2008 Woodie Awards
Greatest sports films to cry for
Daniel Bartlett
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Maine Sports
Society has taught us that a real man does not cry; a real man holds his emotions inside because he is like a rock. I think it takes a real man to cry. You've got to be secure in your manliness to know that you can cry. I'm not saying a man should cry all the time but only in three instances: death of a loved one, heartache, and when he watches a tearjerker sports film.
Every so often someone will produce a film that just grabs you by the gut and takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. Any movie that has a storyline strong enough to pull you into feeling what the actors are feeling is a great movie. Men do not often cry while watching movies, but when it comes to sports, it is a whole other story. That is why I have compiled a list of my own top five choices for best sports films of all-time that will bring a tear to a grown man's eye.
5) Million Dollar Baby (2005)
Hillary Swank plays a woman who is barely skating by with a waitress job and wants to become a boxer. Clint Eastwood plays the aging trainer and eventually gives in and trains Swank. This movie has a slow start to it, but you begin to feel the bond forming between fighter and trainer. As Swank defeats opponent after opponent, you know something big is going to happen. Swank fights for the title, but a cheap shot sends her toppling to the floor where she hits her head on her stool, and breaks her neck. Now the audience watches as Eastwood struggles to watch his fighter lye paralyzed in a hospital with rapidly diminishing health. The audience feels for Swank, and keeps a sense of hope, but Eastwood's and their hearts sink as he helps her die. This movie won four Oscars and is a must see.
4) Pistol Pete: Birth of a Legend (1991)
This movie is a biography of the basketball beginnings of the former NBA player, Pete Maravich. He got the nick name "Pistol" because he shot quick from the hips like a gun fighter. The movie shows Pete's struggles as he becomes a star varsity basketball player at Daniel High School as an eighth grader. The motivational talks, the music and the events just makes viewers want to go play basketball. The tears begin to flow as Pete's father talks to him about "driving himself to be something better," and viewers fall silent when Pete loses the ultimate state championship.
Every so often someone will produce a film that just grabs you by the gut and takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. Any movie that has a storyline strong enough to pull you into feeling what the actors are feeling is a great movie. Men do not often cry while watching movies, but when it comes to sports, it is a whole other story. That is why I have compiled a list of my own top five choices for best sports films of all-time that will bring a tear to a grown man's eye.
5) Million Dollar Baby (2005)
Hillary Swank plays a woman who is barely skating by with a waitress job and wants to become a boxer. Clint Eastwood plays the aging trainer and eventually gives in and trains Swank. This movie has a slow start to it, but you begin to feel the bond forming between fighter and trainer. As Swank defeats opponent after opponent, you know something big is going to happen. Swank fights for the title, but a cheap shot sends her toppling to the floor where she hits her head on her stool, and breaks her neck. Now the audience watches as Eastwood struggles to watch his fighter lye paralyzed in a hospital with rapidly diminishing health. The audience feels for Swank, and keeps a sense of hope, but Eastwood's and their hearts sink as he helps her die. This movie won four Oscars and is a must see.
4) Pistol Pete: Birth of a Legend (1991)
This movie is a biography of the basketball beginnings of the former NBA player, Pete Maravich. He got the nick name "Pistol" because he shot quick from the hips like a gun fighter. The movie shows Pete's struggles as he becomes a star varsity basketball player at Daniel High School as an eighth grader. The motivational talks, the music and the events just makes viewers want to go play basketball. The tears begin to flow as Pete's father talks to him about "driving himself to be something better," and viewers fall silent when Pete loses the ultimate state championship.
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