You changed my life, coach!

  🚨All of the 'You Changed My Life, Coach!' posts contain major spoilers 🚨 'A League of Their Own' is a 1992 film starring Geena Davis , Tom Hanks , and Madonna . Here's the Wikipedia page . I've seen this film at least once before. Geena Davis plays Dottie Hinson, and baseball star in the All American Girls Professional Baseball League  which was a real thing that happened in the USA between 1943 and 1954. Due to the Second World War's impact on baseball with many or most players being away somebody came up with the idea of a professional womens' league so that the fans could still watch baseball. What happened to Geena Davis yeah? She was a really good movie star. Kind of like Tom Hanks as it happens. Like, a bankable and relatable actor who could get a film made and carry it. Geena Davis not having an equivalent career to Tom Hanks makes me a bit sad. Tom Hanks plays a drunk asshole. Madonna is alright but it's a bit cynical to have her on the p...

🚨All of the 'You Changed My Life, Coach!' posts contain major spoilers 🚨 'Bottom of the 9th' is a 2019 film starring Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara . Its title in the UK is 'A Second Chance'. Here's the Wikipedia page .   Joe Manganiello plays Sonny Stano, a former baseball prospect who's just been released from prison after a long sentence after he killed somebody. It turns out the killing was an accident but he was still responsible. Several times in the film Sonny regrets being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sonny finds himself living in his old neighbourhood in the Bronx in his recently deceased mother's apartment. He needs to find work, and starts off in a fish packing business. Before too long he reconnects with his former coach (played by Michael Rispoli ). He also reconnects with his former girlfriend Angela (Sofia Vergara), who is a single mother. Angela's police officer cousin isn't too pleased about this, because Sonny...

  🚨All of the 'You Changed My Life, Coach!' posts contain major spoilers 🚨 'Finding the Way Back' (the UK title) is a film released in 2020 starring Ben Affleck. Here's the Wikipedia page .  Ben Affleck plays an alcoholic construction worker who is recruited to become head coach of the basketball team at the high school he used to attend when the previous coach has a heart attack. I'm a fan of Ben Affleck, I think he's a talented actor. I think he was the best Batman, for a start. Ben Affleck's performance here is good, really good even, but there's something off about this film and ultimately I found it unsatisfying. I think perhaps it's a story about alcoholism and grief that has a bit too much inspriational sports movie thrown in.  I'm sure everybody tried their best though and hey I've never made a feature film. The portrayal of Ben Affleck's character's alcoholism is pretty strong. The last time I remember alcoholism being ...

  🚨All of the 'You Changed My Life, Coach!' posts contain major spoilers 🚨 'Pride' is a film released in 2007 starring Terence Howard. Here's the Wikipedia page . It's not to be confused with the 2014 film with the same name  that I should watch although that one isn't an inspirational sports movie. I've seen this film at least twice before. It is a genre favourite of mine. 'Pride' is based on the true story of Philadelphia swimming coach Jim Ellis. I note Wikipedia says it is 'loosely based'. A film about a black swimming team in 1970s Philadelphia looks improbable on paper but all the genre elements are in here an it works pretty well. The opening where we see Terence Howard's dreams of competitive swimming dashed in the 1960s by a profoundly racist society set the scene well. The setup where Terence Howard is struggling to get a job and finds himself living in a rundown leisure centre where he brings the swimming pool back to lif...

  🚨All of the 'You Changed My Life, Coach!' posts contain major spoilers 🚨 Wildcats is a film released in 1986 starring Goldie Hawn. Here's the Wikipedia page . Goldie Hawn plays Molly McGrath, the daughter of an American football coach who wants to coach high school American football. The system is against her because women don't coach American football. Then Molly gets an opportunity to coach at a deprived inner city Chicago school but naturally it's a poisoned chalice. Can she turn it around against all odds and so on?  SPOILER ALERT she turns it around against all odds because this is an inspirational sports film. I really enjoyed this film. It was the first time I'd seen it. One of the main things that struck me was just how great Goldie Hawn is, I'd forgotten. So much charisma, carries the whole show, and is a mainstream female movie star headlining films in the 80s. Also Molly turns it around against all odds without turning into a macho hardass wh...

🚨All of the 'You Changed My Life, Coach!' posts contain major spoilers 🚨 42 is a film released in 2013 about Jackie Robinson , the first black athlete to play in Major League Baseball. Here's the Wikipedia page . It stars Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson. I find any film with Chadwick Boseman a bit sad at the moment. He was such a good actor, a really magnetic star. The film also has Harrison Ford in it and it's a Harrison Ford performance where he isn't just being Harrison Ford which is rare. The film shows how overtly racist society was and the struggles for black Americans plus there are hints that violence is around too. But as is often the case with this kind of film racism has a tendency to magically go away thanks to sport and I'm never really sure about that. Jackie Robinson's decency, stoicism and non-violent approach come across and I think that's something the film did well, because it's tense and uncomfortable at times. Alan Tudyk...