Classic football films

April 02, 2008 06:08 pm

— You want uplift? You want striving? You want beefy guys knocking heads so they can get the respect they so obviously deserve? Check out these classics of football filmdom.
THE LONGEST YARD (1974): Well before the 2007 Adam Sandler remake, there was this cons vs. guards in a rock ‘em, sock ‘em football match. So what if the Burt Reynolds-led inmates aren’t exactly upstanding citizens? The guards are worse.
Box-office gross: $198.6 million (all figures in 2007 dollars)
RUDY (1993): Who says half-pint, working-class kids can’t make the Notre Dame varsity? They can even get in the game, if only for one glorious play. A classic American underdog tale, based on a true story.
Box-office gross: $33.1 million
THE WATERBOY (1998): Mama’s boy Bobby Boucher learns to channel his inner rage and becomes a star for his Cajun college. Adam Sandler flick is dumb as dirt, but funny and strangely likable.
Box-office gross: $161.4 million
THE REPLACEMENTS (2000): The NFL is on strike and a bunch of second-tier players are recruited as fill-ins. They may be scabs, but they sure want to prove they can play. Reactionary politically, but who cares? These guys earn our sympathy.
Box-office gross: $44.7 million
REMEMBER THE TITANS (2000): A newly appointed black football coach, played by Denzel Washington, has to guide a Virginia high school team through its first racially integrated season. Think there’s conflict? Think there’s bonding? Think there’s Motown on the soundtrack?
Box-office gross: $115.6 million
INVINCIBLE (2006): Thirty-year-old part-time bartender and substitute teacher tries out for the Philadelphia Eagles. No chance, right? Wrong — he makes the team, and serves as a beacon of hope for a decaying industrial city. Another fact-based film.
Box-office gross: $57.8million