The London best: sporting films
1. The improbable Olympians
Loosely based on real events, Cool Runnings (1993) is a joyful comedy about four Jamaicans who, despite having never seen snow, decide to form the country’s first Olympic bobsleigh team.
2. The inspirational coach
Also inspired by a true story — it’s a sports thing — Coach Carter (2005) sees Samuel L Jackson benching the entire basketball team when they get poor academic scores. Dead Poets Society for athletes.
3. The dark and brooding one
Scorsese’s masterpiece, Raging Bull (1980), sees Robert De Niro beaten into bloody monochrome pulp in this biopic of the self-destructive boxing champ, Jake LaMotta.
4. The go-fast girls
This year’s sports hit Fast Girls (2012) is about two British sprinters who enter a World Championship event. Shockingly, it’s not particularly based on anything, except awesome girls who run fast.
5. The slapstick sports flick
Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller throw balls and crude humour back and forth in slapstick cult comedy Dodgeball (2004). Cycling legend Lance Armstrong cameos.