I liked that movie...but, while I can't speak for everyone here, Gordon Wood is very highly regarded as a historian of the background and events of the War for Independence, and the critical years following it. His book The Creation of the American Republic is still classic. There's been a debate about how much the War for American Independence was an expression of popular interests, and how much it was the work of colonial elites ( a very crude summary) and in that debate Wood has tended to place more emphasis on the latter. But even the scholars who might disagree with him would have to admit that Wood knows his subject, and is a thorough master of the sources. Even though it's that snobby rich kid who is quoting him...he's worth quoting.

On the other hand, Howard Zinn was not really a historian, even if Matt Damon the poor genius from Southie really loves him. We're regularly asked about Zinn's People's History here, and if you search, you'll find a number of good answers, like this one here that has a telling quote from professor Michael Kazin, and a link to his review:

Zinn’s big book is quite unworthy of such fame and influence. A People’s History is bad history, albeit gilded with virtuous intentions. Zinn reduces the past to a Manichean fable and makes no serious attempt to address the biggest question a leftist can ask about U.S. history: why have most Americans accepted the legitimacy of the capitalist republic in which they live?

I should note that Kazin's review was in Dissent magazine, hardly a bastion of conservative thought. If Kazin had done a good job of writing a history for the people, Kazin would have been all for it.

It's probably because of the amazing survival of Zinn's bad book that Jil Lepore's good history of the US, These Truths was written. Unlike Zinn, Lepore is a historian. She actually does a proper job of trying to include a lot of people's voices in her narrative, and I wish I could wave a magic wand and replace every copy of Zinn with a copy of Lepore. Though, unlike Zinn, Lepore's book won't shove easily into a back pocket for carrying.