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SPORTS DRAMAS Provided by: B.C. Hey, don’t worry all you "Caddyshack" fans, we’ll tackle Sports Comedies next week. So, without further ado, in alphabetical order, here are our picks for great Sports Dramas: All the Right Moves – Tom Cruise stars as a high school football player in this 1983 film. Set in a small town near Pittsburgh, the movie provides a great feel of how the townspeople hang on the fortunes of their football team. Craig T. Nelson stars as Cruise’s domineering coach and watch for a young Lea Thompson as Cruise’s girlfriend. Cruise gives a great portrayal of this young man. In Cruise’s career his good looks have far too often overshadowed his solid acting – he proves his skill here. Great sports sequences and lots of realistic touches. One of my favorites: the tender scene where Cruise and Thompson make love – but not before they take off their long underwear. Brian’s Song – Probably the saddest sports movie of all time and one movie where guys aren’t embarrassed to say they cried at the end. The true story of Chicago Bears running backs Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) and Brian Piccolo (James Caan) has so much to offer. Sayers gets injured and Piccolo trains with him to help him recover – even though they compete for the same position. Later on, Piccolo develops cancer and Sayers stands by his side. It’s set in the 1960s – Sayers is black, Piccolo is white and they are best friends – not a common occurrence in those days. One of the best of the genre. Field of Dreams – You know, this is one of those movies where you either love it or you hate it. You either immerse yourself in the story or you spend the entire movie muttering to yourself, "Come on. Like that would REALLY happen." Me? It’s on my list of top five sports movies ever. Kevin Costner’s final line chokes me up every time. This is one of those movies when I’m flipping through the channels and I see it, I sit down and watch the rest no matter what else I was doing. Hoop Dreams – A documentary about two high school basketball players, Arthur and William, in inner-city Chicago with dreams of making it to the NBA. The filmmakers followed the students for almost five years(!) from their freshman year in high school until the first year of college. Inexplicably denied an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary in 1994, this film is an amazing piece of work. It holds nothing back, doesn’t shy away from showing any aspect of these young men’s lives. One of the best scenes: Arthur is playing on the playground and at the other end of the court his estranged father is trying to score drugs. The hurt and sadness in the young man’s eyes is heartbreaking. Hoosiers – Great sports dramas begin and end with this one. It’s the "based on a true story" account of a 1950s Indiana small-town high school basketball team, their new coach, played with passion by Gene Hackman, and how they come to rely on each other for different reasons. Like most sports movies, "Hoosiers" does culminate with the "big game", but the basketball sequences are the best ever filmed. Even if you’re not a basketball fan, this is a film for everyone to enjoy. You better hurry to the store right now to rent this one and "don’t get caught watching the paint dry." Jerry Maguire – Is it a drama or a comedy? It’s a great movie either way. Tom Cruise stars in the title role of a sports agent who suddenly gets a conscience. The first movie to really tackle this seldom-seen side of sports. Cuba Gooding, Jr. won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Rod Tidwell, the Arizona Cardinals wide receiver for whom Maguire is an agent. It’s really a coming of age story for these two men who have lived in perpetual adolescence for so long – and how they help each other along the way. Directed by Cameron Crowe, the mind behind "Say Anything" and the new "Almost Famous". The Karate Kid – What the hell is this movie doing here, you may ask? Don’t confuse the original with any of the sequels. This is a great sports movie. Go back and watch it again sometime. The last 20 minutes of the film make it all worthwhile – one of the best endings to any sports movie. Plus, it has great 80s music and hair. Bananarama playing "Cruel Summer"? Count me in! The Natural – Probably the best pedigree of any movie on this list. Barry Levinson directs and Robert Redford stars as aging baseball player Roy Hobbs who comes out of nowhere to lead his team to the World Series. Lots of interesting subplots keep this never-boring film moving right along. Great baseball sequences and tons of authenticity make this 1920s-set film a pleasure for fans of the game. And, like all great sports movies, it boasts a fantastic ending. Rocky – The sports movie that gave birth to the genre (in my lifetime anyway). Sylvester Stallone, in the role that made him a star, plays Rocky Balboa, a never-was boxer in Philadelphia. Through a turn of events he gets a shot at the title. The movie has numerous engaging and original characters in addition to Rocky: Mickey the trainer, Adrian the girlfriend, Apollo Creed the champion, and Paulie, Adrian’s brother and Rocky’s friend. Great dialogue and well-acted scenes make this one of the best. Rounders – A movie about poker is a sports movie? Well, it follows all the great sports movie themes, including redemption of the main character and the "big game" at the end. (I mean, "Top Gun" is a sports movie when you think about it.) Matt Damon and Edward Norton star as childhood friends who love poker in different ways. The difference? Damon is a "technician" – he looks for people’s "tells" and tries to keep track of what cards are floating around. Norton is a "mechanic" – he deals from the bottom of the deck, carries extra cards in his pocket, and is always looking to scam someone. Damon wants to win, but he wants to win fair and square. One criteria of a great movie is that it immerses you in a world you know nothing about and teaches you something, whether it’s the language or the skills. "Rounders" does that. Rudy – A wonderfully engaging and inspiring movie about a walk-on to the Notre Dame football team in the early 1970s. And a true story to boot. Disclaimer: I hate Notre Dame. I particularly hate Notre Dame football. But I love this movie. The tagline says it all, "When people say dreams don’t come true, tell them about Rudy." Side note: See if you can spot the two stars of "Swingers" in "Rudy". Favorite scene: when the scholarship players place their jerseys on the coach’s desk to convince him to let Rudy suit up for a game. Victory – Sylvester Stallone and Michael Caine star as American and British GIs held in a Nazi POW camp during World War II. To pass the time, the captive soldiers play soccer. The Nazis who run the camp come up with an idea: a soccer game between the best players Nazi Germany has to offer and the best Allied POWs. Sound like "Hogan’s Heroes"? Don’t worry. It’s executed wonderfully, with the big game at the end creating a terrific climax. Worth your while. Buy the above at: Amazon.com BigStar.com DVD EXPRESS Reel.com Broadway.com
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