by Tony Baker
In a matter of weeks, Australia will host its first-ever NFL regular-season game. The game, between the LA Rams and San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, will get underway on the 11th of September, potentially acting as a bellwether for future NFL fixtures in the country. It’s a sell-out, and even if American football remains niche in Australia, it’s sure to be quite the spectacle.
While the Aussie NFL fans will be looking forward to that date, American football fans worldwide will be preparing for the new season in its entirety, which will run from September to February and Super Bowl LXI. The college football season will also run parallel to the NFL campaign. Right now, those fans are watching the training camps, making their fantasy football and NFL betting picks, and getting excited for the latest chapter in football’s story.
For movie fans, there is no end of great American football movies. There are also some poor ones, and some mediocre ones. But below, we wanted to pick out five definitive movies that hold a mirror up to American football, warts and all.
- North Dallas Forty (1979)
Few films have done more to dismantle the romantic image of professional football than North Dallas Forty. This movie basically did for American football what Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler would do for pro wrestling almost 30 years later. Nick Nolte stars as an aging wide receiver whose battered body is being held together by painkillers and sheer determination. The movie was released at a time when the NFL was becoming more popular, and Nolte and director Ted Kotcheff were able to show the cost of superstardom. Some of it has aged, but the debate it caused – of athletes as disposable commodities – hasn’t gone away.
- The Longest Yard (1974)
Some might prefer the modern remake of this movie with Adam Sandler, but we prefer the original, which stars Burt Reynolds as Paul Crewe, a disgraced former quarterback who has to assemble a team of prisoners for an exhibition game. Yes, we are probably stretching the concept of “definitive” American football movie, as this is part prison caper, part sports movie, but it was highly influential, forming a kind of blueprint for how sports movies should be made. It also helped that Reynolds – in his mid-1970s pomp – had been a football player at college, adding a bit of realism to the action.
- Rudy (1993)
Not everyone loves Rudy, as it can, at times, take the concept of inspirational and run into corny, but it is, in our view, an underrated gem. Rudy is based on the true story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger, played by Sean Astin. It follows Rudy’s journey as he dreams of playing college football for Notre Dame. The only problem is that Rudy lacks the grades, the physical stature and natural ability usually required for a football career. Look, sometimes the movie stretches the true story a little far for dramatic effect, but if you can buy into the fairytale, the ending will give you chills.
- Remember the Titans (2000)
The story of football and America’s uneasy relationship with race is intertwined throughout history. Remember the Titans explores that theme, looking at the integration of TC Williams High School in Virginia in the 1970s. Denzel Washington is at his very best as Herman Boone, the head coach tasked with bringing together Black and white kids from previously segregated schools. The film simplifies and fictionalises parts of the true story, but its central themes of prejudice and what leadership means helped it resonate with an audience far beyond football fans.
- Any Given Sunday (1999)
Oliver Stone brought his typically intense filmmaking style to professional football in Any Given Sunday. The movie stars that ’90s version of Al Pacino, where he tends to overact a bit and fall into a caricature of himself, but it also works here in his role of head coach Tony D’Amato. Pacino is perfectly cast as a man who is aware that the sport he loves is changing around him. Some of the plot is a bit formulaic, and overall, it’s probably not the best film in Oliver Stone’s repertoire, but the ensemble cast and Pacino help deliver one of the definitive modern football movies.
