by Alex Truman
Maybe this is why American football is often an excellent basis for feature films. All the hearts that come together for a game, the pain, and the glory, are precisely the ingredients for a memorable movie. So while there have been tons of Hollywood productions in the past, we have put together a list of the actual football movies that will give you the same adrenaline rush that you get when your favourite team scores the touchdown.
- We Are Marshall (2006)
We Are Marshall narrates the true story of Marshall University’s most popular Thundering Herd football team that perished in a plane crash while returning home after an out-of-state game in 1970. Matthew McConaughey, who is now 51, plays the role of Jack Lengyel, the coach who was responsible for rebuilding the team and healing the community’s shattered soul from this unspeakable loss. Lost’s Matthew Fox, who narrowly missed the doomed flight, is currently the assistant coach, and he still lives with the survivor’s guilt.
An inspirational movie, We Are Marshall is more about friendship and resilience than the Xs and Os. Thanks to McConaughey’s brilliant performance—he portrayed the heavyweight of real-life to tell the story—this movie is going to be a heart-wrenching watch.
- Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (2008)
Over the years, we have had so many documentaries made on football. But we would bet all our chips on this being the best, if not certainly the strangest.
The movie takes you back to the afternoon of Nov 23, 1968, when two undefeated Ivy League powerhouses competed against each other to figure out who would have the bragging rights for the upcoming year.
The movie’s title was taken from the Harvard Crimson headline that followed what would be tagged as one of the most dramatic and nail-biting football games in college history. With just 42 seconds left for the game to end, Yale was definitely on the winning end with 29-13. However, through a series of accidents, Harvard evened the score. So, it really is a treat to watch the players talk about the game years now, particularly Tommy Lee Jones, a Harvard player who is now 75.
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- The Blind Side (2009)
The Blind Side helped Sandra Bullock win an Oscar for her performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a prejudiced Southern woman who looks like a tough nut on the outside but is soft on the inside. In the movie, Touhy’s well-off family takes in a homeless Black high school football phenom (Quinton Aaron).
The movie is based on Michael Lewis’s bestseller, focusing on Michael Oher (who became the first-round draft pick for the Baltimore Ravens when the film was released). In a nutshell, this movie teaches you that football is just a game. It can also be thought of as a metaphor that asks you to look out for the welfare of others.
- Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
David O. Russell’s Oscar-nominated comedy is only slightly linked to football. Instead, the main story focuses on a pair of broken and lonely souls (Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper) who, as the story progresses, find what they miss in each other.
Silver Linings Playbook will make you laugh, reflect, and think. But, more importantly, what makes it a perfect football movie is Robert De Niro, who appears on the screen as Cooper’s Philadelphia Eagles-obsessed father.
Watch this movie only if you are a real sports fan. As non-diehards will never be able to accept him in the film as he captures the charming yet borderline deranged person who absurdly sits in a specific chair when the big game is on.
- Draft Day (2014)
Kevin Costner has been a part of some of the best sports movies of Hollywood. For instance, take Tin Cup, Bull Durham, and Field of Dreams. However, Draft Day, for some reason, has always been overlooked though it deserves better.
The movie surrounds the ins and outs of the NFL’s annual search for the next franchise superstar, and Costner plays Sonny Weaver, a harried general manager of Cleveland Browns. As Sonny Weaver struggles with his messy personal life and with the clock-ticking till the draft day, you will get to see Costner in a role that perfectly suits his personality—an aging jock with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
