Fictional athletes that would make great real life Sports Stars
People love to watch strong characters in movies. They also love sports. So what better way to cater to both these demands than to produce sports movies? They are full of great characters and they are about sports so it is
no wonder that this genre of cinema goes down really well at the box office. It seems movie goers can really connect with the slightly cheesy, over the top, fictional sports star because they know they are watching a movie and they love rooting for the protagonist.
So if we take a look at modern cinema, who would be some of the candidates for best fictional athlete?
Over the years there have been a huge number of sports films made; some examples include Any Given Sunday, The Replacements, Ali, The Longest Yard, Happy Gilmore, Talladega Nights, The Wrestler, Jerry Maguire, Just Wright,
Rocky and many more. The list of all the sports films ever made would probably take 10 pages or more to write out. The interesting thing about sports films is the fact that people love to root for the main character. The formula seems to be simple; a down
and out character or an underdog suddenly gets a big sports break and has to overcome some big problem, loses his girl, wins back his girl, makes the big play, wins the final game and lives happily ever after. Of course this is a massive generalisation about
all the sports films ever made but people like to watch them because they want to support the main character.
Over time some very good characters from sports films have graced our screens. A recent one comes to us from the film Talladega Nights: The Legend of Ricky Bobby. The main character of the film is the extremely talented Nascar
driver Ricky Bobby. This comedic character is played by Will Ferrell and the audience gets to see the humorous side of racing cars for a living in America. Another great character was Maggie Fitzgerald from Clint Eastwood’s epic boxing film, Million Dollar
Baby. The character was such a strong one that boxing fans started to yearn for a dominant, down to earth hard hitting boxer like Maggie. Maybe the sport needs a likeable female fighter like the heroine of this film to light the world of female boxers on fire.
Another great character from the world of boxing films was Rocky Balboa. The character, played by Sylvester Stallone, was so strong and likeable that six films in total were made about his life. Fans flocked to see the latest chapter unfold in this interesting
boxer’s life and he would have made a great real life boxer.
Over the years there have been countless American football films made. There were some very memorable ones but some of the ones that stand out were Any Given Sunday, Varsity Blues, The Replacements, and Jerry Maguire. The
character of Rod Tidwell from Jerry Maguire had to be one of the best fictional football players ever to have been thought up. He seemed to personify superstardom in the sport of football and was such an energetic, arrogant and likeable character that he stole
most of the scenes he was in. Staying with football characters, the character of Willie Bearmen showed us what Jamie Foxx could do with a football film and he made that film about him with his sensational portrayal of a quarterback.
A lot of films about sports try to tap into the feel good factor and appeal to people’s emotions. One film that really takes us deep into the world of professional wrestling was The Wrestler. The main character of the film
was played by the brilliant Mickey Rourke and his portrayal of an over the hill wrestler named Robin ‘The Ram’ Ramzinski was very accurate and moving according to many former wrestlers and insiders from the sport of professional wrestling. There are many more
sports that have been the subject of movies and baseball is a big one, as is basketball and they all feature some very good fictional athletes.
At the end of the day, there can never be simply one fictional sports character that everyone will agree on as being the best. It is the same as sports teams; no two sports fans can agree on which is the best team out there
or who the best player is. Hollywood will continue to make some very good sports films and we will be spoilt with great fictional athletes that will grace our screens and entertain us.
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