In a way it’s a bit strange for me to be writing about sports in film. Slow to develop as a teenager, I didn’t reach my adult height of six feet until a freshman in college. The sports I played in high school were tennis and golf. I’ve never been drawn to sports and rarely watch it on television. I do however, appreciate the sheer beauty of athleticism and drama of competition. This is particularly true when watching the few sports that I have a personal relationship with, like tennis. Essay’s like David Foster Wallace’s famous exposé on Roger Federer are a reminder of how sports can transcend our everyday lives. 

As Susan Sontag once said, film is an art form that is “poetic and mysterious and erotic and moral—all at the same time.”  I think the same can be said of great sports matches as well. Sports and film can be sublime. It is with that notion that I’ve assembled this list of my greatest sports films of all time. 

I did my level best not to heavily favor one sport over another. I also pushed the boundary of what is sometimes considered sport because the competitive nature of the activity is as much a sport in my mind as anything. Let's face it, if Curling can be called a sport, almost anything can. As always, I hope that I’ve given you some new movie experiences to enjoy and I welcome your comments. 

The Hustler

Directed by Robert Rossen (1961)

When I was a kid ABC’s Wide World of Sports would feature billiards often and they were even commentated by the great Howard Cosell. Professional pool featured some of the all time greats of the game like Minnesota Fats and Willie Mosconi. Many of you will know the movie The Color of Money which is a sequel of sorts to The Hustler but in my opinion not as great a film. The original featured Paul Newman as “Fast Eddie” and the brilliant Jackie Gleason as the real-life Minnesota Fats. Piper Laurie was nominated for Academy award for playing Eddie’s mistreated girlfriend in the film and the boozing, misogynist George C. Scott portrays Bert, Eddie’s stake. This film is truly a masterpiece of acting and won an Academy award for its noir cinematography by Eugene Shuftan.

Downhill Racer

Directed by Michael Ritchie (1969)

If you’re looking for an unsympathetic character played by Robert Redford, this is your movie. Redford plays downhill skier David Chappellet in this intense drama about the life of a rising star in American skiing competition. The lead role is based on the 1964 Olympic silver medal winner, Billy Kidd from Vermont. Kidd and the Redford’s character Chappellet are arrogant, womanizing, driven people. The first-person skiing footage is harrowing and breathtaking, especially considering there were no GoPro cameras in 1969 but instead bulky 35mm cameras. Roger Ebert once said the film was “the best movie ever made about sports—without really being about sports at all.” Gene Hackman gives a notable performance as the American team coach Eugene Claire. This is a taught drama about a desire to win with fame as the only reward. 

Brian’s Song

Directed by Buzz Kulik (1971)

The first time I saw Brian’s Song was on television where it premiered as the ABC Movie of the Week. Don’t let that dissuade you from watching this melodrama based on the true story of Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, the first mixed race NFL players to room together at training camp. In light of Black Lives Matter this is a great reminder of how black people, no matter their skills, are treated in the US. It’s a wonderful film about friendship between two men with Billy Dee Williams playing Sayers, and James Caan as Piccolo. It also reveals the more down-to-earth nature of the NFL in 70’s which will seem quaint by today’s standards. I love this movie and I think it still holds up today. 

Rollerball

Directed by Norman Jewison (1975)

I’m following up with another James Caan film Rollerball. Watching this science fiction film from the 70’s shows how prescient it was. The movie creates a fake sport called Rollerball invented by the writer William Harrison and is set in a future where society is free of disease and poverty, but strictly controlled by corporations who dictate via computer programs, the rules of our society. HBO’s West World has definitely borrowed from this film. Although the technology will seem silly in parts of the film, the story is a potent one that has themes on liberty, free will, and human desire. It is a film that suggests like Roman gladiatorial events before, that sports can serve the role of distractor from larger political agendas. Please don’t watch the insultingly bad 2002 remake of this film.  

Slap Shot

Directed by George Roy Hill (1977)

Before the sports world became a glossy, advertising campaign filled with slick branding, and steroids, sports in the US were very blue collar. Out of all the professional sporting events, hockey stood out as the roughest around the edges feel and the lowest pay. Slap Shot staring Paul Newman, is a wonderful semi-parody of that. Watching hockey games as a kid, there was often more fighting, checking, and yelling than scoring. It was professional wrestling on skates. There is a great performance from Strother Martin as the team manager with a screenplay by Nancy Dowd (that’s right a woman wrote a hockey movie). Slap Shot is a hilarious comedy about working class heroes. 

Breaking Away

Directed by Peter Yates (1979)

One of the great coming of age comedies ever made. It won the academy award that year, deservedly so for best screenwriting. Stellar performances by Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid (before he was famous), Daniel Stern, and Jack Earle Hayley. Filled with 70s cultural easter eggs and gifted comedic dialogue, this is a feel good movie about the nutty aspirations of a small town kid. Animal House came out the year before and Breaking Away belongs in the same category. 

North Dallas Forty

Directed by Ted Kotcheff (1979)

Much like what Slap Shot revealed about AAA hockey, North Dallas Forty reveals about the NFL of the 70s. Ballers owes royalties to the writers of this film. It’s a raunchy, Bacchanalian comedy based on the semi-autobiographical novel by Peter Gent, a Cowboys wide receiver in the late 1960s. My always favorite actor Nick Nolte stars alongside Mac Davis (a famous country star in the 70s), G. D. Spradlin (whom you’ll recognize immediately). This was the heyday of cocaine, disco, and leisure suits before players drank specialty smoothies and jetted in for games from the places they actually lived. 

Chariots of Fire

Directed by Hugh Hudson (1981)

When this film hit the big screen I was not mature enough to appreciate it. I’ve since rewatched it many times and realized how much I missed. Like all great films it has a subtext. Based on the true story of 1924 Olympic runners Eric Liddell, a devout Christian, and Harold Abrahams a Jew, the film interweaves personal ambitions with religious devotion and nationalism. It’s really quite a poignant film related to our current political atmosphere. A gorgeous soundtrack by Vangelis and world class performances by Ian Holm, John Gielgud, Patrick Magee, Dennis Christopher, Ben Cross, and Ian Charleson round out the experience. 

The Natural

Directed by Barry Levinson (1984)

Based on the novel of the same name, The Natural tracks the career arc in baseball of the fictional Roy Hobbs (loosely based on other baseball players who were shot by girlfriends). Randy Newman wrote the music, and the screenplay was written by Roger Towne and Phil Dusenberry. The incredible all-star cast elevates to a heroic, elegiac experience where the sublime is still possible. Although it would be easy for this film to slip into the saccharine world of melodrama, Redford’s performance keeps it buoyed in enough of reality to avoid it. It’s a truly beautiful film all around. 

Love & Basketball

Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (2000)

Gina Prince-Bythewood just directed the Netflix movie The Old Guard, but her film directorial debut was her semi-autobiographical story, Love and Basketball. It’s a unique sports film because it’s features romance and competition with a strong undercurrent of feminism. Spike Lee produced and helped the film get made with Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan as the protagonists. Lee’s favorite composer Terence Blanchard provides the movie’s score. It’s a story about how one passion can prevent another passion from blossoming, and the unevenness of opportunity for gifted women athletes compared to their male counterparts. 

The Wrestler

Directed by Darren Aronofsky (2008)

In my opinion this is the best movie that Mickey Rourke ever made. In an interview with Aronofsky he said he had to continually push Rourke because he was so good an actor his tendency was to phone in performances. That push really shows in The Wrestler. Marissa Tomei really shines as well, as a counterpoint to two mid-career, professionals dependent on their bodies to make a living. It completely changed my perspective on professional wrestling and shows the absurdist punishment that these athletes do to their bodies. It may be orchestrated but the physicality is real and the mental stamina can be equally so if you’re deemed the bully. 

The Damned United

Directed by Tom Hooper (2009)

Another 1970s sports film, even though it was released in 2009 about the English football club Leeds United. Even if you’re not a soccer fan it’s worth watching for Michael Sheen’s portrayal of coach Brian Clough. Clough is famous for saying at the time, “I’m not the best couch in football but I’m in the top one.” The cast is phenomenal, also starring Timothy Spall, Colm Meaney, and Jim Broadbent. It defies many of the conventions of team sports films as in a scene where Clough (Sheen) talks to his team members individually before the match instead of the usual pep talk. There are several good soccer films out there but none quite like this. 

Borg vs. McEnroe

Directed by Janus Metz Pedersen (2017)

By now you’ve figured out that any passion I had for sports ended largely after the 70s with yet another story about sports stars from that decade. Dramas about tennis are few and far between, and I’ve suffered a lifetime of people mocking me for the enjoyment of watching tennis on TV. I started playing tennis at the tender age of 8 and by the time I was entering high school there were really only two superstars — Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Many of my friends were McEnroe fans, for national allegiance and his irascible attitude. I always liked Borg, not just because he won more, but because he was elegant, calm, and wonderful to watch. The actor, Sverrir Gudnason does such an eerie portrayal you’d swear you were watching a documentary. Shia LeBeouf does an equally beautiful job capturing the inner torture and complexity of the kid from Queens. It’s a film about isolation, perfection, and personalities not always being what they seem.