15 Best Performances in Sports Movies

With the recent commercial and critical success of movies like The Fighter and The Blind Side, and the upcoming release of Moneyball, featuring Oscar nominees Brad Pitt and Philip Seymour Hoffman, sports movies don't seem to be going anywhere any time soon.

On a related note, here are the top 15 individual acting performances in sports movies, as I see them. Please discuss the rankings or let me know if you think I missed somebody, as a list like this is purely subjective.

And no—nobody from Space Jam made the list.

15. Cuba Gooding Jr., "Jerry Maguire"

While Jerry Maguire is often remembered for the sappy lines shared between Tom Cruise and Renee Zellweger, it was Gooding's portrayal of wide receiver Rod Tidwell that gave depth to the actual sports agent/athlete dynamic of the film.

Even more entertaining could be Cuba's over-the-top Academy Award acceptance speech after winning for Best Supporting Actor.

14. Al Pacino, "Any Given Sunday"

If not for this breathtaking locker room speech, Al Pacino's turn as the troubled head coach in Any Given Sunday might not have made the list.

I'll let him say the rest.

13. Sean Astin, "Rudy"

Could any diminutive actor have succeeded in this role?

Probably, but that doesn't change the fact that Astin did succeed as the little guy who strikes a blow for the non-athlete in all of us.

12. Paul Newman, "The Hustler" and "The Color of Money"

Paul Newman definitely took his time to reprise his Oscar-nominated role of Fast Eddie Nelson in 1961's The Hustler.

That is to say, he waited 25 years to play Nelson again in Martin Scorsese's The Color of Money in 1986.

It is safe to assume this was worth the wait, as Newman was rewarded with the Academy Award for Best Actor.

11. Paul Giamatti, "Cinderella Man"

Sure, Russell Crowe carried Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind, but he was outshone by Paul Giamatti in Cinderella Man.

Giamatti's Joe Gould earned him the only major acting nomination in a cast that included Crowe and Renee Zellweger.

10. Robert Redford, "The Natural"

The Natural is one of a bevy of classic sports films to come out in the 1980's. It is often discussed as the greatest baseball film of all time and can be given the same treatment among all sports films as well.

The centerpiece of the film is Roy Hobbs, played by Robert Redford.

9. Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"

I personally did not like The Blind Side.

(I thought they took a genius piece of source material in Lewis' book that traced the evolution of the left tackle position, applied that to the life of Michael Oher and turned it into a sappy family drama, but that's a stance better left for another article.)

But Bullock absolutely deserves the hardware earned for her performance as Leigh Anne Touhy.

8. Kevin Costner, "Field of Dreams"

Man, Kevin Costner loves baseball.

In no movie is that more evident than in Field of Dreams.

The emotional catch scene between Costner's Ray Kinsella and his father has long made it acceptable for grown men to shed a tear.

7. Denzel Washington, "The Hurricane"

The Hurricane probably relies the least on actual sports than any other movie on this list.

This is probably because Washington's depiction of the wrongfully-accused boxer Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was so moving that the makers could make the decision to not rely on action-laden cut scenes as so many subpar sports movies do.

6. Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby"

Here's yet another award winner and another boxing movie.

Swank erased any doubts about her acting talent with this defining performance alongside acting legends Clint Eastwood and Morgan Freeman. Her work in the film made her character's fate all the more tragic.

5. Christian Bale, "The Fighter"

The Fighter was haled as Mark Wahlberg's passion project, netting Melissa Leo an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and Amy Adams a nomination in the same category, but Christian Bale's Dicky Eklund portrayal was clearly the most noteworthy aspect of the film.

For the duration of the movie, you forgot you were watching the guy who plays Batman because Bale was the forever-flawed Dicky Eklund for 115 minutes.

4. Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

Rourke was probably so spot-on as Randy "The Ram" Robinson in The Wrestler because his own life and career so closely resembled that of the character.

Rourke's career had long ago taken a sharp downturn, but his big comeback attempt playing a man attempting to make a big comeback resonated with viewers in a very emotional way.

3. Gene Hackman, "Hoosiers"

This movie will always and forever be the inspiration for underdog teams.

Hackman's performance as Norman Dale, a man trying to make the most of his last coaching chance, sets the table for the rest of the characters to make an impact in a movie that can be applied to every sport and situation, not just basketball.

2. Sylvester Stallone, "Rocky"

This is the movie that started the inspirational underdog genre. This film also beat classics like Network and Taxi Driver to win Academy Award for Best Picture.

Why?

Look no further than Stallone's Rocky Balboa, played perfected by the man who wrote himself a perfect part. Pretty good work if you can find it.

1. Robert De Niro, "Raging Bull"

This performance is at the top of the charts not just for sports movies, but for any film, in my opinion.

Pride, anger, lust, humor, sadness, a lot more anger—De Niro brings every emotion to the table in his performance of Jake LaMotta, the true Raging Bull.

While there is a lot to the film besides the boxing aspect, it remains at its heart the story of a struggling boxer, and De Niro's champion performance lands him at the top of this list.