Great (Cynical) Sport Movies
Slap Shot
Any Given Sunday
Semi Tough
The one with Harold Lloyd
Any more?
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MovieChat Forums > North Dallas Forty (1979) Discussion > Great (Cynical) Sport Movies
One on One ~ college basketball, starring Robby Benson
Breaking Away ~ the boy's heartbreak after his much-admired Italians target him for some maltreatment during the race
All the Right Moves ~ Tom Cruise playing high school football
~~MystMoonstruck~~
Breaking Away with Randy Quaid, if memory serves me well. He would've been a good choice as a Han Solo. Didn't he also make a film about college football in the '80s.
shareDennis Quaid is in the cast of "Breaking Away", which I listed previously. Dennis Christopher is the teen whose illusions are shattered.
Dennis Quaid is in "Our Winning Season" (1978), which focuses on track. It's been so long since I've seen it that I don't recall if he's on the track team. I know the focus is on Scott Jacoby.
~~MystMoonstruck~~
Cheers for clearing that up.
shareI get "confuzzled" at times, so I very much understand. My brain and fingers stop communicating all too often. *giggle*
By the way, I love your screen name, as that's one of my all-time favorites. "What's that watermelon doing there?" "No matter where you go, there you are."
~~MystMoonstruck~~
Dennis Quiad was also in a football movie called 'Everyone's all American"
share"The Club" - a terrific movie based around an Aussie Rules Football team. Recommended.
shareCan't mention Dennis Quaid and sports movies without talking about Everybody's All-American. Really interesting film - pretty cynical too. Deals with the life of an athlete after his playing days are over.
shareCoaching-wise, "One on One" did for the UCLA Bruins and John Wooden what "North Dallas Forty" did for the Cowboys and Tom Landry. G.D. Spradlin captures both roles perfectly.
shareThere not really cynical, but they're good sports movies:
Youngblood
VisionQuest
I haven't seen Youngblood, so I can't comment. But, I think Visionquest is more of a love story, than a movie about sport.
shareActually it's more of a coming-of-age story than anything else. So yeah, it may not qualify as a sports movie. Although I suspect former high-school wrestlers might not agree. :)
shareI watched "Vision Quest" very recently, and it's very much about the sport. To me, the love story~rather, his infatuation~is a subplot, not the main focus. At the IMDb board, the wrestlers (present and former) weigh-in, so to speak, and call this the best movie about wrestling ever made.
The only other wrestling movie that comes to my mind is "Takedown", which also is set in high school wrestling but definitely is lighter stuff.
While "Vision Quest" isn't too heavy on the cynicism, it is a decent suggestion.
It's been awhile since I've seen "Youngblood", so I cannot judge it. I seem to recall, among the jokiness, a dark edge. I'd like to see it again, if only for Rob Lowe's beauty. (Yes, I can be shallow.)
~~MystMoonstruck~~
Bull Durham has a smartass attitude, as does White men Can't Jump. Borderline cynical, perhaps. The Hustler & The Color of Money are about pool, but if you count pool as a sport, they have their share of cynicism. But, really, I'm not sure there is anything quite in the mold of North Dallas Forty. "Every time I say it's a business, you say it's a game, and every time I say it's a game, you say it's a business."
shareBlue Chips
The Longest Yard (if a cynical view of a prison's administrative hierarchy counts)
The Wrestler (if you consider pro wrestling a sport)
Raging Bull
White Men Can't Jump
Major League (An owner rooting for her own team to fail? That's got to count!)
Million Dollar Baby
Side note: Hoosiers is overrated. I've seen it on many "best of lists" as ranking #1 among all sports films. No way.
'slap shot' is probably the best, yep. 'major league' is up there too.
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