)
1 point if the property is considered a hall-of-famer
all points divided by number of IMDb credits —> the Bet-Crap
Heading into the IMDb-page breakdown, my feeling is that DiCaprio charts as high as we’ve seen; he doesn’t have as long a roles roster as others, but he often plays a name figure, the Scorsese factor means he’ll pick up awards-consideration points and HOF points…my prediction is 22 percent.
Time to do the literal math!
Street Safe, Street Smart (1990) // It’s tempting to assign a point here — it seems like this is a stranger-danger safety video for kids from Disney? — but it doesn’t quite meet the brief, IMO: 0
This Boy’s Life (1993) // Some of the awards attention DiCaprio got as a newcomer was split between this and Gilbert Grape, but I still think it counts, and the film overall definitely counts, plus Leo is playing “Toby” Wolff, author of the crimoir it’s based on. Not quite a genre hall-of-famer, but still: 4
The Basketball Diaries (1995) // I don’t love including real-life stories about addiction or sex work, but decriminalization is beyond the scope of the Bet-Crap. It does count as true crime, DiCaprio did play a name figure…I thought this got more mainstream noms than it did, but it still notches: 3
The wig might be actionable, but… (MGM) The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) // I had a nagging feeling d’Artagnan was a real guy. A little clicking around revealed that he sort of is based on a man who existed, but Dumas’s account of his adventures is almost totally fictionalized. I could classify Louis XIV as a crook, no doubt, but I don’t think this one counts: 0
Celebrity (1998) // Is there an argument to be made for this as a true-crime property given who directed it? Possibly; I don’t remember the film well enough to say whether DiCaprio’s character is a thinly disguised version of himself/the notorious “Pussy Posse,” the moniker of which alone should be a misdemeanor. Know that I considered dinging it with points, but: 0
Gangs of New York (2002) // It’s for sure a true story, or close to it, but DiCaprio didn’t get much awards notice for his role, which is a composite at best, so the question is whether it’s a hall-of-famer. While I enjoyed it, I would say it’s a HOF Day-Lewis performance and not necessarily in the top tier otherwise? So I’m leaving it at: 1
“Might want to rethink your prediction, Buntsy.” (Dreamworks) Catch Me If You Can (2002) // More points on offer here: Abagnale existed, and DiCaprio plays him — and got a Globe nom for his trouble. I was utterly charmed by the entire film when I saw it in the theater, and we probably should talk about it more today than we do…but we don’t. Still: 4
The Aviator (2004) // I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know how/if it handles Howard Hughes’s drunk-driving manslaughter allegations; probably it doesn’t touch on his Watergate connections; I doubt the script takes a “let’s take it as read that any super-richie is a crook some way” stance. If I do classify it as true crime, it racks up a bunch of points, but I just don’t think that’s the intent. Feel free to disagree in the comments
but I can’t quite get there: 0The Departed (2006) // This one’s easier, given that Jack Nicholson’s Costello is partly based on Whitey Bulger; Costigan is probably another composite, but it did get DiCaprio some awards notice — and I hate that ending as much as anyone, but I do think this is a hall-of-fame property: 3
J. Edgar (2011) // I despised this movie, but you can’t argue with its bona fides for the purposes of a BET-CRP. I would like to argue with various awards bodies nominating DiCaprio’s performance in this stinker, but they did: 4
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) // Not quite a hall-of-famer, as I noted here, but Leo played the lead and won a Golden Globe: 4
“I’M THE KING OF THE WORL- er, GENRE!” (Sony Pictures Entertainment) Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) // Is this a HOF true-crime property? No real debate over the two points DiCaprio for sure gets, true story and awards attention. I’m betting my esteemed co-EIC thinks it gets one more point; I can’t believe the thing is already five years old buuuut IMO it’s too soon to say if it’s an all-timer: 2
Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) // Another one Eve might assert is a hall-of-famer; again, too soon to say, for me, but we all know he’s good for the other points: 4
The Wager (tk) // Still years away, most likely, but the subtitle of the most recent David Grann property has “murder” in it, so provisionally: 3
Jim Jones (tk) // I mean, I…assume it’s the infamous one. Again provisionally: 3
DiCaprio has 47 eligible titles — and, if we count projects listed as “upcoming,” 35 points, which puts his BET-CRP at a mind-bending 74.4 percent. Even if you knock out the upcoming stuff, that still leaves you with 29 points and 44 titles…and 65.9 percent. This is a shockingly high percentage period, never mind for an actor I don’t think people necessarily associate with the true-crime genre!
How did this happen? Martin Scorsese. He’s a prestige director, which will keep the tap of awards points open for his acting favorites — and in the 21st century, that’s DiCaprio. DiCaprio’s historically proven more than capable of keeping himself in awards conversations, obviously, which is likely why he’s a Marty favorite, but Marty’s other favorite thing is epic tapestries of extra-legal systems, so I suspect we get a similarly high score if we run Robert De Niro’s numbers…and if I ever run Scorsese himself, we could get our first-ever percentage over 100. — SDB
Tomorrow on Best Evidence: Your true-crime weekend.
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