Round 1 Game 6 - The Fighter vs. Goon

The Fighter (2010)

Sport: Boxing
Director: David O. Russell
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Amy Adams
Available: Rent/Buy on Amazon Prime; 

IMDB Link

Goon (2011)

Sport: Ice Hockey
Director: Michael Dowse
Starring: Seann Michael Scott, Jay Baruchel, Allison Pill

Available: Rent/Buy on Amazon Prime; Netflix

IMDB Link

Summary

This match up is between two movies that came out about two years apart. Both are about fighting, one in the ring, the other on the ice. One a drama, one a comedy. One based on a real person; one based on a caricature of a person.

"The Fighter" is based on the real life story of Micky Ward, the younger of two half-brothers. It's a movie within a movie as it shows filming of the story of Dicky, the older brother, who was once a promising boxer who knocked down Sugar Ray Leonard (or did he slip). Mark Wahlberg's performance as Micky is only surpassed by Christian Bale's performance as Dicky. It actually took me a little to realize it was Bale. It's a Rocky like story, but with even greater family dysfunction. A large supporting cast representing the many sisters and parents involved. The movie would pull in $129 million and two Oscars, Christian Bale and Melissa Leo (Mom of Dicky and Micky). The boxing scenes were well done, but true boxing fans may be disappointed with a few liberties taken. Irish Micky Ward was not as down and out record-wise and was not as out matched in weight in Mungin fight. And his title was with the World Boxing Union, which few consider the real world title.

"Goon" is another goofy comedy designed for teenagers and those that act like them. It also weaves in interesting family interactions. It's the story of Doug Glatt, played by Seann William Scott, a bouncer going no-where until a wild turn lands him on a minor league hockey team as the enforcer. He learns to play hockey, he falls in love, and his underdog team does great. One of the tag lines for the movie is "Meet Doug, the nicest guy you'll ever fight." A key character in the movie is Ross Rhea, the aging, feared enforcer sent down to the minors. Rhea is played by Liev Schreiber. X-men fans may remember Schreiber as Victor Creed aka Sabretooth (Also the voice of Stormking in My Little Pony - go figure!) . I liked his performance. Goon grossed just under $7million, but would inspire a sequel, "Goon: Last of the Enforcers" (2017). Now, earlier I said this was a caricature of hockey, but in researching, it seems this was based off Douglas Smith's autobiography, a minor league player. Among his various teams were the Johnstown Chiefs. 

Time to vote sports fans. Again,  your vote, your criteria. If you haven't seen either, perhaps vote for the one you'd rather watch.

Vote Here

Round 1 Game 5 - The Longest Yard vs The Damned United

The Longest Yard (1974)

Sport: Football
Director: Robert Aldrich
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Eddie Albert, Ed Lautern
Available: Rent/Buy on Amazon Prime; Netflix

IMDB Link

The Damned United (2009)

Sport: Soccer
Director: Tom Hooper
Starring: Colm Meaney, Henry Goodman, David Roper

Available: Rent/Buy on Amazon Prime; 

IMDB Link

Summary

It's another 1970's versus 2000's combo here. And American Football versus World Football. :)

"The Longest Yard" from 1974 was remade in 2005, but again, I went with the original. It's the story of ex-football player Paul "Wrecking" Crewe (Burt Reynolds) going to prison, where the Warden (Eddie Albert) owns a semi-pro team with a lot of the guards as players. They make a deal of course which results in Crewe leading a team of prisoners against the Warden's team. A great cast here. A number of actual players, notably, Ray Nitschke of the Packers and Mike Henry of the Steelers who would also play Tarzan in three movies. I'd also call out Jim Hampton who played Caretaker, the prisoner team manager and scrounger. I recall naming some of my RPG characters over the years after Caretaker.  I must have watched the TV version of this movie several times growing up. Watching the unedited version, I didn't recall the short scene with domestic violence or some of the racially charged dialogue.  Two other interesting characters I want to mentioned. First, look for a young Bernadette Peters as the Warden's secretary. And second, Michael Conrad as Nate Scarboro, another inmate who acts as the coach. He would go on to be one of my favorite actors as Sergeant Estherhaus from Hill Street Blues. "Let's be careful out there." Fitting for the time.

"The Damned United" is more about a man than a team, more about obsession than a sport. It tells the story of Brian Clough and his stormy forty-four days at helm of Leeds United. The movie is well directed by Tom Hooper (The King's Speech) and leverages great performances by Michael Sheen playing Clough, Colm Meaney as Clough's rival Don Revie, and Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor the assistant and long time friend of Clough. Clough was a former player who's story I wasn't familiar. In contrast to the quiet Taylor, he talked; he talked a lot. So much that I loved how the movie incorporated an actual clip of Muhammad Ali saying Clough talks too much. The story reminded me of Moby Dick, with Clough's obsession in beating Revie in line with Captain Ahab's obsession over the whale.

Time to vote sports fans. Again,  your vote, your criteria. If you haven't seen either, perhaps vote for the one you'd rather watch.

Vote Here