Yo, Adrian

Having been sadly neglecting this space, I thought it would be good to do something fun and light to get back in the saddle - a good idiom since the topic is sports movies. The Top Ten Sports Movies, in fact. Any movie list is so hugely open-ended that it is hard to be comprehensive (or, depending on your goal, makes it easy to avoid controversy) and any sports list just invites argument, so the sports movie list is a nice double pleasure. But because of that, there is twice the pressure on a sports movie because the best of them are both good movies and good sports. There are few things more disappointing than having a decent movie do a terrible job of showing the sport it is about - like Any Given Sunday. Maybe that's a bad example as it might be a reach to call that a decent movie - but the football sequences sucked. 

Aside: What is more disappointing, however, is when they finally make a movie about your favorite sport and it is both bad film making and bad sports. My volleyball readers probably recognize a preface to that crime against all things good and decent - Side Out. If C.Thomas Howell and Peter Horton chewing the sand wasn't bad enough, the volleyball was downright laughable. Every copy of that howler should be collected and destroyed. But I digress.

So what makes a great sports movie? It should have great sports sequences. It should have a story that doesn't have to rely on the sports - it can but shouldn't have to. It should be exciting. There are rare exceptions to this - as you will see if I ever get to the actual list, be patient - but mostly a good sports movie should make you cheer - or at least get on the edge of your seat. It should pay homage to or express a profound love for its featured sport. It should run a broad gamut of emotion, just as sports do. Just because a move has sports in it, or is set in a sports context, it is not necessarily a sports movie.

So on to the list, with caveats. I am not including documentaries. There are some great, great films that would certainly be on this list, but it feels like apples and oranges. (See When We Were Kings, Dogtown and Z-Boys, Hoop Dreams and Pumping Iron, as a start.) I will probably break my own rules. The greatness of the film (critical acclaim, impact, etc) is only one element and might be outweighed by just how much it moved me or made me laugh. This list is unranked.

Top Ten Sports Movies

Rocky - Probably the, pardon me, all-time champ. This is just flat out a great flick. Shot for just over a million bucks - they saved money by casting Stallone - it has become one of the most iconic of American movies. Sly was offered big bucks for the rights to the script, but wouldn't take it, insisting he be cast in the lead instead. Which, considering he was one foot from destitute at the time makes his career in movies a nice parallel to Rocky's in the ring. Pretty cool. Stark and simply shot, the boxing is good and I still get shivers when Rocky comes out for the last round and gestures for Apollo to come get him. And I just love the fact that (spoiler alert if there is anyone who doesn't know) Apollo being announced the winner is barely audible and totally secondary. Yo, Rocky.

Remember the Titans - This movie suffers somewhat form the Disney treatment - a tad too tidy, mildly revisionist - but has so much good writing and strong acting that it survives the Mouse. It tugs at the heartstrings, tickles the funny bone and excites all the way down into the gut. It manages to handle the racism theme without being sentimental - mostly - and has some great football. I will admit being partial because of the high-brow coaching themes, but it just fires me up. "Leave no doubt." It also gave a pretty good start to some young actors who have since done very well. 

Bull Durham - One of the movies that violates the necessary excitement rule - there is no big game moment in the flick - it is still very much steeped in baseball, with both lead characters holding a deep love for the game as a central theme. This is a nicely complicated love story, it has a great collection of pithy sports aphorisms ("Play the game with fear and arrogance. That's the secret."), and is just flat out funny. Superbly acted throughout, an extra nod needs to go to Robert Wuhl as the hysterically funny assistant coach Larry. And Crash's speech about what he believes in is just superb.

The Karate Kid - Okay, this is not the high art of film making, but it is a fun, heartwarming and inspiring movie. Ralph Macchio ocassionally makes my teeth itch, but Pat Morita (check old MASH episodes for some great random Morita) is brilliant and it is really hard not to get psyched in the final few minutes. Mister Miagi dispenses some true gems of psuedo-Buddhist wisdom along the way, and there are some genuinely funny moments. Random bonuses: Daniel's Halloween costume is genuius and, while not from this movie, the opening of the sequel is great. The rest of it most assuredly isn't, but the first five minutes are must-see.

Hoosiers - Maybe the most predictable of these picks, it is also a movie voted most likely to be loved by coaches. Gene Hackman balances "my way or the hghway" with "but you can't deny my integrity" to a fine point, and hey, everybody likes a winner. It has a number of sweet and engaging sub-plots that enhance without distratcting or becoming unwieldy. Featuring the always excellent Dennis Hopper and Barbara Hershey, there are also some other excellent character turns by young actors you have seen more than you realize. And when Jimmy looks at him in the final huddle and says "I'll make it." my coach's heart leaps.

North Dallas Forty - This is definitely the darkest of the bunch (but not as dark as the downright grim book on which it is based) and has probably the best single performance in the group, a stunner from Nick Nolte. Directly drawn on the Dallas Cowboys, you will never look at pro football the same way and have a new appreciation - or horror - for what those guys put themselves through. Mac Davis shows surprising acting chops, and John Matuzak of all people almost steals the movie with one great little speech. I absolutely love the opening sequence, including the music, and G.D Spradlin - a wonderfual character actor you know but don't remember - is chilling as the nasty, nasty coach. Funny and sad, this is a real sleeper - and worth it just for Nolte.

The Longest Yard - The 1974 original thank you very much, this amazingly would also make my top ten prison movies list. It really is a great story and has a couple of fine performances from Burt Reynolds and Eddie Albert (if all you think of is "Green Acres" you are in for a real treat). It is dark and funny, and has some deft character development. It is surprisingly poignant and tosses in some nice little pieces of social commentary without being preachy. And the football is just great. I would stack the final sequence up against any gridiron footage before or since.

A League of Their Own - "There's no crying in baseball" is not even the best line in this joyous film. Penny Marshall inherited and refined her father's gift for comedy and it is on full display here, letting funny people like Tom Hanks, Rosie O'Donnell and, in an all-too-small but hysterical role, Jon Lovitz shine trough a number of nicely interwoven stories. It manages to be touching without being overly sentimental - mostly - and as an added bonus brings a great piece of sports history into the public eye. It is unfortunate that the best player in the movie is so clearly not the best player among the actors. Oh well. The baseball sequences are still very good.

Rudy - It pains me to include a film that focuses on Notre Dame football, but there it is. Sean Astin is somehow able to be the personification of "atta boy!" without becoming annoying and you can root for him even as you almost want to beg him to stop and believe in him even as you find him unbelievable. It is quite the inspirational story, and actually, I think, transcends the cliches that seem to spring up around that history. It is also a very beautiful film, and it has one of my favorite lesser known actors, Charles Dutton, in a great part. (And worth noting in a slightly weird twist that both Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau are in it three years before Swingers)

Major League - This movie runs counter to many of the criteria above, but I just love it. Such an eclectic collection of actors - you could play six degrees with this cast forever - often feels disjointed, but they somehow mesh and are really very funny together. My favorite random casting is Dennis Haysbert as the giant Cuban voodoo slugger Serrano, but Bob Uecker almost steals the movie as the radio voice of the team, Harry Doyle."Juuust a bit outside." The baseball isn't always great - Sheen balks (in slow motion no less) in a pivotal scene and you really shouldn't give too much thought to the batting order - but the culminating sequence is so much fun and so exciting that you just don't care. This movie is a remote flipper for me - if you find it while channel surfing you flip the remote over your shoulder because you know you're going to watch it - even if it might qualify as a guilty pleasure.

I am adding Rollerball - not (most definitely, assuredly and absolutely NOT) the atrocious 2002 P.O.S by the same name, but the 1975 Norman Jewison gem with no less than James Caan and John Houseman - as an addendum eleventh pick because it may or may not be a sports movie and the sport they play doesn't actually exist. Part sci-fi, part social commentary, part sports hero film, this is actually one of my favorite films of any genre, and I couldn't put it on the list or leave it off. With a compelling script, it is finely performed and elegantly shot, and feels original and unique even as it trots out the occasional sports cliche. And no, it isn't on the list because the hero shares my name and they chant it to end the movie. Okay, maybe a little. It is powerful, exciting and thoughtful and is really quite a film. I find it wild that Jewison directed this, Moonstruck and Fiddler on the Roof - among many others. Can you say eclectic?

Notable snubs (let's see you pick only 10 - okay 11): 
- Raging Bull - I know, I know, DeNiro, Scorcese, best picture nominee - I just didn't like it, maybe I'll try again
- Moneyball - Pitt and Hill great, Sorkin script fantastic, loved it
- The Natural - gorgeous and nicely different, love Wilford Brumley and Richard Farnsworth, little too over the top
- Field of Dreams - great idea, fun, love James Earl Jones, annoying Costner
- Ali - Smith is unreal for being so real, but some of it didn't work for me
- Cinderella Man - loved Crowe and Giamatti, very uplifting, pretty
- Million Dollar Baby - again, I know, best picture, best director, best actress, best supporting actor. I loved this movie, but it is just so hard and sad

Comedies  - very funny comedies! - disguised as sports movies: 
- Caddyshack - a classic, the scene with Murray and Chase is worth the whole movie
- Slap Shot - Greatly under appreciated, lots of sharp humor, the Hansons are the funniest things on ice
- Dodge Ball - talk about a guilty pleasure, I laughed my ass off at this movie. It does a good job of making fun of sports as well - "The Ocho"

Smaller - either by sport or movie - but must-see:
- Breaking Away - wonderful coming of age film with cycling as the sport, a personal favorite
- Warrior - MMA as a vehicle for a taut family drama with some great performances; VERY powerful
- Vision Quest - Matthew Modine and high-school wrestling, surprising and definitely worth the effort
- Goon - Jay Baruchel's ode to hockey, this is the runaway sleeper of this whole list. You would never think to see it and I just loved it.