Top 5 – Sports Biopics

This Friday, the Jesse Owens biopic Race hits theaters.  I will be posting my review of the film on Thursday, but I will say, it’s a goodie.  So in honor of Race, let’s take a look at the best sports biopics.

5- Miracle (Gavin O’Connor, 2004)

You know it is a good sports movie when you know the ending, yet you are still on the edge of your seat during every sports scene, hoping the team pulls off the win.  That is how I felt the entire time watching Miracle.  The story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team is one of the greatest moment in sports history, as they defeated the seemingly unbeatable Russian team en route to winning the gold medal.  Kurt Russell is outstanding as the hard-nosed U.S. coach Herb Brooks.  His locker room speech before the Russian game is one of legends.  Gavin O’Connor shoots the hockey scenes with such ferocity and intensity, you feel like you’re there.  This is a great film about an iconic moment in sports.

4- Brian’s Song (Buzz Kulik, 1971)

Going to complain that this doesn’t qualify because it is a movie made for T.V.?   Well, this is my list not yours.  Brian’s Song is without a doubt one of the greatest made for T.V. movies ever.  Telling the tragic story of the friendship between Chicago Bears running back’s Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) and Brian Piccolo (James Caan) and the bond that grew between them when Piccolo was diagnosed with cancer.  This movie will bring a grown man to tears.  This isn’t about the football, this is about the bond of brotherhood between the two players.  Williams and Caan are excellent and this movie has a cinematic quality to it, which makes me wonder why it wasn’t in theaters.  It is my favorite football movie ever and one the saddest and most tragically beautiful movies I’ve ever seen.

3- Moneyball (Bennett Miller, 2011)

One of the best baseball movies ever made doesn’t take place on the field, it takes place in the office.  Moneyball looks at Oakland Athletics owner Billy Bean (Brad Pitt, in the best performance of his career) as he tries to bring a World Series to Oakland using a method called sabermetrics, where teams are based more around in-game activity, rather than big names.  Numbers and math have never more exciting and interesting in a movie.  Director Bennett Miller made a complex character study about a man who’s biggest love and affliction is the game of baseball.  It is fascinating, expertly crafted, and is a true baseball movie.  Moneyball is one of the best films of 2010’s.

2- Hoosiers (David Anspaugh, 1986)

The ultimate underdog story comes in the form of Hoosiers, a film about an Indiana basketball team in 1954 who went on to win the state championship against all odds.  Gene Hackman gives one the best performances of his career as the coach with a checkered past Norman Dale and Dennis Hopper rightly got an Oscar nomination for his role as Shooter, a former player now turned town alcoholic.  Hoosiers is more than just a standard sports movie.  Each person on the team and in the town has a personality and a story, giving us rich characters and a true sense of the times and setting.  The basketball scenes are legendary and expertly shot.  This is the best movie about the sport of basketball ever made.

1- Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)

Raging Bull is a landmark in filmmaking and acting.  Telling the life story of Jake LaMotta, a self-destructive boxer who rises to the top of the boxing world, only to fall because of his violence and temper outside the ring.   Robert DeNiro gives the greatest performance I have ever seen on screen.  He redefined what method acting was with his weight fluctuation and the way he literally becomes LaMotta.  This is a brutal and raw movie, with Scorsese digging deep into the life of LaMotta and not sugarcoating a thing.  Beautifully shot in black and white with brilliant editing and sound design, this film is a visual stunner.  This is the definition of a true cinematic masterpiece.

What are you favorite sports biopics?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter @kevflix or on Facebook at Kevflix.