No. 52 Grand Theft Parsons (2003) 17 of 100
This film opens with the dreaded ‘based on true story’ caption with some scenes and characters invented. I hate that – they may as well just make up the whole thing if you have no idea what elements are real and what are not. That said it is not billed as a documentary and having looked at the infallible Wikipedia page it looks like the story told by the film largely followed the facts. Set in 1973 the film opens with the drug induced death of country singer Gram Parsons. Johnny Knoxville shows up as his road manager and takes away all the drug related paraphernalia from the rock star’s room. He looks to take ownership of the body but Christiana Applegate shows up with a handwritten will bequeathing her all of the star’s possessions. Also in the frame is the singer’s father, played by Robert Forster, who is looking to take the body back home. With the body already at the hospital morgue Knoxville makes plans to steal it so that he can arrange to cremate it in the Joshua ...