The movie oozes inspiration, but it’s not the first sports film based on a true story to do so—and it probably won’t be the last.
So how does this new flick stack up with some of the classics in that genre?
Let’s compare.
—TheMash, Chicago Tribune, imdb.com
‘The Blind Side’
Opened: Friday
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Quinton Aaron
About: Michael Oher, a homeless black teen, and Leigh Anne Touhy, a white suburban mom who takes him in and helps him get recruited by a major college football program
Real-life high school: Briarcrest Christian Saints in Memphis, Tenn.
Sappiness Factor (1-10): 9
The mom with moxie. The gentle giant football player. The life lessons about the importance of family? How did this movie not go directly to Lifetime?
‘Hoosiers’
Opened: 1986
Stars: Gene Hackman, Dennis Hopper
About: Tiny Hickory High and its tough-as-nails coach make an improbable run to the Indiana state high school championship.
Real-life high school: Milan High School Indians in Milan, Ind.
Best quote: “I play, Coach stays. He goes, I go.”—Jimmy Chitwood
Sappiness Factor (1-10): 6
If you feel like you’ve seen this movie before—underdog team beats the odds to win it all in the end—it’s because you’ve watched a copycat of this one.
‘Remember the Titans’
Opened: 2000
Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton
About: Two coaches—one black and one white—are stuck together on a newly integrated football team.
Real-life high school: T.C. Williams Titans in Alexandria, Va.
Best quote: “We will be perfect in every aspect of the game. You drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts, and then you will run a mile. Perfection. Let’s go to work.”—Coach Herman Boone
Sappiness Factor (1-10): 4
There are some racially tense moments that help “Titans” dodge the typical feel-good sports-movie cliches.
‘Coach Carter’
Opened: 2005
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Channing Tatum, Ashanti
About: A star athlete returns to his alma mater and turns players into winners on the court—and in the class.
Real-life high school: Richmond High School in California
Best quote: “I came to coach basketball players, and you became students. I came to teach boys, and you became men.”—Coach Ken Carter
Sappiness Factor (1-10): 8
Think “Lean on Me” with high-tops.
the blind side is the best movie ever made it's my favorite