Roger Johnson
Sport and film have always made for great entertainment, combining those classic drivers behind all great stories: conflict, peril and a conclusion. They’ve also crossed over genres with comedy films like Blades of Glory, bio pics like Raging Bull and documentaries like Rolling Stone magazine’s No.1 sports film of all time, the tale of US basketball hopefuls, Hoop Dreams.
There’s also a black and white certainty to sports which, in the uncertain world of today, is surely why more and more people are choosing to watch sports of every kind and even spending time listening to their favourite sports gambling podcast. And it’s possibly also why we’ve seen this glut of sports films hitting the big screen in 2017 – and here are four of the very best.
Borg v McEnroe
It was one of the classic sporting rivalries of the 1980s. The ice-cool Swede Bjorn Borg and the mouthy and brattish New Yorker John McEnroe. The movie focuses on the classic 1980 Wimbledon men’s final – the five set thriller that Borg eventually won 8-6 in the final set. McEnroe is said to be displeased by the way that he’s portrayed in the film by Shia LaBeouf – but then the truth often hurts.
Battle of the Sexes
Coming off her Oscar-winning success in La La Land, Emma Stone takes on a very different role as Billie Jean King in this story that recounts the challenge put down by Bobby Riggs in 1973. Riggs claimed that even at 55 he could outplay the greatest female player of the time, and set about proving it in a show match. At a time when the women’s movement was battling for equal opportunities King believed it was vital that she won. If you want to see what happened go and see the film.
Goon: The Last of The Enforcers
This is the latest in a line of great ice hockey movies moving on from classics like Slap Shot and The Mighty Ducks. It’s also a sequel to the 2011 film Goon and tells the story of Doug “The Thug” Glatt who is forced to give up the game but joins an ice hockey fighting league instead, as a way to get back into the game. The result is funny, full of twists and turns and, ultimately, very touching too.
Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press
Finally, a documentary about the long running dispute between the ex-wrestler and film star Hulk Hogan and the Gawker website. The complex, adult story, hinges around whether Hogan was used as a pawn by billionaire Peter Thiel to get the website closed down for his own reasons and the huge damages that Hogan went on to win in the process. It may not be the greatest of date movies but it’s well worth seeing all the same.
So, four very different movies but all proving one thing – when it comes to creating a backdrop for stories that can be dramatic, funny, emotional and surprising, then sport just can’t be beaten.
