Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to come up with their favorite answer to a movie-related prompt tied to a recent release. This week, with the release of Young Woman and the Sea, we’re discussing some of our favorite real-life athletes portrayed in movies! Let us know your favorites @SiftPop!
There is only one professional baseball player whose number has been retired by every single team… Jackie Robinson. That number? 42. This baseball flick captures the spirit and competition of the game, but more importantly, it focuses on a groundbreaking time in the history of the sport, as Robinson was the much publicized first Black man in Major League Baseball. 42 is such an important effort, as it tells his iconic story. The film is not the most unique in approach, but it respects Robinson’s contributions to the game. The late, great Chadwick Boseman portrayed this iconic player with a layer of cool, as well as pent up anger in his more vulnerable moments. Boseman is so good as Robinson, which makes him one of the most beloved performers in baseball movies. With the combo of Boseman and the rest of this stacked cast, audiences get to witness this great story put on film. (Shane Conto)
American Underdog tells the true story of Kurt Warner, the former NFL quarterback. After going undrafted and being cut by the Green Bay Packers after two days of training camp, Warner (Zachary Levi) works at a grocery store before effectively accepting that no NFL team is interested in him. In further acceptance of this reality, he agrees to play Arena Football for the Iowa Barnstormers. His life off the field isn’t any easier, as Kurt tries to win over a woman named Brenda (Anna Paquin) who has two kids, one of whom is blind, as well as a difficult financial situation, which, at one point, forces Kurt to walk for miles in the cold to get gas for their car. He’s committed to Brenda, though, as well as her kids, even more so when a tornado tragically kills Brenda’s parents. But over time, Kurt wonders if it’s possible to follow his dream of the NFL, while also keeping Brenda in his life. Even when finally getting picked up by the St. Louis Rams, Kurt doesn’t seem that excited, since he will only be the backup quarterback. However, a season-ending injury to starter Trent Green means Kurt becomes the starter. From there, he led the Rams to their first ever Super Bowl win and, 17 years later, becomes a member of the pro-football Hall of Fame. He and Brenda now have an incredible seven children. (John Tillyard)
We love rooting for the underdog and tales of people chasing and achieving the American Dream. No subgenre in sports lends itself quite as well to these types of stories as boxing. Cinderella Man, the true story of blue-collar Jim Braddock (Russell Crowe) getting his shot in the midst of the Great Depression is one of the best examples. The film takes a likable everyman and puts him through the ringer of the most infamously hard time in U.S. economic history. Braddock’s rise through the boxing ranks while trying to put food on his family’s table and a roof over their head is a powerful one. You feel the desperation — particularly in the pass the hat scene. Crowe’s performance in the lead role anchors the movie, but is boosted by great supporting characters. Paul Giamatti’s performance as Braddock’s manager is immensely entertaining and Max Baer (Craig Bierko) is an easy villain to hate. Both make it even easier to invest in Braddock’s already easy to root for chase for a championship, where he serves as a beacon of hope for the average joe in a time where there were few such examples. (Jake Bourgeois)
Come on, who doesn’t love a feel-good, underdog story? Eddie the Eagle is a classic tale of an average Joe with a lofty dream, which, in the case of Michael “Eddie the Eagle” Edwards (Taron Edgerton), is to compete in the Olympic games. With average talent but superb resolve, Eddie turns to ski jumping, a sport in which his native Britain has never been represented at the Olympic level, and to the coaching of Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), a former ski jumper-turned-alcoholic snow groomer. Against all odds, Eddie is able to do well enough at qualifying events to earn his ticket to the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Although he comes in last place at the games, Eddie sets a British record with his jump and is able to achieve the glory that he always dreamed of. Eddie may not be the best athlete on this list (in fact, he may be the worst), but both his character and Edgerton’s performance are so full of heart that you can’t help but root for him. (Jake Hjort)
Of course, Ford v Ferrari is about more than just Ken Miles. It’s about Carroll Shelby, and about the Ford motor company and specifically the annual 24-hour race at Le Mans. But in doing so, it achieves great focus in the lives of its real-life characters. We’re not burdened too much by the private trials and tribulations of these people, and we’re fully immersed in their claim to fame. Matt Damon plays Shelby very well, and he is the lynchpin in the entire operation, but when it comes down to it, it’s Christian Bale as Miles behind the wheel of the car Ford sends to compete in this 24-hour race, and it’s Miles whose character drives the film. He’s acerbic with management, he’s completely unapologetic about his opinions, and more than anything he just loves to drive. Even as someone who has never driven a car in my life, Ford v Ferrari managed to make me want to take one for a spin, even if only briefly. It’s the infectious energy that Ken has and shares with his son that makes the story of a company wanting to win an event also a human story with real heart, and it pays wonderful tribute to a real human being. (Chris Bakker)
Though not playing the “best” athlete in his family, Zac Efron’s performance as Kevin Von Erich is the true heart of The Iron Claw. The film tells the tragic tale of the Von Erich brothers and their trials and tribulations in and out of the wrestling ring under the watch of their domineering father and coach (Holt McCallany). Though the title of best athlete undoubtedly would have to go to his brother, Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), whose Olympic dreams were shattered by boycott, Kevin is the brother who had the biggest drive and passion for the sport of wrestling. Though David (Harris Dickinson) may be the better showman at a time when the burgeoning sport was about the characters, it’s clear how much Kevin cares about the craft of his sport and his family, and the film is all the more devastating for it. (Jake Bourgeois)
A majority of sports stories have you cheering for the main character(s) to triumph in the end, but I definitely didn’t go into I, Tonya feeling that way. Part of it may be bias I carry from following the story as it played out in the media, since I was young at the time and my still-developing brain was still unaware that the news can be (get ready to clutch those pearls)… biased. While I, Tonya is a biopic and not a documentary, it does actually help open your eyes to exactly how prejudicial the media coverage of events and the rivalry between Tonya (Margot Robbie) and Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) really was. Tonya is an impressive athlete in her own right, naturally talented, dedicated to the athleticism and artistry of the sport, and at a disadvantage due to her socioeconomic status. Being an Olympic-caliber athlete is prohibitively expensive, and ice skating specifically is even more so, as it requires rink time, trainers, choreography, costumes, custom skates, and travel. Tonya is an elite athlete making it to the peak of her sport when she starts to suffer very public defeats, both competitively and in her personal life. Her portrayal in I, Tonya serves a reminder of just how difficult it is to be able to complete at all, and that despite her lack of emotional and monetary support, she was the first female athlete to land a triple axel in competition. (Patrice Downing)
Most sports movies based on true stories profile inspirational athletes, ones who overcame great odds and persevered through adversity to achieve greatness. There is plenty of greatness within the story of Jake La Motta in Raging Bull, but it’s a far cry from inspirational, and La Motta is not someone you’d aspire to be. In all fairness, that should be obvious coming into a Martin Scorsese movie starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. Where several athlete biopics shine a light on the greatness and smooth over some warts in the true story, Raging Bull relishes the warts and uses greatness as the backdrop to tell the story. La Motta was highly proficient in the ring and highly flawed out of it, and De Niro aces both aspects of the role. He’s a paranoid, controlling, aggressive jerk, and that could also mostly describe his brutish boxing style. The portrayal of bouts in the movie borders on Rocky levels of missing defense at times, but it looks great and pulls you into the action. There is something about watching a brilliant but deeply flawed character that you can’t root for but also can’t look away from. The trio of Scorsese, De Niro, and Pesci have nailed that balance so many times, and this might be their crowning achievement. (Jason Mack)