Post by v9733xa on Jul 8, 2017 13:39:50 GMT -5
Sports! I figured it was appropriate to have this list for this weekend with the MLB All-Star game coming up.
Movies with sports were some of the first films I fell in love with when I was younger, and I find that that’s true for a lot of guys in their childhood. Granted, that also meant watching a lot of very terrible sports movies that just happened to come out in my formative years that I thought were awesome at the time (I’m looking at you, Little Big League, Rookie of the Year, and Airborne).
But anyway, here are the ones that have stuck with me all these years later. It’s a varied list, and we have everything here from documentary to comedy to drama (and different sports too), but they all primarily feature a sport in the film and that was the only rule for me this week.
One caveat though, and readers of my posts may remember from the documentary list: Hoop Dreams is unquestionably the best sports film ever made, and it’s not even close. But with that said, since I already featured it, I won’t put it on this list. Go watch it anyway.
Honorable mentions: Moneyball, Senna, Field of Dreams, Catching Hell, The Sandlot, The Hustler, The Natural, Undefeated, Million Dollar Baby, The Bad News Bears, Warrior, Creed, Foxcatcher
10. Caddyshack (1980)
It’s impossible to ignore some of the best comedies ever made that also feature sports, and Caddyshack would appear a little higher on many people’s lists, but for me I’ll keep it at number 10. While I love comedies, I saved the top half of the list for more serious films. Anyway, I mean c’mon, at least we can all agree that this is unquestionably the best golf movie ever made (though Happy Gilmore is also wonderful). It’s funny to think this was Harold Ramis’s first directorial effort, of course later known for a handful of 80s and 90s masterpieces of comedy. We all know Rodney Dangerfield, and certainly he had already a legendary stand-up career, but this put him in a new stratosphere since he was never known for any movie roles. And while Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were Saturday Night Live sensations, this picture made them household names. Two points of interest: 1) the film was not well reviewed at first, and only on repeat airings on television did it gain its fame; and 2) Bill Murray is in the movie for 14 minutes but has certainly the most quotable dialogue:
I could post some great clips of Rodney and Chevy, but most of them are just solid one-liners and you need most of the context for that. But hell, just watch the movie and you’ll see. Admittedly, the film does get a little dated to me, and I could see how people under 25 might not consider it as great as those who are older. Still, you can’t play a round of golf without hearing a quote from this movie from one in your foursome, and for that reason alone it’s got to be on the list.
9. Bull Durham (1988)
Bull Durham masks itself as a comedy, but behind that you have a very very good film with real drama, conflict, and romance. I know many who would consider this the best baseball movie (it’s close, just my personal preference) or even the best sports movie ever. I won’t go that far, but you cannot ignore the merits of this movie. Remember, Ron Shelton’s script (he also directed) was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars, so this is not some slapstick silly film. The dialogue and acting really are amazing for a film with such a low budget and low expectations (most baseball movies weren’t taken very seriously in 1988). But why I love Bull Durham so much is because nothing has ever so realistically, and still subversively, covered minor league baseball like this (I say this as someone who’s gone to a lot of Spring Training and minor league games, the atmosphere and attitude has to be seen to be believed). Clips like this sum it up:
“Crash” is the perfect anti-hero. Yeah we’re rooting for him, but to do what? Make it back to the big leagues? Just do his job well and be a mentor like he’s asked? Score with the hot chick? Whatever he can do that gets him by. Trey Wilson, as the “skip” of the team, also has a legendary scene that can be quoted in entirety by a friend of mine:
Sadly he passed away less than a year later. Anyway, if you’re looking for a film to really grab the essence of baseball, how you can try so hard for so many years and have so much of your fate based on luck and circumstance, this movie works as good as any documentary. It’s that true to life.
8. Rocky II (1979)
While the original Rocky is a bona fide masterpiece, I also have lots of love for the follow-up. I don’t quite understand why many write it off as a subpar sequel. Okay sure, it’s not as good, but it’s still one of the best sports films I know of, even though John Avildsen declined to direct it since he was busy with Saturday Night Fever. Maybe I’m biased. Well, we pick up this story after (spoiler derrrr) Rocky loses to Apollo, but because of Apollo’s arrogance, hate mail, and obsessing with proving his win wasn’t a fluke (and also his uninspiring career after almost losing to a huge underdog) he challenges Rocky Balboa again for no good reason. I love this scene:
Rocky isn’t too focused on it; after all, he’s a hero and he fought valiantly. But after having his first child with Adrian, and her initial reluctance to the brutality of boxing, it was Adrian waking up from a coma after massive blood loss that inspires one of my favorite 5 minutes in movie history:
The only thing that the second film surpasses the first in is the quality of the final fight. It’s awesome, just rock em sock em freewheeling haymakers all over the place. And what an ending. After exhausting yourself rooting for Rocky all over again, you sure as hell get rewarded this time, as Sylvester Stallone gives one of the greatest closing monologues in film lore:
7. Major League (1989)
I will give you one more classic comedy before we ratchet up the drama for the second half of the list. I simply couldn’t go on any further without talking about my favorite baseball movie, Major League. What Bull Durham gets right about minor league baseball, this movie gets right about the big show. The plot is pretty silly, but just realistic enough that it works: the team is taken over by a widow who wants nothing but to get the hell out of Cleveland and move down south. Here’s when the team finds out her plan:
But what’s really so great about this movie is how the over-the-top stereotypes of players (the hotshot rookie, the flamethrower, the clubhouse leader catcher, the underachieving arrogant veteran, the old grizzled manager, the foreign player no one gets along with) blend together to make a team of wackos that are still believable, especially if you’ve ever been a fan of a crazy baseball squad that fits the right pieces together for an unthinkable run (1993 Phillies and 1997 Marlins come to mind, shot-in-the-dark one time miracle seasons). And Charlie Sheen, with all the disasters he’s been involved in since, is a fabulous brilliant comedic actor. His performance in this movie (and the Hot Shots series) are legendary, and his “Wild Thing” character is iconic:
Phillies closer Mitch Williams literally wore the number 99 in that 1993 season, and earned the same nickname. And yes, they lost the World Series to the Blue Jays. Filled with unforgettable lines (I can’t ignore Bob Uecker’s great radio broadcasts), intense angry conflict, and some honestly good baseball scenes, you won’t find another movie nearly as good as this about the major leagues.
6. Hoosiers (1986)
If you search for “best sports movies” or something like that, I would venture to say that every list that doesn’t have Hoop Dreams or Bull Durham at the top probably has Hoosiers. That’s fair. I can’t argue a lot with the choice because there isn’t a better film ever made that’s about the relationship of a coach with his team’s players. I think that can be said with good certainty. Gene Hackman, with all his success still I think underrated in terms of his talent and array of characters, plays a high school coach, so tough and no-nonsense that five players are left on the team after the first practice; and much to their chagrin, he focuses on drills and fundamentals, not shooting and scrimmages. Of course as we all know, the underdog persists and we see an inspiring story come to life, exemplified by an iconic pregame speech:
You have to remember, these are children – well, young men I guess. What kind of coach works for that? There is no simple answer, and why I love Hoosiers is because I was a high school coach too for a while (long story), and the right tone to use with teenagers is so difficult, and so fluid, that Hackman nails it perfectly but in a realistic and nuanced way. And even though we know the happy ending is coming, what matters is how the team got there, and how the town came to love the outsider coach and his unorthodox team that looked so forlorn at first. You can’t beat this final shot, not flashy or fantastical, just simple and matter-of-fact but life-changing for that town and those kids:
5. The Fighter (2010)
It is no secret that some of the greatest sports films are about boxing. There’s something about the sweet science of the ring that has led to incredible stories on screen, many of them drawn from real life. One of them is the sensational 2010 movie The Fighter, which, despite its stars and SEVEN Academy Award nominations, is not as well-known as I think a picture from just a few years ago ought to be. I mean, check out that trailer. First, director extraordinaire David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Three Kings, and several other great movies) assembled Christian Bale (Best Supporting Actor win), Melissa Leo (Best Supporting Actress win, first time for both those awards in 25 years), Amy Adams (Best Supporting Actress nomination), and one of Mark Wahlberg’s best performances of his career into this incredible story of Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund and one brother’s pain into another’s triumph. It’s yet another transformation for Bale, known for immersing so deeply into character that his physical makeup is altered:
And unlike most of the movies I’m talking about here (and it saddens me a little, as a feminist, that there aren’t more impressive roles for women in sports films in particular), we have female roles that are awesome, especially the super underappreciated Melissa Leo:
Sports Illustrated called The Fighter “the best sports movie of the decade,” and they might be correct. If somehow you missed this movie and don’t consider it a classic, change your mind.
4. Rudy (1993)
Rudy is the most nostalgic pick of this list for me, and I’m sure there are some critics who might look at my list and see this Disney-fied movie way out of place. I don’t care that it’s undeniably predictable and probably too sentimental. There isn’t a movie about sport that pulls at the heartstrings better and more completely than Rudy does. And if you think that’s hyperbole, I suggest you watch it again in your adulthood, since most of you were children like me (or, hell, not born) when it first came out. Sean Astin plays Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who has always dreamed of playing football at Notre Dame. But it’s not about his achievement; as is clear from the first moments of the film, everything is for his family, his father in particular. He’s too small, he’s too weak, he’s not smart enough to get into the school… all not enough to derail the aspirations of Rudy to work his way onto the team. Now almost 25 years later, some of the movie gets written off as hokey montages and cheesy uplifting soundtracks. Wrong. Sean Astin’s honest performance, honest because of his unwavering ignorance of the hardships that would pull everyone else under, and Charles Dutton’s motivating presence still shake me today:
Good lord, if that doesn’t inspire you, you’re even more of a cynic than I am. This movie is probably the only “family-friendly” one on this list, and usually that allegedly can diminish its quality, right? I mean, what football (not American football, just football, you European weirdos) movie doesn’t have blood and cursing and hot cheerleaders? This one, because it doesn’t need it. I don’t often feel the need to post literally the last scene of movies here, that’s really a killer for those who haven’t seen it. In this case, I’m betting every American on this board has seen this film, and the rest won’t bother because they don’t care for the sport. So, watch this, the tear-inducing final shot from Rudy, which, after two hours of emotional assault and battery, finally lets you see that dreams can come true.
3. Raging Bull (1980)
Raging Bull is probably one of the handful of films that you can justifiably put at the top of this list. These last 4 here are just impossible… it’s really just for nostalgic reasons that I put a couple over some others. But in Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece (an oft-used phrase, but I mean it this time, there isn’t a better film) from 1980 you have arguably Robert de Niro’s greatest acting performance of his lifetime. What compares? The Godfather Part II? Taxi Driver? The Deer Hunter? No, you don’t beat this one. Roger Ebert called it the best film of the 1980s, and one of the ten greatest movies of all time. It was selected from the National Film Registry in its first year of eligibility (first film to do so). I could go through more accolades. But you just have to look at the ridiculous performances by Robert de Niro and newcomer Joe Pesci – really! he was a nobody before this – as brothers, exemplified by this scene, smartly and simply titled “best scene” by some Youtube user:
You have two amazing films in one here: Jake LaMotta and his chaotic and violent boxing career, and Jake LaMotta and his chaotic and violent personal and family life. What’s brilliant about the fighting scenes in particular, is that they have this dreamlike quality to them, and both hyperrealistic and hypersomulent, if such a thing exists. Cool fact: the boxing rings were designed as different sizes depending on the fight being filmed. As we get later in the film, Jake’s freefall and career collapse metastasizes into smaller and smaller rings, literally enclosing him into a hellish beating. I love watching the devastation he takes from Sugar Ray Robinson, after previously besting him twice before:
“You never got me down, Ray.” It’s true. The austere black and white cinematography and editing (Academy nomination and award, respectively) is legendary, if you ask students of film today – the Motion Picture Editors Guild named it the finest-edited film in history. Framed by an older Jake at the beginning at end of the film, clearly impaired and a shell of his former self (not to mention about 60 pounds heavier, weight famously put on by De Niro for the role), his shadowboxing at the film’s finale in his club is an indelible image from a film many consider not just the best sports movie, but one of the best movies ever made.
2. The Wrestler (2008)
I didn’t see The Wrestler for two reasons when it first came out, and for a couple years afterwards: 1) Mickey Rourke is a strange guy and I don’t know if I’ve liked him in any other film, and 2) I think wrestling is stupid. Both of those things are still true, even after I’ve watched this movie, but holy cow was I dumb for ignoring it for any second longer than I should have. The Wrestler is, for me, the best sports film that’s come out in a long long time, and shocked me with how much I liked it. Now I can appreciate what a masterful directing job Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Pi, Requiem for a Dream) does here, and that Rourke is an incredible actor if you give him the right role and script. There are few films I have seen, in years, where an actor so skillfully immersed himself into a role that you believe he IS a wrestler by the end. He earned an Oscar nomination as much as any actor in history as ever earned one (unfortunately he had to compete with pure Oscar bait in Sean Penn’s Milk, which is brilliant, but has not had the lasting effect on me as this film has). Marisa Tomei also earned a Best Supporting Actress nod, deservedly so. The infamous “deli scene” was in fact, except for the injury, almost entirely improvised and most of the people were real customers:
Now everything I’ve read and heard about this film, including a conversation with a silly wrestling fan later on, says that this film is incredibly accurate portraying the life of an older and down on his luck professional wrestler who just wants to do this craft for the rest of his life. Case in point:
Of course, it doesn’t help that he’s an addict and adrenaline junkie who honestly can’t see himself doing anything else. Even reuniting with his daughter is beyond his normal capabilities, much less attempting a relationship with women. (Marisa Tomei, by the way, is not young in this movie, but holy cow she looks great. Would you like to see her as a stripper? Then watch this.) But that doesn’t matter, because this is Rourke’s show. Just listen to what legend Mick Foley said after watching the film: “Within five [minutes], I had completely forgotten I was looking at Mickey Rourke. That guy on the screen simply was Randy 'the Ram' Robinson." When the end of this movie came, and I was so glued to the screen, I thought to myself something unthinkable 2 hours beforehand: “My god, this is a movie about wrestling and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in years.” See for yourself:
1. Rocky (1976)
If there was ever a movie where I would tell you to stop reading right now if you’ve never watched it, this is it. The original Rocky is so iconic, so transcendent, so endlessly copied and imitated but never matched. Do I have a small bias because I was born and raised around Philly? Sure! But that’s only a small factor into this amazement I have every time I watch this movie. I know most of us have heard the songs, and seen clips from the fights, even probably know a couple lines here and there. Honestly though, you just have to watch the whole film, directed by John Avildsen, from the beginning to the end. Sylvester Stallone – who, I hope you remember, wrote the whole goddamn script himself and earned an Oscar nomination for it – is a versatile and fabulous actor in the right pictures. Add that nomination into the total of TEN Academy Awards nods it got in 1977 (winning for Best Picture and Best Director, among others), including a nod for every acting slot, and you should start to see how Rocky is so much more than the fights and montages. In fact, the first hour or so is so good, so emotional, that for years I have failed to understand how it is not seen as the runaway best film editing and acting in any sports movie in history.
You see, most people think of Rocky as the perfect underdog hero, but look at what he was before! A “collector,” to use the jargon. So why the hell did this guy end up fighting the Heavyweight Champion of the World, the one and only Apollo Creed? Well this scene explains the complicated decision into that:
Rocky’s emotions are all over the place: from doubt to confidence, from focus to distraction, from invincibility to fragility. How does trainer Mickey respond? Well Burgess Meredith will show you:
“Women weaken legs.” Ha, I can speak from experience. And as Rocky stays with that girl (Talia Shire as Adrian), her brother (Burt Young as the iconic Paulie) cannot handle it:
But after all that, I’m sorry, you cannot ignore the most glorious 5 minutes in any film about a sport, the legendary training montage culminating in what almost everybody now calls “The Rocky Steps.”
That’s the Philly Art Museum at the west end of Eakins Oval near the Schuylkill River. Go there and see some good art, and yes run up the goddamn stairs too. Anyway, the fights are great but I don’t want to post clips of them; they speak for themselves. I just want to make one point clear: watch this whole movie from beginning to end, and tell me how it’s not the greatest dramatic (i.e. non-documentary) sports movie ever filmed. And when you tell me it’s not, let’s rumble.
~~
Ha, for some reason I keep writing more each time. Yikes, it’s making these take a long time to complete! This took days of work.
I’m going to take next week off since I’ll be at the Jersey Shore for the weekend, but I’ve got a few more lists in mind before the end of the summer.
Til then, let’s keep talking about movies! What did I miss? Do you have any sports films you think I need to see? Any obscure or lesser-known sports in particular? You know I’m up for anything.
Movies with sports were some of the first films I fell in love with when I was younger, and I find that that’s true for a lot of guys in their childhood. Granted, that also meant watching a lot of very terrible sports movies that just happened to come out in my formative years that I thought were awesome at the time (I’m looking at you, Little Big League, Rookie of the Year, and Airborne).
But anyway, here are the ones that have stuck with me all these years later. It’s a varied list, and we have everything here from documentary to comedy to drama (and different sports too), but they all primarily feature a sport in the film and that was the only rule for me this week.
One caveat though, and readers of my posts may remember from the documentary list: Hoop Dreams is unquestionably the best sports film ever made, and it’s not even close. But with that said, since I already featured it, I won’t put it on this list. Go watch it anyway.
Honorable mentions: Moneyball, Senna, Field of Dreams, Catching Hell, The Sandlot, The Hustler, The Natural, Undefeated, Million Dollar Baby, The Bad News Bears, Warrior, Creed, Foxcatcher
10. Caddyshack (1980)
It’s impossible to ignore some of the best comedies ever made that also feature sports, and Caddyshack would appear a little higher on many people’s lists, but for me I’ll keep it at number 10. While I love comedies, I saved the top half of the list for more serious films. Anyway, I mean c’mon, at least we can all agree that this is unquestionably the best golf movie ever made (though Happy Gilmore is also wonderful). It’s funny to think this was Harold Ramis’s first directorial effort, of course later known for a handful of 80s and 90s masterpieces of comedy. We all know Rodney Dangerfield, and certainly he had already a legendary stand-up career, but this put him in a new stratosphere since he was never known for any movie roles. And while Chevy Chase and Bill Murray were Saturday Night Live sensations, this picture made them household names. Two points of interest: 1) the film was not well reviewed at first, and only on repeat airings on television did it gain its fame; and 2) Bill Murray is in the movie for 14 minutes but has certainly the most quotable dialogue:
I could post some great clips of Rodney and Chevy, but most of them are just solid one-liners and you need most of the context for that. But hell, just watch the movie and you’ll see. Admittedly, the film does get a little dated to me, and I could see how people under 25 might not consider it as great as those who are older. Still, you can’t play a round of golf without hearing a quote from this movie from one in your foursome, and for that reason alone it’s got to be on the list.
9. Bull Durham (1988)
Bull Durham masks itself as a comedy, but behind that you have a very very good film with real drama, conflict, and romance. I know many who would consider this the best baseball movie (it’s close, just my personal preference) or even the best sports movie ever. I won’t go that far, but you cannot ignore the merits of this movie. Remember, Ron Shelton’s script (he also directed) was nominated for Best Screenplay at the Oscars, so this is not some slapstick silly film. The dialogue and acting really are amazing for a film with such a low budget and low expectations (most baseball movies weren’t taken very seriously in 1988). But why I love Bull Durham so much is because nothing has ever so realistically, and still subversively, covered minor league baseball like this (I say this as someone who’s gone to a lot of Spring Training and minor league games, the atmosphere and attitude has to be seen to be believed). Clips like this sum it up:
“Crash” is the perfect anti-hero. Yeah we’re rooting for him, but to do what? Make it back to the big leagues? Just do his job well and be a mentor like he’s asked? Score with the hot chick? Whatever he can do that gets him by. Trey Wilson, as the “skip” of the team, also has a legendary scene that can be quoted in entirety by a friend of mine:
Sadly he passed away less than a year later. Anyway, if you’re looking for a film to really grab the essence of baseball, how you can try so hard for so many years and have so much of your fate based on luck and circumstance, this movie works as good as any documentary. It’s that true to life.
8. Rocky II (1979)
While the original Rocky is a bona fide masterpiece, I also have lots of love for the follow-up. I don’t quite understand why many write it off as a subpar sequel. Okay sure, it’s not as good, but it’s still one of the best sports films I know of, even though John Avildsen declined to direct it since he was busy with Saturday Night Fever. Maybe I’m biased. Well, we pick up this story after (spoiler derrrr) Rocky loses to Apollo, but because of Apollo’s arrogance, hate mail, and obsessing with proving his win wasn’t a fluke (and also his uninspiring career after almost losing to a huge underdog) he challenges Rocky Balboa again for no good reason. I love this scene:
Rocky isn’t too focused on it; after all, he’s a hero and he fought valiantly. But after having his first child with Adrian, and her initial reluctance to the brutality of boxing, it was Adrian waking up from a coma after massive blood loss that inspires one of my favorite 5 minutes in movie history:
The only thing that the second film surpasses the first in is the quality of the final fight. It’s awesome, just rock em sock em freewheeling haymakers all over the place. And what an ending. After exhausting yourself rooting for Rocky all over again, you sure as hell get rewarded this time, as Sylvester Stallone gives one of the greatest closing monologues in film lore:
7. Major League (1989)
I will give you one more classic comedy before we ratchet up the drama for the second half of the list. I simply couldn’t go on any further without talking about my favorite baseball movie, Major League. What Bull Durham gets right about minor league baseball, this movie gets right about the big show. The plot is pretty silly, but just realistic enough that it works: the team is taken over by a widow who wants nothing but to get the hell out of Cleveland and move down south. Here’s when the team finds out her plan:
But what’s really so great about this movie is how the over-the-top stereotypes of players (the hotshot rookie, the flamethrower, the clubhouse leader catcher, the underachieving arrogant veteran, the old grizzled manager, the foreign player no one gets along with) blend together to make a team of wackos that are still believable, especially if you’ve ever been a fan of a crazy baseball squad that fits the right pieces together for an unthinkable run (1993 Phillies and 1997 Marlins come to mind, shot-in-the-dark one time miracle seasons). And Charlie Sheen, with all the disasters he’s been involved in since, is a fabulous brilliant comedic actor. His performance in this movie (and the Hot Shots series) are legendary, and his “Wild Thing” character is iconic:
Phillies closer Mitch Williams literally wore the number 99 in that 1993 season, and earned the same nickname. And yes, they lost the World Series to the Blue Jays. Filled with unforgettable lines (I can’t ignore Bob Uecker’s great radio broadcasts), intense angry conflict, and some honestly good baseball scenes, you won’t find another movie nearly as good as this about the major leagues.
6. Hoosiers (1986)
If you search for “best sports movies” or something like that, I would venture to say that every list that doesn’t have Hoop Dreams or Bull Durham at the top probably has Hoosiers. That’s fair. I can’t argue a lot with the choice because there isn’t a better film ever made that’s about the relationship of a coach with his team’s players. I think that can be said with good certainty. Gene Hackman, with all his success still I think underrated in terms of his talent and array of characters, plays a high school coach, so tough and no-nonsense that five players are left on the team after the first practice; and much to their chagrin, he focuses on drills and fundamentals, not shooting and scrimmages. Of course as we all know, the underdog persists and we see an inspiring story come to life, exemplified by an iconic pregame speech:
You have to remember, these are children – well, young men I guess. What kind of coach works for that? There is no simple answer, and why I love Hoosiers is because I was a high school coach too for a while (long story), and the right tone to use with teenagers is so difficult, and so fluid, that Hackman nails it perfectly but in a realistic and nuanced way. And even though we know the happy ending is coming, what matters is how the team got there, and how the town came to love the outsider coach and his unorthodox team that looked so forlorn at first. You can’t beat this final shot, not flashy or fantastical, just simple and matter-of-fact but life-changing for that town and those kids:
5. The Fighter (2010)
It is no secret that some of the greatest sports films are about boxing. There’s something about the sweet science of the ring that has led to incredible stories on screen, many of them drawn from real life. One of them is the sensational 2010 movie The Fighter, which, despite its stars and SEVEN Academy Award nominations, is not as well-known as I think a picture from just a few years ago ought to be. I mean, check out that trailer. First, director extraordinaire David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Three Kings, and several other great movies) assembled Christian Bale (Best Supporting Actor win), Melissa Leo (Best Supporting Actress win, first time for both those awards in 25 years), Amy Adams (Best Supporting Actress nomination), and one of Mark Wahlberg’s best performances of his career into this incredible story of Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund and one brother’s pain into another’s triumph. It’s yet another transformation for Bale, known for immersing so deeply into character that his physical makeup is altered:
And unlike most of the movies I’m talking about here (and it saddens me a little, as a feminist, that there aren’t more impressive roles for women in sports films in particular), we have female roles that are awesome, especially the super underappreciated Melissa Leo:
Sports Illustrated called The Fighter “the best sports movie of the decade,” and they might be correct. If somehow you missed this movie and don’t consider it a classic, change your mind.
4. Rudy (1993)
Rudy is the most nostalgic pick of this list for me, and I’m sure there are some critics who might look at my list and see this Disney-fied movie way out of place. I don’t care that it’s undeniably predictable and probably too sentimental. There isn’t a movie about sport that pulls at the heartstrings better and more completely than Rudy does. And if you think that’s hyperbole, I suggest you watch it again in your adulthood, since most of you were children like me (or, hell, not born) when it first came out. Sean Astin plays Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, who has always dreamed of playing football at Notre Dame. But it’s not about his achievement; as is clear from the first moments of the film, everything is for his family, his father in particular. He’s too small, he’s too weak, he’s not smart enough to get into the school… all not enough to derail the aspirations of Rudy to work his way onto the team. Now almost 25 years later, some of the movie gets written off as hokey montages and cheesy uplifting soundtracks. Wrong. Sean Astin’s honest performance, honest because of his unwavering ignorance of the hardships that would pull everyone else under, and Charles Dutton’s motivating presence still shake me today:
Good lord, if that doesn’t inspire you, you’re even more of a cynic than I am. This movie is probably the only “family-friendly” one on this list, and usually that allegedly can diminish its quality, right? I mean, what football (not American football, just football, you European weirdos) movie doesn’t have blood and cursing and hot cheerleaders? This one, because it doesn’t need it. I don’t often feel the need to post literally the last scene of movies here, that’s really a killer for those who haven’t seen it. In this case, I’m betting every American on this board has seen this film, and the rest won’t bother because they don’t care for the sport. So, watch this, the tear-inducing final shot from Rudy, which, after two hours of emotional assault and battery, finally lets you see that dreams can come true.
3. Raging Bull (1980)
Raging Bull is probably one of the handful of films that you can justifiably put at the top of this list. These last 4 here are just impossible… it’s really just for nostalgic reasons that I put a couple over some others. But in Martin Scorsese’s masterpiece (an oft-used phrase, but I mean it this time, there isn’t a better film) from 1980 you have arguably Robert de Niro’s greatest acting performance of his lifetime. What compares? The Godfather Part II? Taxi Driver? The Deer Hunter? No, you don’t beat this one. Roger Ebert called it the best film of the 1980s, and one of the ten greatest movies of all time. It was selected from the National Film Registry in its first year of eligibility (first film to do so). I could go through more accolades. But you just have to look at the ridiculous performances by Robert de Niro and newcomer Joe Pesci – really! he was a nobody before this – as brothers, exemplified by this scene, smartly and simply titled “best scene” by some Youtube user:
You have two amazing films in one here: Jake LaMotta and his chaotic and violent boxing career, and Jake LaMotta and his chaotic and violent personal and family life. What’s brilliant about the fighting scenes in particular, is that they have this dreamlike quality to them, and both hyperrealistic and hypersomulent, if such a thing exists. Cool fact: the boxing rings were designed as different sizes depending on the fight being filmed. As we get later in the film, Jake’s freefall and career collapse metastasizes into smaller and smaller rings, literally enclosing him into a hellish beating. I love watching the devastation he takes from Sugar Ray Robinson, after previously besting him twice before:
“You never got me down, Ray.” It’s true. The austere black and white cinematography and editing (Academy nomination and award, respectively) is legendary, if you ask students of film today – the Motion Picture Editors Guild named it the finest-edited film in history. Framed by an older Jake at the beginning at end of the film, clearly impaired and a shell of his former self (not to mention about 60 pounds heavier, weight famously put on by De Niro for the role), his shadowboxing at the film’s finale in his club is an indelible image from a film many consider not just the best sports movie, but one of the best movies ever made.
2. The Wrestler (2008)
I didn’t see The Wrestler for two reasons when it first came out, and for a couple years afterwards: 1) Mickey Rourke is a strange guy and I don’t know if I’ve liked him in any other film, and 2) I think wrestling is stupid. Both of those things are still true, even after I’ve watched this movie, but holy cow was I dumb for ignoring it for any second longer than I should have. The Wrestler is, for me, the best sports film that’s come out in a long long time, and shocked me with how much I liked it. Now I can appreciate what a masterful directing job Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan, Pi, Requiem for a Dream) does here, and that Rourke is an incredible actor if you give him the right role and script. There are few films I have seen, in years, where an actor so skillfully immersed himself into a role that you believe he IS a wrestler by the end. He earned an Oscar nomination as much as any actor in history as ever earned one (unfortunately he had to compete with pure Oscar bait in Sean Penn’s Milk, which is brilliant, but has not had the lasting effect on me as this film has). Marisa Tomei also earned a Best Supporting Actress nod, deservedly so. The infamous “deli scene” was in fact, except for the injury, almost entirely improvised and most of the people were real customers:
Now everything I’ve read and heard about this film, including a conversation with a silly wrestling fan later on, says that this film is incredibly accurate portraying the life of an older and down on his luck professional wrestler who just wants to do this craft for the rest of his life. Case in point:
Of course, it doesn’t help that he’s an addict and adrenaline junkie who honestly can’t see himself doing anything else. Even reuniting with his daughter is beyond his normal capabilities, much less attempting a relationship with women. (Marisa Tomei, by the way, is not young in this movie, but holy cow she looks great. Would you like to see her as a stripper? Then watch this.) But that doesn’t matter, because this is Rourke’s show. Just listen to what legend Mick Foley said after watching the film: “Within five [minutes], I had completely forgotten I was looking at Mickey Rourke. That guy on the screen simply was Randy 'the Ram' Robinson." When the end of this movie came, and I was so glued to the screen, I thought to myself something unthinkable 2 hours beforehand: “My god, this is a movie about wrestling and it’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in years.” See for yourself:
1. Rocky (1976)
If there was ever a movie where I would tell you to stop reading right now if you’ve never watched it, this is it. The original Rocky is so iconic, so transcendent, so endlessly copied and imitated but never matched. Do I have a small bias because I was born and raised around Philly? Sure! But that’s only a small factor into this amazement I have every time I watch this movie. I know most of us have heard the songs, and seen clips from the fights, even probably know a couple lines here and there. Honestly though, you just have to watch the whole film, directed by John Avildsen, from the beginning to the end. Sylvester Stallone – who, I hope you remember, wrote the whole goddamn script himself and earned an Oscar nomination for it – is a versatile and fabulous actor in the right pictures. Add that nomination into the total of TEN Academy Awards nods it got in 1977 (winning for Best Picture and Best Director, among others), including a nod for every acting slot, and you should start to see how Rocky is so much more than the fights and montages. In fact, the first hour or so is so good, so emotional, that for years I have failed to understand how it is not seen as the runaway best film editing and acting in any sports movie in history.
You see, most people think of Rocky as the perfect underdog hero, but look at what he was before! A “collector,” to use the jargon. So why the hell did this guy end up fighting the Heavyweight Champion of the World, the one and only Apollo Creed? Well this scene explains the complicated decision into that:
Rocky’s emotions are all over the place: from doubt to confidence, from focus to distraction, from invincibility to fragility. How does trainer Mickey respond? Well Burgess Meredith will show you:
“Women weaken legs.” Ha, I can speak from experience. And as Rocky stays with that girl (Talia Shire as Adrian), her brother (Burt Young as the iconic Paulie) cannot handle it:
But after all that, I’m sorry, you cannot ignore the most glorious 5 minutes in any film about a sport, the legendary training montage culminating in what almost everybody now calls “The Rocky Steps.”
That’s the Philly Art Museum at the west end of Eakins Oval near the Schuylkill River. Go there and see some good art, and yes run up the goddamn stairs too. Anyway, the fights are great but I don’t want to post clips of them; they speak for themselves. I just want to make one point clear: watch this whole movie from beginning to end, and tell me how it’s not the greatest dramatic (i.e. non-documentary) sports movie ever filmed. And when you tell me it’s not, let’s rumble.
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Ha, for some reason I keep writing more each time. Yikes, it’s making these take a long time to complete! This took days of work.
I’m going to take next week off since I’ll be at the Jersey Shore for the weekend, but I’ve got a few more lists in mind before the end of the summer.
Til then, let’s keep talking about movies! What did I miss? Do you have any sports films you think I need to see? Any obscure or lesser-known sports in particular? You know I’m up for anything.
