I don't care if you owned a letterman jacket and won state or can't throw a football to save your life, we all love a classic early 2000s sports movie. There is something about this simple formula that is a solid tearjerker. So let's poke some fun at possibly the best genre in American film and look at some cliches every movie is filled with.
1. "This is bigger than football (or insert other sport)"
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This line is probably said during halftime of the championship game.
2. Sports fix racism!
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Sports totally bring people together, but sorry you did not solve racism in a 1.5-hour film by bringing a few sweaty boys together to run some sprints. A good start, but let's not over simplify reality, people.
4. LOTS of inspirational music
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Most of a sports movie is just music while people are running and getting in better shape.
5. And LOTS of shirtless boys
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I don't hate it, but after the sixth locker room scene that doesn't advance the plot I start to wonder if their motives.
6. The underdog
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Ah, the skinny kid gets the girl and wins the championship game. That is the american dream.
7. A steamy romance
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This isn't the main plot and they often leave out a lot of clarifying questions and key details about the relationship, but nevertheless, the romance is there. These movies dip their toe into rom comm in attempts to be a movie for the whole family (and have at least one actress in the cast).
9. Slow motion running scene
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We get it, most sports require running. Does this advance the plot? Not really.
10. Hard core parent
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Ah the classic parent that is living through their kid. Bonus points if the dad would have gone pro but he tore his ACL or some other sports injury.
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