WITH their emphasis on winning, the anguish of defeat, interesting characters and the minting of brand new heroes, sports makes a perfect subject for motion pictures. Sports movies spark something within us: a primal need to succeed, as well as an inborn fear of failure.
Here, in no particular order, is SIM?s list of the greatest sports movies.
1) ?The Natural.? This darkly romantic 1984 adaptation of Bernard Malamud?s novel is considered by many as a cinematic classic. Truth is, it is a perfect juxtaposition of the depths (game fixing) and the delights (hitting home runs) that come with baseball. Robert Redford?s Roy Hobbs is the perfect cipher of a big bat.
2) ?Jerry Maguire.? A sometimes funny, sometimes poignant look at a conflicted agent?s work behind the scenes of professional sports, from director Cameron Crowe. This 1996 movie features standout performances by Tom Cruise as the titular agent and Cuba Gooding, Jr., who won the Oscar for his over-the-top take on a football player in his contract year. It?s almost enough to make us forgive the movie for spawning the annoying catchphrase ?Show me the money!?
3) ?Any Given Sunday.? Director Oliver Stone trains his lens on the dirty business of professional football that has Al Pacino as a cranky coach of the Miami Sharks, Dennis Quaid as the has-been quarterback, Jamie Foxx as the rookie eager to replace him and Cameron Diaz as the ambitious owner. It would have been nice to see the actual National Football League uniforms, but ?Any Given Sunday? is a fast, furious look at the business of modern gladiators.
4) ?Rocky.? Forget the innumerable sequels that came after it. Forget Mr. T. and Ivan Drago. When ?Rocky? first bowed in 1976 with little-known Sylvester Stallone as both star and writer, no one had seen anything like it before. Stallone was actually nominated for two Oscars and the movie took Best Picture. The triumphant theme by Bill Conti always evokes memories of the Italian Stallion as the ultimate underdog.
5) ?Rudy.? Why should we care about a benchwarmer on an American college football team? Because it?s all Daniel ?Rudy? Ruettiger has ever wanted. Even if no one believes he can do it, the undersized Rudy, played with verve by Sean Astin, keeps trying again and again. The 1993 movie?s climax will bring on tears, even from people who have never sat on a team?s bench. ?Ru-dy! Ru-dy!?
6) ?Chariots of Fire.? Though it is probably best remembered for its distinctive score by Maurice Jarre, this 1981 film sounds like a bit of a hard sell. It?s the true story of a pair of British athletes at the 1924 Paris Olympics, whose religious leanings (one is a Jew, the other Christian) come into conflict with their running. The four Oscars it won is second to the sheer glory of the athletes running in slow motion on the beach, accompanied by the amazing theme music.
7) ?Invictus.? Proving that a country?s politics and its devotion to sports can be a ruggedly successful combination, ?Invictus? combines post-apartheid South Africa and the sport of rugby. Matt Damon may be a bit short for the part of captain Francois Pienaar, but you don?t notice it, while Morgan Freeman is electric in a role that seems made for him: President Nelson Mandela. Clint Eastwood directs.
8) ?Major League.? One has to be able to laugh at athletes as well, and 1989?s ?Major League? is the best of the sports parodies. Charlie Sheen is memorable as the out-of-control pitcher Ricky Vaughn, Dennis Heysbert is the voodoo-practicing hitter Pedro Cerrano and Wesley Snipes grabs your attention as the base-stealing Willie Mays Hayes on a Cleveland Indians team that?s being sabotaged for business reasons. The movie even succeeds in giving the viewer a taste of actual sports drama when it?s not busy trying to bust your gut with slapstick.
9) ?Hoosiers.? Perhaps the best basketball movie ever made, ?Hoosiers? shows us what happens when a small-town high school cage team defies the odds to take down the big bad athletic powerhouse. Great turns by Gene Hackman (as the controversial coach Dale) and the late Dennis Hopper (as the alcoholic cage genius Shooter) make the movie irresistible, but the real draw is the flawless, simple style of ball that the Hickory High Huskers play.
10) ?Million Dollar Baby.? The second Clint Eastwood movie on this list, ?Million Dollar Baby? is based on the writings of the venerable boxing writer F.X. Toole and features a ferocious performance from eventual Best Actress Hillary Swank as the indomitable Maggie Fitzgerald. Eastwood and Morgan Freeman are in Maggie?s corner as we witness the true grit and glory of the prize fighter away from the big lights. ?
