What Documentary Shows and Movies to watch on Plex

In 1957, lawyer James B. Donovan is recruited from his prestigious law firm to defend accused Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. It's an unenviable task in many respects. Donovan hasn't practiced criminal law since he was a prosecutor at the Nuremburg trials after World War II. Also, the strong anti-Communist mood at the time makes him a target from who think Abel should just be executed. Abel is convicted but Donovan convinces the judge to sentence him to prison, rather than execute him, as they may at some point in the future want to swap him for an American spy the Soviets might have in custody. Just such a scenario comes into play when in 1960 U-2 spy pilot Francis Gary Powers is shot down over Soviet territory and taken prisoner. Donovan is again recruited to act as the intermediary and negotiate swapping Able for the American requiring him to travel to East Berlin crossing the newly built Berlin Wall.

Archie Grey Owl is a trapper in Canada in the early 1930s when a young Iroquois woman from town asks him to teach her Indian ways. They live in the woods, where she is appalled at how trapped animals die. She adopts two orphaned beaver kits and helps Archie see his way to stop trapping. Instead, he works as a guide, a naturalist writer, and then the Canadian government hires him to save the beaver in a conserve by Lake Ajawaan in Prince Albert National Park. He writes a biography, which brings him attention in Canada and invitations to lecture in England. Before he leaves, he and Anahareo (Pony) marry. In England, his secret is revealed. Will Anahareo continue to love him?

The social stigma and discrimination of autistic children is present in the movie Miracle Run. The life of Corrine Morgan-Thomas, the mother of autistic twins Stephen and Philip, changes drastically when she finally finds out that her sons are autistic. The first few doctors she takes her sons to are unable to diagnose them with any problem, saying that they are just fine; fortunately, Corrine takes her sons to a specialist who diagnoses the boys with Autism. Corrine's initial reaction is that of shock. She does not like the idea that her sons are autistic, and leaves the hospital angrily. She does, however, end up realizing that the specialist was correct. When she tells her husband about their autism, he says he doesn't want to deal with the autism, so she decides to leave him. She is determined to fight the social stigma of autism and to have her sons be treated like any other child, so she does not tell Stephen and Philip's new school about their problem. The school accuses her of abusing her children, but then tells her that she ought to find another school for the boys when Corrine tells them about her twins' autism. In the end her boys set their hearts to succeed and do succeed, proving that autistic children can do anything that any other child could do!

When four outsiders see what the big banks, media and government regulators refuse to - the impending collapse of the global economy - they have an idea: The Big Short. Their bold investment leads them into the dark underbelly of the modern banking industry where they must question everyone and everything.

"Miracles From Heaven" is based on the incredible true story of the Beam family. When Christy (Jennifer Garner) discovers that her 10-year-old daughter Anna (Kylie Rogers) has a rare, incurable disease, she becomes a ferocious advocate for her daughter's healing as she searches for a solution. After Anna has a freak accident, an extraordinary miracle unfolds in the wake of her dramatic rescue that leaves medical specialists mystified, her family restored, and their community inspired.

Based on the true story of Leigh Anne Tuohy and Sean Tuohy who take in a homeless teenage African-American, Michael Oher. Michael has no idea who his father is and his mother is a drug addict. Michael has had little formal education and few skills to help him learn. Leigh Anne soon takes charge however, as is her nature, ensuring that the young man has every opportunity to succeed. When he expresses an interest in football, she goes all out to help him, including giving the coach a few ideas on how best to use Michael's skills. They not only provide him with a loving home, but hire a tutor to help him improve his grades to the point where he would qualify for an NCAA Division I athletic scholarship. Michael Oher was the first-round pick of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 NFL draft.

A determined widow. A courageous D.A. They found a way to do what two trials and 25 futile years of effort couldn't do—convict the murderer of civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Alec Baldwin, Whoopi Goldberg and James Woods star in a powerful tale of courage and commitment.

Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper) was nothing more than a Texas man who dreamt of becoming a cowboy, but in his thirties he found out that maybe his life needed something different, something where he could express his real talent, something that could help America in its fight against terrorism. So he joined the S.E.A.L.s in order to become a sniper. After marrying Taya (Sienna Miller), Kyle and the other members of the team are called for their first tour of Iraq. Kyle's struggle isn't with his missions, but about his relationship with the reality of the war and, once returned at home, how he manages to handle it with his urban life, his wife, and kids.

After a judge passes away under suspicious circumstances, attorney Kim Wheeler is appointed as a judge for Nevada's 5th district, a circuit that stretches between Las Vegas and Reno--a rugged, often desolate area where anything and everything can happen. As the investigation into the death intensifies, Kim's sister, who runs the local brothel, becomes the prime suspect.

In the weeks before his death, Michael Jackson (August 29, 1958 - June 25, 2009) was rehearsing a show, "This Is It," that was to open in July. This film begins with a few of the auditioning dancers speaking to the camera about why they're trying out and what Jackson means to them. Then we plunge into rehearsals at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The film is arranged by musical number with pre-recorded material and footage from Jackson's various rehearsals edited together to take us through what would have been the concert's set list.

Based on a true story about a man named Christopher Gardner. Gardner has invested heavily in a device known as a "bone density scanner". He feels like he has it made selling these devices. However, they do not sell well as they are marginally better than x-ray at a much higher price. As Gardner works to make ends meet, his wife leaves him and he loses his apartment. Forced to live out in the streets with his son, Gardner continues to sell bone density scanners while concurrently taking on an unpaid internship as a stockbroker, with slim chances for advancement to a paid position. Before he can receive pay, he needs to outshine the competition through 6 months of training, and to sell his devices to stay afloat.

A New York stockbroker tries to avoid involvement in a Wall Street corruption case.

Cory Weissman is a college basketball player who suffers a devastating stroke. He perseveres to find new meaning in his life both on, and more importantly, off the court.

The story of the first major battle of the American phase of the Vietnam War and the soldiers on both sides that fought it.

As one of the youngest Planned Parenthood clinic directors in the nation, Abby Johnson was involved in upwards of 22,000 abortions and counseled countless women on their reproductive choices. Her passion surrounding a woman's right to choose led her to become a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood, fighting to enact legislation for the cause she so deeply believed in. Until the day she saw something that changed everything.

Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda's leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is.

In The Family I Had, a mother recalls how her brilliant teenage son came to shatter their idyllic family through one horribly violent and shocking act. Now, left to pick up the pieces, the survivors test the boundaries of their newly defined reality in this moving true crime exploration of the nature and limits of familial love.

Based on the true story of Louisa Gould, the drama is set during World War II on the Nazi-occupied island of Jersey. Lou took in an escaped Russian POW and hid him over the war's course. The tension mounts as it becomes clear that the British government will not risk an assault to recapture the island, and the community spirit begins to fray under pressures of hunger, occupation and divided loyalty. Against this backdrop, Lou fights to preserve her family's sense of humanity and to protect the Russian boy as if he was her own.

Based on the autobiography of Gypsy Rose Lee, this made-for-TV movie-previously a Broadway smash and a 1962 film-depicts the life and times of a stripper and her domineering mother.

Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team.

Based on the true story of the greatest treasure hunt in history, The Monuments Men is an action drama focusing on an unlikely World War II platoon, tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from German thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. It would be an impossible mission: with the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German Army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could these guys - seven museum directors, curators, and art historians, all more familiar with Michelangelo than the M1 - possibly hope to succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time to avoid the destruction of 1000 years of culture, they would risk their lives to protect and defend mankind's greatest achievements.

This movie chronicles the life of Lane Frost, 1987 PRCA Bull Riding World Champion, his marriage and his friendships with Tuff Hedeman (three-time World Champion) and Cody Lambert.

The True Story of the Army's Special Forces "Green Berets", who within weeks responded to the 9-11 attack. Green Berets, with the help of the 160th SOAR(A), took over the country and allowed other Special Forces and the rest of the conventional military to begin the more publicly visible war.

On the night she plans to take her own life, a 17-year-old girl is kidnapped and finds herself fighting to stay alive. She manages to talk her attacker into releasing her, but when she returns home, no one believes her story except for one detective, who suspects she was abducted by a serial killer. Based on horrifying true events.