Football is a sport that’s perfect for using as the basis of movies. Many films over the years have used the drama, the excitement, and the personal stories from the NFL to create gripping moments such as in the following movies that you might like to watch.
So, if you like to read about incredible football stories, like Tom Brady’s records in TwinSpires Edge, you will also love to watch some movies about the sport we love. Check out the best the cinema has to offer about the NFL.
Invincible – 2006
Mark Wahlberg stars in Invincible, taking on the role of Vince Papale in a film that tells the story of his life. The action begins when Papale is working as a substitute teacher who has a disastrous personal life but still dreams of being a football star. We see how he starts working as a bartender and decides to head along to a public tryout being run by the Philadelphia Eagles.
His life begins to improve when he is invited to a training camp, but Papale still has to overcome difficult moments before he forges a good career in the NFL. The story is largely based on real life but some artistic license has been taken to make it more dramatic. Reviews of Invincible have generally been good and it gives a positive message despite being fairly simple and predictable.
The Blind Side – 2009
This is another NFL movie with a true story at its heart. Sandra Bullock earned an Oscar for her role as a woman who looks after a homeless young man and encourages him to try for a career in football. This film is partly based on the life of real-life former NFL player Michael Oher, who played for the Baltimore Ravens during most of his career after going through a difficult childhood.
Oher wasn’t particularly pleased with how he was depicted in the movie, despite the commercial success that The Blind Side enjoyed. He felt that it showed him to be less intelligent than he is and with a lack of football knowledge. However, it was one of the most successful football movies to be released, so it’s worth looking out for if you like a good rags to riches tale of someone overcoming setbacks in life.
Heaven Can Wait – 1978
An older movie based on the NFL, this shows actor Warren Beatty playing the part of Joe Pendleton. Joe is the Los Angeles Rams QB but his life on Earth is cut short when a guardian angel makes a mistake when trying to protect him from harm but ends up taking him up to Heaven before his time is up.
The error is discovered when he reaches the afterlife, and he gets sent back to Earth but not in the sort of body he’d have wanted. However, as a millionaire he can buy the Rams franchise and then try to get fit enough to play for them in the Super Bowl. It’s a light-hearted family movie that should appeal to a wide audience.
The Replacements – 2000
Football also makes an interesting subject for comedy films, as shown by this effort starring Keanu Reeves as Shane Falco. Shane is a former quarterback for Ohio State who has fallen out of the game after a poor performance in the 1996 Sugar Bowl. He gets back in the game when a player strike causes the Washington Sentinels to replace their players with temporary cover until the end of the season.
While the teams and the league in this movie are fictional, the plot is very loosely based on the NFL strike that occurred in 1987. The choice of a team from Washington is due to the fact that the Washington Redskins won the three games they played using their replacement players, before winning that year’s Super Bowl.
26.01.2022 | Bruno's blog
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