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Based on the true story of a small-town Indiana team that made the state finals in 1954, this movie chronicles the attempts of a coach with a spotty past, and the town's basketball-loving drunk to lead their high school team to victory.
Subgenre: | basketball moviefish out of waterindependent film |
Themes: | alcoholismredemptiondrunkennessfriendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | rural settingsmall town |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 1950s |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachteam spiritstudent athletehigh school athletesports teamhigh school basketballbasketball playerstate championafistar spangled bannernostalgicsecret pastindianachampionship β¦underdogteamteen angstathletecoachmontagebasketballbased on true story (See All) |
In 1999, Ken Carter accepts the job of basketball coach for his old high school in a poor area of Richmond, CA. As much dismayed by the poor attitudes of his players as well as their dismal play performance, Carter sets about to change both. He imposes a strict regime typified in written contracts t β¦hat demand respectful behavior, a dress code and good grades for players. Any initial resistance is soon dispelled as the team under Carter's tutelage becomes a undefeated competitor. However, when the overconfident team's behavior begins to stray with too many doing poorly in class, Carter takes immediate action. To the outrage of the team, the school and the community, Carter cancels all team activities and locks the court until the team shows acceptable academic improvement. In the ensuing debate, Carter fights to keep his methods, determined to show the boys that they need good values for their futures and eventually finds he has affected them more profoundly than he ever expected. (Read More)
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachstudent athletehigh school athletesports teamhigh school basketballunderdogteamathletecoachbasketballbased on true story |
In 1965, the coach of the high school girl basketball team Don Haskins is invited by the Texas Western Miners to be their coach. Despite the lack of budget, Haskins sees the chance to dispute the NCAA and moves with his wife and children to the college dormitory. He recruits seven talented and rejec β¦ted black players to play with five Caucasian players and formed a legendary team that won the 1966 national championship against the powerful Kentucky. (Read More)
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Mood: | high school |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachsports teamindianachampionshipunderdogteamcoachbasketballbased on true story |
Film adaptation of street tough Jim Carroll's epistle about his kaleidoscopic free fall into the harrowing world of drug addiction. As a member of a seemingly unbeatable high school basketball squad, Jim's life centers around the basketball court and the court becomes a metaphor for the world in his β¦ mind. A best friend who is dying of leukemia, a coach ("Swifty") who takes unacceptable liberties with the boys on his team, teenage sexual angst, and an unhealthy appetite for heroin -- all of these begin to encroach on young Jim's dream of becoming a basketball star. Soon, the dark streets of New York become a refuge from his mother's mounting concern for her son. He can't go home and his only escape from the reality of the streets is heroin for which he steals, robs and prostitutes himself. Only with the help of Reggie, an older neighborhood friend with whom Jim "picked up a game" now and then, is he able to begin the long journey back to sanity. (Read More)
Subgenre: | basketball movieindependent film |
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | friend |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachhigh school athletesports teamhigh school basketballbasketball playerteamteen angstathletecoachbasketballbased on true story |
Tells the story of Jesus Shuttlesworth, the most sought after high school basketball prospect in the nation. Jesus and his dream to make it to the big ranks in professional basketball are overshadowed by his father, Jake, who is spending his life in prison for killing Jesus' mother.
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Themes: | redemption |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | basketball coachsports teamhigh school basketballbasketball playerathletemontagebasketball |
At 17 Mike O'Donnell is on top of the world: he's the star of his high school basketball team, is a shoo-in for a college scholarship, and is dating his soul-mate, Scarlet. But at what's supposed to be his big game where a college scout is checking him out, Scarlet reveals that she's pregnant. Mike β¦decides to leave the game and asks Scarlet to marry him, which she does. During their marriage, Mike can only whine about the life he lost because he married her, so she throws him out. When he also loses his job, he returns to the only place he's happy at, his old high school. While looking at his high school photo, a janitor asks him if he wishes he could be 17 again and he says yes. One night while driving he sees the janitor on a bridge ready to jump, and goes after him. When he returns to his friend Ned's house, where he has been staying, he sees that he is 17 again. He decides to take this opportunity to get the life he lost. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | friendfather son relationship |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachhigh school basketballbasketball playerteamteen angstathletecoachbasketball |
Odessa, Texas, is a small, town in Texas. Racially divided and economically dying, there is one night that gives the town something to live for: Friday Night. The Permian Panthers have a big winning tradition in Texas high school football, led by QB Mike Winchell and superstar tailback Boobie Miles, β¦ but all is not well, as Boobie suffers a career-ending injury in the first game of the season. Hope is lost among citizens in Odessa, and for the team, but Coach Gary Gaines, who believes that "Perfection is being able to look your friends in the eye and know you did everything you could not to let them down", is somehow able to help the team rise up from the ashes and make a huge season comeback. Now on their way to state, the Panthers must go out and be perfect, because they may never matter this much for the rest of their lives. (Read More)
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | student athletesports teamchampionshipunderdogteamcoachbased on true story |
Young Caucasian Dan Dunne teaches history and coaches the girls basketball team at a Brooklyn high school populated primarily by black and Hispanic students. To the chagrin of his superiors, Dan bucks the outlined curriculum of historical facts in favor of the philosophy of historical events, genera β¦lly discussing the concept of dialectics. As such, he captures the imagination of his students, at least in the classroom. Outside of the classroom, Dan's life is in shambles. He has a distant but cordial relationship with his family. He uses illicit drugs rampantly. Although his former girlfriend Rachel was able to clean up her drug habit, Dan believes that rehab will not work for him. Due to a combination of these issues, he treats women poorly. Thirteen year old Drey is a student in his class and a player on his basketball team. Drey has her own problems. Her parents are divorced, with her father a virtually non-existent figure in her life and her EMT mother generally absent as she is always working to provide for Drey. Her older brother Mike is incarcerated for selling drugs for a local dealer named Frank. Mike took the fall for Frank, who in turn protects Drey whether she wants to be associated with him or not. Dan and Drey's relationship changes when Drey catches Dan, believing he is alone, smoking crack in the girl's locker room bathroom. He is totally stoned. Their resulting friendship, which is seen as inappropriate by the few who know, is based on each being unable to deaβ¦ (Read More)
Subgenre: | independent film |
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachhigh school basketballbasketball playerteamcoachbasketball |
Jim Morris is a Texas high school chemistry teacher and coach of the school's baseball team. He's always loved baseball and as a way of motivating his players, he agrees to go to a professional try-out if they win the championship. He once had aspirations to be a professional baseball player but an β¦injury brought that to an end. Sure enough, the 39 year-old father of three finds himself at a camp for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and he somehow seems to have regained his pitching arm, easily throwing a 98 mph fastball. Signed to a contract, he toils in the minor leagues while his supportive wife stays home raising their children. He soon finds himself called up to the big club and pitching for Tampa which is in Texas playing the Rangers. Based on a true story. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | father son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | sports teamchampionshipunderdogteamcoachbased on true story |
Football coach Harold Jones befriends Radio, a mentally-challenged man who becomes a student at T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson, South Carolina. Their friendship extends over several decades, where Radio transforms from a shy, tormented man into an inspiration to his community.
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Story: | sports teamhigh school basketballunderdogcoachbasketballbased on true story |
A struggling coach and teacher who has had to move around for different incidents in his career finally comes to one of the poorest cities in America: McFarland, California. There he discovers buried potential in several high school boys and slowly turns them into championship runners and brings the β¦m closer than even he could ever imagine. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | sports teamchampionshipunderdogathletecoachbased on true story |
An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a β¦ rising pitcher, he is inexplicably shot by a young woman. (Read More)
Locations: | rural setting |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | sports teamstar spangled bannerunderdogteamathletecoach |
In small-town Texas, high school football is a religion. The head coach is deified, as long as the team is winning and 17-year-old schoolboys carry the hopes of an entire community onto the gridiron every Friday night. In his 35th year as head coach, Bud Kilmer (Jon Voight) is trying to lead his Wes β¦t Canaan Coyotes to their 23rd division title. When star quarterback Lance Harbor (Paul Walker) suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon (James Van Der Beek), a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game. "Varsity Blues" explores our obsession with sports and how teenage athletes respond to the extraordinary pressures places on them. (Read More)
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | high school athletesports teamteamcoach |
Three men, three dreams. It's 1976 in Flint, Michigan. Jackie Moon's American Basketball Association team languishes in last place, with few fans in the seats. Jackie dreams of a merger with the NBA. A tough-minded point guard named Monix is at the end of his career; he's played on the champion Celt β¦ics but accepts a trade to Flint to be close to Lynn, the love of his life. Clarence "Coffee" Brown dreams of stardom: he's the Tropics' best player, but he's a hotdog who doesn't value teamwork. When the trio learns that a merger is in the works that won't include the Tropics, they pull the team together to try to achieve the impossible. Can dreams come true in Flint? (Read More)
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Story: | basketball teamsports teamchampionshipteamcoachbasketball |
Irving Blitzer disgraced himself when putting extra weights into his team's bob in the Olympics, resulting in his gold medal being taken away from him. Years later, Derice Bannock, son of a former friend of Irv, fails to qualify for the 100-yard sprint for the Olympics due to a stupid accident. But β¦when he hears of Irving Blitzer living also on Jamaica, Derice decides to go to the Games anyway, if not as a sprinter, then as a bobsledder. After some starting problems, the first Jamaican bobsledding team is formed and heads for Calgary. In the freezing weather Derice, Sanka, Junior and Yul are only laughed at, since nobody can take a Jamaican bobsledding team led by a disgraced trainer seriously. But team spirit and a healthy self-confidence may lead to a few surprises in the upcoming Winter Games. (Read More)
Characters: | friendfather son relationship |
Story: | team spiritsports teamunderdogteamcoachbased on true story |
Bright, well-educated, handsome Conor O'Neill's promising future was wrecked by his gambling addiction, which dragged him into heavy drinking and petty crime, but worst of all, the stifling grip of loan-shark bookies. Desperate for a loan, he accepts to stand in for lawyer friend Jimmy Fleming as co β¦ach of a Chicago black 'projects' ghetto Little League baseball team. His sense of pride, becoming the boys' sole idol, and competition, plus their attractive teacher, motivate Conor. But the crushing loan problem rather requires leaving town. (Read More)
Themes: | redemption |
Characters: | friend |
Story: | sports teamchampionshipunderdogteamcoach |
The inspiring story of the team that transcended its sport and united a nation with a new feeling of hope. Based on the true story of one of the greatest moments in sports history, the tale captures a time and place where differences could be settled by games and a cold war could be put on ice. In 1 β¦980, the United States Ice Hockey team's coach, Herb Brooks, took a ragtag squad of college kids up against the legendary juggernaut from the Soviet Union at the Olympic Games. Despite the long odds, Team USA carried the pride of a nation yearning from a distraction from world events. With the world watching the team rose to the occasion, prompting broadcaster Al Michaels' now famous question, to the millions viewing at home: Do you believe in miracles? Yes! (Read More)
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | student athletesports teamunderdogteamcoach |
Suburban Virginia schools have been segregated for generations. One Black and one White high school are closed and the students sent to T.C. Williams High School under federal mandate to integrate. The year is seen through the eyes of the football team where the man hired to coach the Black school i β¦s made head coach over the highly successful white coach. Based on the actual events of 1971, the team becomes the unifying symbol for the community as the boys and the adults learn to depend on and trust each other. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamcoachbased on true story |
Gordon Bombay, a hotshot lawyer, is haunted by memories of his childhood, when, as the star player in his champion hockey team, he lost the winning goal in a shootout, thereby losing the game, and the approval of his coach. After being charged for drunk driving, the court orders him to coach a peewe β¦e hockey team, the worst in the league, Gordon is at first very reluctant. However, he eventually gains the respect of the kids and teaches them how to win, gaining a sponsor on the way and giving the team the name of The Ducks. In the finals, they face Gordon's old team, coached by Gordon's old coach, giving Gordon a chance to face old ghosts. (Read More)
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamathletecoach |
A former basketball all-star, who has lost his wife and family foundation in a struggle with addiction attempts to regain his soul and salvation by becoming the coach of a disparate ethnically mixed high school basketball team at his alma mater.
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Themes: | alcoholism |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachhigh school athletesports teamhigh school basketball |
A comedy based on the 1987 professional football players' strike. Gene Hackman plays the coach of the team, Jack Warden is the owner, Brett Cullen is the All-Pro quarterback that goes on strike and Keanu Reeves is the "scab" who replaces the star QB.
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamathletecoachbased on true story |
Paul "Wrecking" Crewe was a revered football superstar back in his day, but that time has since faded. But when a messy drunk driving incident lands him in jail, Paul finds he was specifically requested by Warden Hazen (James Cromwell), a duplicitous prison official well aware of Paul's athletic ski β¦lls. Paul has been assigned the task of assembling a team of convicts, to square off in a big football game against the sadistic guards. With the help of fellow convict Caretaker, and an old legend named Nate Scarborough to coach, Crewe is ready for what promises to be a very interesting game. It's only the warden and the guards who have no idea who or what they're up against, with Paul the driving force behind the new team. (Read More)
Themes: | redemption |
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamcoachbasketball |
Troy, the popular captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella, the brainy and beautiful member of the academic club, break all the rules of East High society when they secretly audition for the leads in the school's musical. As they reach for the stars and follow their dreams, everyone learns abou β¦t acceptance, teamwork, and being yourself. (Read More)
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | basketball teambasketball coachhigh school basketballteambasketball |
Crash is an aging minor league ball player, brought up from another team to mature a young pitcher with maturity problems. Both of them become involved with Ann, a baseball groupie with her own perspective on the game.
Subgenre: | independent film |
Locations: | small town |
Story: | sports teamafiteamathletecoach |
Troy and the gang of East High School are going through their senior year, facing graduating and going their separate ways. Coming to terms with the reality of it all, Troy wants to attend the nearby University of Albuquerque next year on a basketball scholarship, but Gabriella wants to attend Stanf β¦ord University in California. Meanwhile, Sharpay, the school's shallow and spoiled rich girl, plots to go all out planning the school's final musical show with the idea to add music to her hopes and fears about the future. While Sharpay takes an up-and-coming British exchange student under her wing, her flamboyant fraternal twin brother, Ryan, has his sights set on something different after school. In addition, Troy's best friend and basketball teammate Chad, and Garbiella's best friend Taylor, all have their sights set on their plans after high school and come to terms with the reality of the real world. (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | friendfamily relationships |
Story: | high school basketballbasketball |
In a 1950's mining town called Coalwood, Homer Hickam is a kid with only one future in sight, to work in the local coal mine like his father. However in October 1957, everything changes when the first artificial satellite, Sputnik goes into orbit. With that event, Homer becomes inspired to learn how β¦ to build rockets. With his friends and the local nerd, Homer sets to do just that by trial and a lot of error. Unfortunately, most of the town and especially Homer's father thinks that they are wasting their time. Only one teacher in the high school understands their efforts and lets them know that they could become contenders in the national science fair with college scholarships being the prize. Now the gang must learn to perfect their craft and overcome the many problems facing them as they shoot for the stars. (Read More)
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 1950s |
Story: | underdogcoachbased on true story |
In November, 1970, virtually the entire football team and coaches of Marshall University (Huntington, W.V.) die in a plane crash. That spring, led by Nate Ruffin, a player who was ill and missed the fatal flight, students rally to convince the board of governors to play the 1971 season. The college β¦president, Don Dedman, must find a coach, who then must find players. They petition the NCAA to allow freshmen to play, and coach Jack Lengyel motivates and leads young players at the same time that he reexamines the Lombardi creed that winning is the only thing. The father and the fiancee of a player who died find strength to move on. Can Marshall win even one game in 1971? (Read More)
Story: | sports teamteamathletecoachbased on true story |
Inspired by true events, Eddie the Eagle is a feel-good story about Michael "Eddie" Edwards (Taron Egerton), an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself - even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach (play β¦ed by Hugh Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. From producers of Kingsman: The Secret Service, Eddie the Eagle stars Taron Egerton as Eddie, the loveable underdog with a never say die attitude. (Read More)
Subgenre: | independent film |
Themes: | drunkenness |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | underdogathletecoachbased on true story |
After a fateful mistake costing his career, an ex-soccer player bum meets a shaolin kung fu student trying to spread the word of kung fu. The ex-soccer player helps reconcile with his five brothers, and teaches them soccer, adding shaolin kung fu as a twist.
Themes: | redemptiondrunkennessfriendship |
Characters: | friend |
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamathletecoach |
A comedy about bending the rules to reach your goal, Bend It Like Beckham explores the world of women's football, from kick-abouts in the park to freekicks in the Final. Set in Hounslow, West London and Hamburg, the film follows two 18 year olds with their hearts set on a future in professional socc β¦er. Heart-stopping talent doesn't seem to be enough when your parents want you to hang up your football boots, find a nice boyfriend and learn to cook the perfect chapatti. (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamcoachmontage |
During World War II when all the men are fighting the war, most of the jobs that were left vacant because of their absence were filled in by women. The owners of the baseball teams, not wanting baseball to be dormant indefinitely, decide to form teams with women. So scouts are sent all over the coun β¦try to find women players. One of the scouts, passes through Oregon and finds a woman named Dottie Hinson, who is incredible. He approaches her and asks her to try out but she's not interested. However, her sister, Kit who wants to get out of Oregon, offers to go. But he agrees only if she can get her sister to go. When they try out, they're chosen and are on the same team. Jimmy Dugan, a former player, who's now a drunk, is the team manager. But he doesn't feel as if it's a real job so he drinks and is not exactly doing his job. So Dottie steps up. After a few months when it appears the girls are not garnering any attention, the league is facing closure till Dottie does something that grabs attention. And it isn't long Dottie is the star of the team and Kit feels like she's living in her shadow. (Read More)
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Characters: | friend |
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamcoachbased on true story |
Rudy grew up in a steel mill town where most people ended up working, but wanted to play football at Notre Dame instead. There were only a couple of problems. His grades were a little low, his athletic skills were poor, and he was only half the size of the other players. But he had the drive and the β¦ spirit of 5 people and has set his sights upon joining the team. (Read More)
Characters: | father son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | sports teamindianaunderdogteam |
Disheartened attorney Mike Flaherty (Giamatti), who moonlights as a high school wrestling coach, stumbles across a star athlete through some questionable business dealings while trying to support his family. Just as it looks like he will get a double payday, the boy's mother shows up fresh from reha β¦b and flat broke, threatening to derail everything. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Story: | teen angstathletecoach |
Billy and Sydney think they're the best basketball hustlers in town, so when they join forces, nothing can stop them, except each other. To add to their problems, Billy owes money and is being chased by a pair of gangster types.
Subgenre: | basketball movie |
Themes: | friendship |
Story: | sports teambasketball |
In a town near Austin, Bliss Cavendar's strong-willed mom believes Bliss, at 17, can win pageants - the key to a happy life. Bliss isn't the beauty pageant type: she's shy, quiet, and has just one friend, Pash, her fellow waitress at a diner. Things change for Bliss when she discovers a women's roll β¦er derby league in Austin, tries out, proves to be whip fast, and makes a team. Now she needs to become someone tough on the rink, keep her parents from finding out where she goes twice a week, and do something about a first crush, on a musician she meets at the derby. Meanwhile, mom still sees Bliss as Miss Bluebonnet. Things are on a collision course; will everyone get banged up? (Read More)
Themes: | drunkenness |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | friend |
Story: | underdogteamathletecoach |
Cole Trickle enters the high-pressure world of Nascar racing. He's a hot driver with a hot temper, and this attitude gets him into trouble not only with other drivers, but members of his own team as well.
Subgenre: | independent film |
Themes: | redemptiondrunkennessfriendship |
Story: | teammontage |
A romantic comedy set against the backdrop of America's nascent pro-football league in 1925. Dodge Connolly, a charming, brash football hero, is determined to guide his team from bar brawls to packed stadiums. But after the players lose their sponsor and the entire league faces certain collapse, Dod β¦ge convinces a college football star to join his ragtag ranks. The captain hopes his latest move will help the struggling sport finally capture the country's attention. Welcome to the team Carter Rutherford, America's favorite son. A golden-boy war hero who single-handedly forced multiple German soldiers to surrender in WWI, Carter has dashing good looks and unparalleled speed on the field. This new champ is almost too good to be true, and Lexie Littleton aims to prove that's the case. A cub journalist playing in the big leagues, Lexie is a spitfire newswoman who suspects there are holes in Carter's war story. But while she digs, the two teammates start to become serious off-field rivals for her fickle affections. As the new game of pro-football becomes less like the freewheeling sport he knew and loved, Dodge must both fight to keep his guys together and to get the girl of his dreams. Finding that love and football have a surprisingly similar playbook, however, he has one maneuver he will save just for the fourth quarter... (Read More)
Themes: | drunkenness |
Locations: | small town |
Story: | student athletesports teamteamathletemontage |
The biography of Ron Kovic. Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, he becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Period: | 1950s |
Story: | student athlete |
A disillusioned war veteran, Captain Rannulph Junuh, reluctantly agrees to play a game of golf. He finds the game futile until his caddy, Bagger Vance, teaches him the secret of the authentic golf stroke which turns out also to be the secret to mastering any challenge and finding meaning in life.
Subgenre: | independent film |
Themes: | drunkennessfriendship |
Characters: | friendfather son relationship |
Story: | championshipunderdogmontage |
Bobby Boucher is the lowly waterboy for a college football team, until the coach discovers his amazing talent for tackling people much bigger than him. He signs the Waterboy as the new star player, but Bobby must keep it secret from his overbearing and domineering mother.
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamcoach |
In the sumer of 1976, 30-year old Vince Papale is having a tough run of luck. He's been working as a substitute teacher for two days a week but has just found out that his job has been eliminated because of budget cuts. His wife gives up on him saying he'll never amount to anything and asks for a di β¦vorce. He works as a bartender and plays football with his friends. When the the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Dick Vermeil, announces that he will hold open tryouts for the team, Vince reluctantly decides to give a try. Based on a true story. (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Characters: | father son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | underdogteamathletecoach |
It's the post-WWI era. Britons Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell are both naturally gifted fast sprinters, but approach running and how it fits into their respective lives differently. The son of a Lithuanian-Jew, Harold, who lives a somewhat privileged life as a student at Cambridge, uses being the β¦fastest to overcome what he sees as the obstacles he faces in life as a Jew despite that privilege. In his words to paraphrase an old adage, he is often invited to the trough, but isn't allowed to drink. His running prowess does earn him the respect of his classmates, especially his running teammates, and to some extent the school administration, if only he maintains what they consider proper gentlemanly decorum, which isn't always the case in their minds. Born in China the son of Christian missionaries, Eric, a Scot, is a devout member of the Church of Scotland who eventually wants to return to that missionary work. He sees running as a win-win in that the notoriety of being fast gives him an added outlet to spread the word of God, while he sees his speed as being a gift from God, and he wants to run to honor God and that gift. This view does not sit well with his sister, Jennie Liddell, who sees his running as only taking away time from his work to God. Harold and Eric's lives do intersect in national races, but it is the 100 meter track event at the 1924 Paris Olympics which the two men and their supporters most anticipate. Beyond the fact that Americans Charles Paddock and Jackβ¦ (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Story: | student athleteunderdogathletecoachmontagebased on true story |
Two brothers face the fight of a lifetime - and the wreckage of their broken family - within the brutal, high-stakes world of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting in Lionsgate's action/drama, WARRIOR. A former Marine, haunted by a tragic past, Tommy Riordan returns to his hometown of Pittsburgh and enl β¦ists his father, a recovered alcoholic and his former coach, to train him for an MMA tournament awarding the biggest purse in the history of the sport. As Tommy blazes a violent path towards the title prize, his brother, Brendan, a former MMA fighter unable to make ends meet as a public school teacher, returns to the amateur ring to provide for his family. Even though years have passed, recriminations and past betrayals keep Brendan bitterly estranged from both Tommy and his father. But when Brendan's unlikely rise as an underdog sets him on a collision course with Tommy, the two brothers must finally confront the forces that tore them apart, all the while waging the most intense, winner-takes-all battle of their lives. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | underdogcoachmontage |
A tale told over four seasons, starting in autumn when Juno, a 16-year-old high-school junior in Minnesota, discovers she's pregnant after one event in a chair with her best friend, Bleeker. In the waiting room of an abortion clinic, the quirky and whip-sharp Juno decides to give birth and to place β¦the child with an adoptive couple. She finds one in the PennySaver personals, contacts them, tells her dad and step-mother, and carries on with school. The chosen parents, upscale yuppies (one of whom is cool and laid back, the other meticulous and uptight), meet Juno, sign papers, and the year unfolds. Will Juno's plan work, can she improvise, and what about Bleeker? (Read More)
Subgenre: | independent film |
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | friend |
Story: | high school athleteteen angstmontage |
White Goodman ('Ben Stiller' (qv)) is the owner and founder of Globo Gym, and would love nothing more than owning Average Joe's Gymnasium. Peter LaFleur ('Vince Vaughn (I)' (qv)) doesn't want to lose his gym to Goodman, but can't find a way to get $50,000 in time. Peter and his gang of gym buddies t β¦hink of ways to raise money, finally settling on winning a dodge ball tournament. White Goodman retaliates by creating his own dodge ball team to finish off Peter. Peter's team doesn't do too well, until legendary ADAA champ Patches O'Houlihan ('Rip Torn' (qv)) turns up ready to train them. (Read More)
Story: | sports teamunderdogteamcoach |
Tracy Flick is running unopposed for this year's high school student election. But school civics teacher Jim McAllister has a different plan. Partly to establish a more democratic election, and partly to satisfy some deep personal anger toward Tracy, Jim talks popular varsity football player Paul Me β¦tzler to run for president as well. Chaos ensues. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | father son relationship |
Story: | high school athleteteen angstathlete |
Here's the thing! Viola's soccer team at Cornwall gets cut. She wants to join the boys team, but they do not allow girls. So she thinks "If you can't join them, beat them". So she does! She disguises herself as her twin brother Sebastian, and goes out for the rival school, Illyria, boys' soccer team β¦ and makes it. Unfortunately, she didn't plan falling in love with her roommate Duke. But Duke has his eyes on Olivia. What makes matters worse is that Olivia starts to fall for Sebastian because he/she has a sensitive side. If things couldn't get more problematic, the real Sebastian (who was in London working on his music) comes home early. He arrives on campus and has no clue that he was replaced by his twin sister. (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | family relationships |
Story: | sports teamteamathletecoach |
Erik is expelled from school for fighting. He ends up at a private boarding school where the senior students control the young ones. Erik finds a friend in Pierre, his room mate. The story revolves around Erik who just wishes to be left alone and graduate. He doesn't listen to what the seniors have β¦to say and they don't like it. (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 1950s |
Story: | team spiritbased on true story |
David Wagner is a kid whose mind is stuck in the 1950s. He's addicted to a classic 50's sitcom television show called "Pleasantville". Pleasntville is a simple place, a place where all of its citizens are swell and simple-minded folks, a place where the word "violence", and life outside of Pleasantv β¦ille, is unbeknown to its inhabitants; things are perfect down in Pleasantville. One evening, the life of David and his obnoxious sister Jennifer take a bizarre turn when an eccentric repairman hand them a supposed magical remote. After a quarrel between the siblings, they inexplicably zap themselves into the world of "Pleasantville". Now, David and Jennifer must adjust to a 50s lifestyle of repressed desires and considerably different societal values while trying to find their way home. (Read More)
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | friend |
Period: | 1950s |
Story: | high school basketballbasketball |
In tiny Anarene, Texas, in the lull between World War Two and the Korean Conflict, Sonny and Duane are best friends. Enduring that awkward period of life between boyhood and manhood, the two pass their time the best way they know how -- with the movie house, football, and girls. Jacey is Duane's ste β¦ady, wanted by every boy in school, and she knows it. Her daddy is rich and her mom is good looking and loose. It's the general consensus that whoever wins Jacey's heart will be set for life. But Anarene is dying a quiet death as folks head for the big cities to make their livings and raise their kids. The boys are torn between a future somewhere out there beyond the borders of town or making do with their inheritance of a run-down pool hall and a decrepit movie house -- the legacy of their friend and mentor, Sam the Lion. As high school graduation approaches, they learn some difficult lessons about love, loneliness, and jealousy. Then folks stop attending the second-run features at the movie house and the time comes for the last picture show. With the closure of the movie house, the boys feel that a stage of their lives is closing. They stand uneasily on the threshold of the rest of their lives. (The movie was adapted from the novel by Larry McMurtry). (Read More)
Themes: | friendship |
Mood: | high school |
Locations: | small town |
Characters: | friendfather son relationshipfamily relationships |
Period: | 1950s |
Story: | teen angstcoachbasketball |