Super Bowl Sunday Edition: Football Movies You Can Stream Right Now
Fire up one of these picks to get ready for Super Bowl LV
Hey! Just ducking into your mailbox for a surprise Super Bowl Sunday edition of DYLA! If you’re in the mood for a good football movie before or after (or maybe during?) the Chiefs and Bucs play today, we are here to recommend a few you can find on streaming services right now. Then, we ranked our top 5 football movies. I’m sure we didn’t leave any out, so make sure to tell us how right we are.
Enjoy the game, and make sure you read and subscribe!
Billy recommends…
Invincible (streaming on Disney+)
There are always some nights when you need a cliche-filled movie that has an entertaining superstar actor with limited talent. Mark Wahlberg fits that mold perfectly and despite his limitations he is almost always able to entertain an audience completely.
Invincible is a solid romp of a time that will hopefully bring some hope to Eagles fans that might be hitting a period that is similar to the opening of this movie. The Eagles are the worst team in the league and after the end of a bad season a coaching change is ahead. They hire the great Dick Vermeil and to spice things up he holds an open try out to any schmuck willing to show up. Wahlberg plays Vince Papale, a talented blue collar Philadelphian who, after his wife leaves him, is convinced by his friends to give the tryout a shot. To the surprise of everyone he makes it and what ensues is a classic “guy trying to prove himself” story. Hollywood is propped up by cliche movies like these. Every genre has their version and I’m here for it a lot of the time if done well.
It seems that every year some athlete is anointed the “he’s getting a movie made about him” storyline. Kurt Warner, Rick Ankiel, and Randy Arozarena are ones that may be next. Despite all the rumors of these stories being adapted we don’t see it coming to fruition that often within the sport genre. Throw this on before the Super Bowl tomorrow and it will get you more than in the mood for the big game. And hold out hope that The Battlehawks will hold open tryouts in 2022.
Drew recommends…
Double Feature:
Friday Night Lights (streaming on HBO)
Undefeated (streaming on Netflix)
This a re-post from a June 2019 newsletter
There’s not many sports movies that can tug on the heartstrings quite like the high school football movie. This double feature matches up two films from this genre that left me emotionally wrecked, Friday Night Lights (the 2004 film, not the show) and Undefeated, a 2011 documentary set in inner-city Memphis.
Before Friday Night Lights was turned into a successful NBC TV show, first it was a phenomenal movie. Set in football-crazed Texas, it follows the Permian High Panthers as they make a run to the state championship. Based on a true story, Friday Night Lights dramatizes the actual events in a riveting and realistic way. It’s shot with a shaky-cam style to give it a documentary feel, but utilizes Explosions in the Sky on the soundtrack, music that is as inspirational and rousing as it gets.
Billy Bob Thornton plays Coach Gaines, in what is easily one of his finest performances. Lucas Black (Mike Winchell), Derek Luke (Boobie Miles), and Garrett Hedlund (Don Billingsley) are three of the Permian players the film spotlights. Tim McGraw surprises as Billingsley’s overbearing, glory-days-obsessed father. Each of these performances anchors Friday Night Lights to real, earned emotion.
You may have heard that football is a religion in Texas, and this movie shows us the positive and negative effects of that reality. The pressure on these kids is unimaginable, which leads to exceptional drama. You don’t mind the story’s corny parts, because it really does feel like life or death when a Texas state title is on the line. You root intensely for the talented Boobie Miles to come back from injury. You want so badly for Billingsley to impress his dad. And you wish only the best for unproven quarterback Mike Winchell. Just try and make it through the climactic scene without getting misty-eyed.
Similarly, Undefeated saves its powerhouse emotional moment for its climactic scene, but this time you’re watching real kids go through character-revealing moments. This Oscar-winning documentary is about a decidedly un-Friday Night Lights kind of school. Manasses is a Memphis high school bereft of the legendary football history of a Permian. It’s only with the grit and determination of coach Bill Courtney that the team starts to turn it around.
As they fight through academic and athletic struggles, the charismatic Courtney and his Manasses Tigers transform into a lovable group. They are all pulling for each other on and off the field, which means we do too. For that, Undefeated is an inspirational and moving football doc that makes for a real-life Friday Night Lights.
Top 5 Football Movies
Billy:
Remember the Titans (are you happy everyone!?)
Jerry Maguire
The Longest Yard
Friday Night Lights
The Replacements
(Worst of all time???) The Blind Side
Drew:
Remember the Titans
Jerry Maguire
Friday Night Lights
The Waterboy
Little Giants