Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Courtesy of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Releasing
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Courtesy of Destination Films
Courtesy of United Artists
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Courtesy of Geffen Pictures
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Courtesy of Lionsgate
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Courtesy of Sony Pictures Entertainment
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Warner Bros.
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Columbia Pictures
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Courtesy of Pure Flix Entertainment
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
Courtesy of Hammond Entertainment
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Courtesy of TriStar Pictures
Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Courtesy of TriStar Pictures
Courtesy of Buena Vista Pictures
Courtesy of Pathé Exchange
Courtesy of Paramount Pictures
40 Classic Football Movies To Get Us Ready for the NFL Season
The 2026 NFL season opens on Sept. 9, but football does not have to live solely on the field. Between the tailgates, fantasy alerts, and prime-time games, a good football movie can fill the gap when kickoff still feels annoyingly far away. This lineup gives you 40 options, from broad comedies and underdog stories to dramas that are barely interested in the scoreboard.
To build this watch list, 24/7 Tempo used three ratings as guideposts: the IMDb user rating, the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, and the Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter. Documentaries were excluded to keep the focus on narrative features. Ratings change as new votes and reviews arrive, so the figures below were refreshed on Sept. 2, 2026.
Additional sources for this piece include Pew Research Center, IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, official film and studio materials, and records from the NFL, universities, schools, and other organizations connected to the true stories behind several of these movies. Now, on with the films.
This post was updated on September 2, 2026, to reflect current ratings and additional information.
40. Wildcats (1986)
- Starring: Goldie Hawn, Swoosie Kurtz, Robyn Lively
- IMDb user rating: 6.1/10 (16,042 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 50% (5,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 30% (20 reviews)
Goldie Hawn plays Molly McGrath, a coach who quits a comfortable girls' track job at affluent Prescott High to take over the boys' football team at inner-city Central High in Chicago. She has to deal with sexism, racial tension, skeptical players, and an ex-husband fighting her for custody. The football is almost the easy part.
39. Necessary Roughness (1991)
- Starring: Scott Bakula, Héctor Elizondo, Robert Loggia
- IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (14,067 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 47% (5,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 35% (31 reviews)
NCAA sanctions have gutted the fictional Texas State Fightin' Armadillos, leaving the coaches to rebuild with actual students and no athletic scholarships. Their unlikely quarterback is Paul Blake, a 34-year-old former high school star who never got his original shot at college. The roster is thin, the odds are ridiculous, and that is very much the point.
38. Everybody's All-American (1988)
- Starring: Jessica Lange, Dennis Quaid, Timothy Hutton
- IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (3,655 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 46% (1,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 45% (31 reviews)
Dennis Quaid plays Gavin Grey, a Louisiana college football hero whose glory days do not prepare him for the decades that follow. The film tracks Gavin, his wife Babs, and their friend Donnie as fame fades, careers change, and old expectations become harder to carry. It is less about winning a game than figuring out what comes after everyone stops cheering.
37. The Longshots (2008)
- Starring: Ice Cube, Keke Palmer, Tasha Smith
- IMDb user rating: 5.6/10 (4,775 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 61% (10,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 41% (68 reviews)
Inspired by the story of Jasmine Plummer, the film stars Keke Palmer as a girl whose uncle, played by Ice Cube, recognizes her talent at quarterback. He takes over a struggling Pop Warner team in the fictional town of Minden, Illinois, and puts his niece under center. The setup is familiar, but Palmer gives the underdog story its pulse.
36. The Longest Yard (2005)
- Starring: Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds, Chris Rock
- IMDb user rating: 6.4/10 (213,759 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 62% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 31% (167 reviews)
This remake of the 1974 film at No. 9 sends disgraced pro quarterback Paul Crewe to prison, where the warden wants him to help prepare the guards' football team. Crewe instead becomes quarterback of an inmate squad coached by fellow prisoner Nate Scarborough. The game is supposed to be controlled. Naturally, it does not stay that way.
35. All the Right Moves (1983)
- Starring: Tom Cruise, Lea Thompson, Craig T. Nelson
- IMDb user rating: 6.0/10 (21,160 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 40% (10,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 61% (23 reviews)
Stefan Djordjevic sees football as his best route out of the fading steel town of Ampipe, Pennsylvania. A college scholarship could change his life, but a confrontation with his coach gets him kicked off the team and frozen out by recruiters. Tom Cruise was still early in his career here, and the movie is much grimmer than the usual rah-rah sports story.
34. The Game Plan (2007)
- Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kyra Sedgwick, Madison Pettis
- IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (104,639 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 69% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 28% (100 reviews)
Dwayne Johnson plays Joe Kingman, a wealthy, self-absorbed quarterback who suddenly learns he has a young daughter. His carefully managed bachelor life gives way to ballet classes, parenting mistakes, and the realization that a championship ring cannot handle every problem. Johnson's charisma does a lot of the blocking.
33. When the Game Stands Tall (2014)
- Starring: Jim Caviezel, Alexander Ludwig, Michael Chiklis
- IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (17,783 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 72% (10,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 21% (68 reviews)
The film dramatizes the De La Salle High School football program under coach Bob Ladouceur and the end of its record 151-game winning streak. Rather than treating one loss as the apocalypse, Ladouceur pushes his players to think about character, responsibility, and life beyond the streak. The real run lasted from 1992 to 2004, an absurd stretch of dominance by any standard.
32. Little Giants (1994)
- Starring: Rick Moranis, Ed O'Neill, Shawna Waldron
- IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (33,395 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 63% (50,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 50% (14 reviews)
When Kevin O'Shea cuts his niece Becky from the town's youth football team, she persuades her father, Danny, to start a rival squad. That leaves two brothers, two teams, and one playoff spot in a town apparently unable to accommodate both. Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill make the sibling rivalry more fun than it has any right to be.
31. The Waterboy (1998)
- Starring: Adam Sandler, Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler
- IMDb user rating: 6.2/10 (193,983 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 71% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 32% (74 reviews)
Bobby Boucher is a shy college water boy with an overprotective mother and a startling talent for flattening anyone who mocks him. After one coach fires him, another sees what that bottled-up anger can do at linebacker. Adam Sandler turns the sports-movie formula into a very loud Louisiana cartoon.
30. Facing the Giants (2006)
- Starring: Alex Kendrick, Shannen Fields, Jason McLeod
- IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (19,401 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 85% (50,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 17% (24 reviews)
Grant Taylor coaches a Christian high school football team that has gone six years without a winning season, and some parents want him replaced. At home, he and his wife are also struggling with infertility. Grant leans into his faith and asks his players to do the same as they try to change the direction of both the team and their lives.
29. Semi-Tough (1977)
- Starring: Burt Reynolds, Kris Kristofferson, Jill Clayburgh
- IMDb user rating: 5.9/10 (3,980 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 32% (1,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 83% (12 reviews)
Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson play pro football teammates sharing a Miami home with Barbara Jane, the daughter of their team's owner. When Barbara Jane and one of the players decide to marry, the other starts questioning what he wants. The football plot shares the field with a sharp parody of the era's self-help movement.
28. The Replacements (2000)
- Starring: Keanu Reeves, Gene Hackman, Brooke Langton
- IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (75,087 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 66% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 41% (106 reviews)
A late-season players' strike leaves the fictional Washington Sentinels scrambling, so veteran coach Jimmy McGinty gets one week to assemble a replacement roster. Keanu Reeves leads the cast as Shane Falco, a once-promising quarterback getting an unlikely second chance. It is not subtle, but subtlety was never on this team's depth chart.
27. Varsity Blues (1999)
- Starring: James Van Der Beek, Jon Voight, Paul Walker
- IMDb user rating: 6.6/10 (53,921 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 76% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 47% (58 reviews)
Football runs West Canaan, Texas, and coach Bud Kilmer runs the football team. When the starting quarterback is injured, backup Jonathan "Mox" Moxon inherits the job and the expectations of an entire town. He also begins to see the damage behind Kilmer's win-at-all-costs approach.
26. Radio (2003)
- Starring: Cuba Gooding Jr., Ed Harris, Debra Winger
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (49,598 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 79% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 34% (121 reviews)
Cuba Gooding Jr. plays James "Radio" Kennedy, a young man with an intellectual disability who forms a friendship with high school football coach Harold Jones. Radio gradually becomes part of the team and the wider community, while the coach faces resistance from people who think winning should come first. The film is inspired by Kennedy and Jones, though it dramatizes their story.
25. The Last Boy Scout (1991)
- Starring: Bruce Willis, Damon Wayans, Chelsea Field
- IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (121,969 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 68% (50,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 48% (42 reviews)
Bruce Willis plays private investigator Joe Hallenbeck, whose latest protection job ends with his client's murder. He teams up with her boyfriend, disgraced former quarterback Jimmy Dix, and follows the trail into professional football, illegal gambling, and political corruption. This is a Shane Black action movie, so the trail also includes quite a few explosions.
24. The Program (1993)
- Starring: James Caan, Halle Berry, Omar Epps
- IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (12,362 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 80% (10,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 43% (21 reviews)
The fictional ESU Timberwolves enter a season with a talented roster and plenty of ways to implode. Quarterback Joe Kane battles alcohol problems, while other players deal with academic pressure, steroids, family trouble, and a coach whose job depends on winning. The movie is less interested in inspiration than in what a major football program asks people to ignore.
23. Draft Day (2014)
- Starring: Kevin Costner, Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Garner
- IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (73,842 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 65% (25,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 60% (159 reviews)
On the morning of the NFL draft, Cleveland Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. trades for the No. 1 pick. Then he has to decide what to do with it while juggling an impatient owner, a furious coaching staff, family pressure, and the news that his girlfriend is pregnant. It is essentially a workplace thriller where everyone owns at least one very expensive stopwatch.
22. Any Given Sunday (1999)
- Starring: Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Cameron Diaz
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (132,162 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 73% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 51% (125 reviews)
The fictional Miami Sharks are losing games, fans, and patience when injuries force third-string quarterback Willie Beamen onto the field. His sudden success upsets the team's old hierarchy and deepens the struggle between veteran coach Tony D'Amato and young owner Christina Pagniacci. Oliver Stone shoots professional football like organized warfare, which is not exactly a quiet choice.
21. Gridiron Gang (2006)
- Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (83,383 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 81% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 44% (101 reviews)
At a juvenile detention camp in Los Angeles County, counselor Sean Porter creates a football team to give the teenagers structure and a reason to trust one another. The players have to overcome rivalries inside the camp as well as resistance from schools that do not want to face them. Dwayne Johnson plays Porter with considerably less eyebrow work than usual.
20. School Ties (1992)
- Starring: Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (29,762 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 69% (25,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 60% (40 reviews)
Brendan Fraser plays David Greene, a working-class Jewish student recruited to an elite New England prep school for his football ability. The story is set in the 1950s, and David hides his identity because he expects antisemitism from classmates and administrators. When the truth comes out, the welcome disappears fast.
19. We Are Marshall (2006)
- Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (68,269 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 79% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 48% (126 reviews)
On Nov. 14, 1970, Southern Airways Flight 932 crashed near Huntington, West Virginia, killing all 75 people aboard, including Marshall University football players, coaches, staff, and supporters. The film follows new coach Jack Lengyel and the community's effort to rebuild the program after the loss. It is a sports movie, but grief—not a championship—is the real opponent.
18. Black Sunday (1977)
- Starring: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller
- IMDb user rating: 6.8/10 (9,980 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 65% (2,500+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (33 reviews)
A former prisoner of war and a member of Black September plan to use a hijacked blimp as a weapon over the Super Bowl. An Israeli intelligence officer and the FBI race to stop them before the attack reaches a packed stadium. The premise is pure 1970s paranoia, staged on the largest possible canvas.
17. Concussion (2015)
- Starring: Will Smith, Alec Baldwin, Albert Brooks
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (105,695 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 74% (25,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 58% (204 reviews)
Will Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the forensic pathologist whose examination of former Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster led to the first published report of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in an NFL player. The film dramatizes Omalu's research and the resistance he faced as he pressed football's most powerful institution to confront the risks of repeated head trauma.
16. 80 for Brady (2023)
- Starring: Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, Sally Field
- IMDb user rating: 5.9/10 (14,173 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 89% (2,500+ verified ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 59% (135 reviews)
Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Rita Moreno, and Sally Field play longtime friends who head to Houston hoping to see Tom Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI. The comedy was inspired by a real group of older Patriots fans, then cheerfully takes the Hollywood route. The four stars know exactly what kind of movie they are in.
15. The Express (2008)
- Starring: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Clancy Brown
- IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (23,723 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 75% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 63% (118 reviews)
Rob Brown plays Syracuse star Ernie Davis, who helped the Orange complete an undefeated 1959 national championship season and became the first Black player to win the Heisman Trophy in 1961. The film follows his rise under coach Ben Schwartzwalder while confronting the racism Davis faced on and off the field.
14. Lucas (1986)
- Starring: Corey Haim, Kerri Green, Charlie Sheen
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (19,032 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 70% (10,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 76% (21 reviews)
Lucas is a bright, awkward teenager who would rather spend his time with insects and books than navigate high school politics. After falling for new student Maggie, he joins the football team in a desperate attempt to impress her. The plan is not especially sound, but teenagers have built entire social lives on worse ideas.
13. Invincible (2006)
- Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks
- IMDb user rating: 7.0/10 (79,961 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 73% (50,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 71% (136 reviews)
The film is inspired by Vince Papale, a 30-year-old Philadelphia-area teacher who attended an Eagles tryout camp and made the roster in 1976. Mark Wahlberg plays Papale as an underdog trying to survive new coach Dick Vermeil's camp and prove he belongs. Papale stayed with the Eagles through the 1978 season.
12. Woodlawn (2015)
- Starring: Caleb Castille, Sean Astin, Jon Voight
- IMDb user rating: 6.5/10 (8,520 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 80% (5,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 79% (14 reviews)
Set amid racial conflict in 1970s Birmingham, Alabama, the film follows Woodlawn High School player Tony Nathan and coach Tandy Gerelds. A spiritual revival helps the divided team find common ground as Nathan emerges as a standout running back. The story is inspired by real people, with the usual compression and polish of a sports drama.
11. North Dallas Forty (1979)
- Starring: Nick Nolte, Charles Durning, Mac Davis
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (6,516 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 70% (2,500+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 85% (27 reviews)
Nick Nolte plays aging receiver Phil Elliott, who relies on painkillers to keep his battered body on the field and resists the control of the men running his team. Adapted from former NFL player Peter Gent's novel, the film treats professional football as a business that happens to involve human collisions. The satire has not exactly aged into fantasy.
10. Heaven Can Wait (1978)
- Starring: Warren Beatty, James Mason, Julie Christie
- IMDb user rating: 6.9/10 (25,941 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 69% (10,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (51 reviews)
Los Angeles Rams quarterback Joe Pendleton is mistakenly taken to the afterlife before his time. With his original body no longer available, he returns in the body of wealthy industrialist Leo Farnsworth and tries to resume both his football career and his life. Warren Beatty makes the supernatural bookkeeping look surprisingly charming.
9. The Longest Yard (1974)
- Starring: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lauter
- IMDb user rating: 7.1/10 (23,492 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 75% (50,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 74% (39 reviews)
Former pro quarterback Paul Crewe lands in prison, where the warden orders him to assemble an inmate team for a game against the guards. The warden also expects Crewe to make sure the inmates lose. Burt Reynolds gives the setup a hard, cynical edge that the 2005 remake softens considerably.
8. Greater (2016)
- Starring: Neal McDonough, Leslie Easterbrook, Christopher Severio
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (10,230 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 85% (2,500+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 75% (16 reviews)
The film tells the story of Brandon Burlsworth, who arrived at Arkansas as an unheralded walk-on and worked his way into an NFL draft pick. The story ends with a devastating turn: Burlsworth died in a car crash on April 28, 1999, 11 days after the Indianapolis Colts selected him in the third round.
7. The Blind Side (2009)
- Starring: Quinton Aaron, Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw
- IMDb user rating: 7.6/10 (391,243 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 85% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 66% (204 reviews)
Adapted from Michael Lewis's 2006 book, the film presents a dramatized version of Michael Oher's youth and his relationship with Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy before his college and NFL career. Oher later disputed central parts of that portrayal. The 2004 legal arrangement was a conservatorship—not an adoption—and a Tennessee judge ended it in 2023.
6. Jerry Maguire (1996)
- Starring: Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., Renée Zellweger
- IMDb user rating: 7.3/10 (315,628 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 79% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 86% (154 reviews)
Sports agent Jerry Maguire writes a late-night mission statement calling for fewer clients and more personal attention. His bosses respond by firing him, leaving Jerry with one client, Arizona Cardinals receiver Rod Tidwell, and one colleague, Dorothy Boyd. Saving his career soon gets tangled up with learning how to maintain an actual relationship.
5. Friday Night Lights (2004)
- Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Jay Hernandez, Derek Luke
- IMDb user rating: 7.2/10 (71,351 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 85% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 82% (171 reviews)
Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, the film dramatizes the 1988 season of the Permian High School Panthers in Odessa, Texas. An injury to star running back Boobie Miles shakes a team carrying the expectations of a football-obsessed community. The games matter, but the pressure surrounding them is the real story.
4. Rudy (1993)
- Starring: Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (75,519 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 90% (100,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 80% (49 reviews)
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger wants to play football for Notre Dame, despite long odds involving his grades, finances, and size. He works his way from junior college into Notre Dame and eventually onto the practice squad, refusing to treat "no" as useful information. The movie takes liberties with the real story, but its emotional machinery remains extremely effective.
3. Remember the Titans (2000)
- Starring: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris
- IMDb user rating: 7.8/10 (253,342 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 93% (250,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 72% (138 reviews)
The film dramatizes the 1971 T.C. Williams High School team formed as Alexandria, Virginia, consolidated its high school students during desegregation. Coaches Herman Boone and Bill Yoast lead a newly combined roster that goes on to win the state championship. Many scenes and conflicts were fictionalized, but the championship season and the community's struggle with integration were real.
2. The Freshman (1925)
- Starring: Harold Lloyd, Jobyna Ralston, Brooks Benedict
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (6,673 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 78% (250+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 95% (19 reviews)
Harold Lloyd plays Harold Lamb, a painfully eager college freshman convinced that popularity is something he can engineer. His attempt to join the football team leaves him working as its water boy and tackling dummy, but a chaotic final game gives him one real chance to matter. Nearly a century later, the physical comedy still lands.
1. Horse Feathers (1932)
- Starring: Groucho Marx, Chico Marx, Harpo Marx
- IMDb user rating: 7.5/10 (14,268 votes)
- Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter score: 86% (5,000+ ratings)
- Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (31 reviews)
Groucho Marx plays the new president of Huxley College, whose son urges him to recruit professional players before the big game against rival Darwin. He approaches the wrong men and hires two bootleggers instead. From there, the Marx Brothers apply their usual respect for institutional dignity, meaning none at all.