Watching, and greatly enjoying, McFarland USA (2015) it occurred to me that while I think the best sports movies are about baseball, and there are some decent basketball and football flix, there are also a goodly number of movies about sports not in prime time. It so happens that two of them are recent.
Kevin Costner is so good as the flawed motivator and is at his best in McFarland. After an unfortunate incident gets him fired as from his high school football job, he lands on maybe one foot at a poor California school which is about 90 per cent Latino. He notices how these kids can run and starts a cross-country team. There are the usual speed bumps along the way- parents who don't want the kids to miss work, mercurial teen-age temperaments, etc. But the team gets better and better and eventually competes for the State Championship. What happens? Hey, this is a Hollywood movie! But- it is based on a true story and at the end credits, the actual runners who were portrayed in the movie make a cameo appearance.
Last year produced another very good movie about a little-known sport: amateur wrestling. This is not the hit-em-with-chairs professional stuff. Foxcatcher is about one of the most cerebral sports, involving incredible conditioning, ability and smarts. Steve Carrell was nominated for an Oscar for his role as John du Pont, scion of the wealthy chemical family and would-be coach of Olympic wrestlers. Channing Tatum is quite good as a slightly dim wrestler and Mark Ruffalo is also good as Tatum's wrestler-brother.
Invictus (2009) is about the all-white South African rugby team pulling the country together after apartheid ended. Rugby is indeed weird, but you'll catch on to the rules (if any) pretty quickly. The iconic Morgan Freeman plays the saintly Nelson Mandela. Matt Damon is the captain of the rugby team.
There aren't many movies about women in sports of any kind, but one of the best is Heart Like A Wheel (1983) with Bonnie Bedelia as drag racer Shirley Muldowney. There is heart-stopping action footage from this little-known sport. Beau Bridges is good as the racer's husband.
Breaking Away (1979) is about bicycle racing. The quirky humor and good characterizations make this a fine film. The underdog against the world is a staple of sports films, and that ancient plot works well here. Paul Dooley give a career performance as the Dad and Barbara Barrie is quite good as the Mom. Dennis Christopher (whatever happened to him?) is the kid racer.
And finally, in the world of off-beat sports, what could be more off-beat than chess? Searching For Bobby Fischer (1993) is one of my unsung favorites. Max Pomerance is superb as a child chess prodigy trying to be a real kid. Lawrence Fishburne is really good as a park speed player. What can parents do to nurture a world-class talent while trying to provide a normal childhood?
Well, of course, almost all of these movies (and most sports movies) are really about something else, with the sport mainly serving as a good background. All of these movies except the first one are available on DVD and for streaming. All, except Foxcatcher are actually fine for all ages.
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