The Top 40 Basketball Movies - #12. Champions

 The Top 40 Basketball Movies - #12. Champions

Remake of a 2018 Spanish movie that I did not know existed until right now. Not the best Woody Harrelson movie on this list (better than Semi-Pro) but probably the best Kaitlin Olson, Ernie Hudson (no Basketball Diaries here) or Cheech Marin one. A recently fired basketball coach is ordered community service, not unlike Martin Lawrence's Rebound, but these kids have disabilities. Beyond that premise, it kind of predictably writes itself for the most part, Woody's Marcus eventually bonds with the kids, works out his drunk driving issues, tries to get a better job but eventually decides to stick with his coaching position. Harrelson's performance definitely drives the majority of what I like about this. It could have been a disaster with the wrong cast. Not quite Bad News Bears level, it had slower moments, but always kept my interest. Director Bobby Farrelly is no stranger to comedy, his resume includes things like: Dumb and Dumber, Me, Myself and Irene, There's Something About Mary, Kingpin (also a Woody movie), Shallow Hal, Fever Pitch and many more. There is a line in Tropic Thunder I can't repeat, but I certainly was thinking it when I first heard of this movie. To get the rights the previous director had two demands, that the characters be real life disabled and that they did not change the ending. One of the last ones I watched for this list, I was excited to see it come out on Peacock. Quite helped by its 95 Rotten Tomato Audience score. Kind of wondering if I should factor in Letterboxd for when it's time to do the Baseball list and maybe do a total rotten tomatoes score? 

Movie	Rotten Tom	Rotten Tom Aud	IMDB	Internet Rank	My Rank
12. Champions	59	95	6.7	12	17
13. BASEketball	41	74	6.5	28	2
14. Glory Road	55	81	7.2	14	18
15. Finding Forrester	74	79	7.3	10	22
16. Rebound: The Legend of Earl “The Goat”	50	94	7.6	6	27
17. Inside Moves	50	77	7.0	19	16
18. Hoop Dreams	98	92	8.3	2	35
19. Uncle Drew	61	48	5.7	32	6
20. Final Shot: The Hank Gathers Story	50	99	6.9	11	28
21. The Winning Season	50	55	6.6	26	15
22. Fast Break	50	59	6.1	30	13
23. Believe in Me	60	74	7.0	16	29
24. High Flying Bird	91	50	6.2	20	26
25. "O"	64	58	6.1	22	25
26. Forget Paris	48	56	6.5	29	19
27. Sunset Park	13	83	5.9	31	21
28. Game Day	50	82	5.4	25	30
29. Blue Chips	37	51	6.2	33	23
30. Amateur	60	66	5.9	24	32
31. The Air Up There	21	35	5.5	38	20
32. Space Jam	43	63	6.5	27	31
33. Semi-Pro	22	38	5.8	36	24
34. Heaven Is a Playground	50	84	5.8	21	39
35. Hurricane Season	50	69	6.5	23	38
36. Teen Wolf	42	52	6.1	34	34
37. Boogie	42	57	5.2	35	36
38. Rebound	14	38	5.1	40	33
39. Slam Dunk Ernest	50	31	4.5	37	37
40. Eddie	17	36	5.2	39	40