Once you’ve gorged yourself on potatoes and pie, and the turkey coma begins setting in, the last thing you want to do is go outside and toss the pigskin around with Junior. Why exercise when there’s plenty of football to just watch on TV? It’s the American way! But if you’re not interested in watching the Cowboys and Giants face off, perhaps a football-themed movie will do instead. “But there’re so many to choose from and my brain is full of stuffing!” you say. Never fear! We’ve done all the grunt work for you. What follows are the nine best movies ever to grace the gridiron that make for perfect Thanksgiving viewing.
The Little Giants (1994)
Let’s start this one off with a movie you can watch with the kids while you wait for them to pass out. The Little Giants pits two Ohio football coaching brothers, Danny (Rick Moranis) and Kevin (Ed O’Neill) O’Shea, against each other in the Pee-Wee league. While the movie features great performances by the pint-size players, NFL greats John Madden, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, and others make guest appearances. And of course, the “annexation of Puerto Rico.”
Rudy (1993)
Rudy is the quintessential family football movie. The film may not have redefined the underdog sports movie, but it definitely highlighted its power. Sean Astin plays the title role of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger who battles himself and the football institution that is the University of Notre Dame to realize his dream of playing for the Fighting Irish. No one is going to confuse the football for the real-life thing, but the movie’s focus is on the unrelenting heart that Rudy possesses in order to live out his dream. Known for a variety of heart-wrenching and inspiring scenes, the movie’s pivotal moment of an entire stadium chanting “Rudy” will get everyone in your house out of the comfiest of chairs and cheering for the legendary on-screen underdog.
The Blind Side
Just in case the kids are still awake, you can plunk them down in front of 2009’s The Blind Side, a dramatic telling of the life of Baltimore Ravens’ lineman, Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron). In a role that won her the Best Actress Oscar, Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, the mother of the family that adopted Oher. While it’s more about football as a metaphor than the actual game itself, The Blind Side is a nice film the whole family can enjoy at Thanksgiving.
Remember the Titans (2000)
When it comes to the football movie, the Denzel Washington-led Remember the Titans, has something for everyone at your Thanksgiving dinner. Washington plays the real-life Coach Herman Boone, who is in charge of not only putting together a winning high school football team but also bringing together a racially divided community. The film perfectly blends action on the football field with an ensemble cast of characters who provide the film with a realistic lightheartedness, including early roles for future TV stars, Donald Faison, Ryan Hurst, Wood Harris, and Hayden Panettiere. While it is Washington’s emotional performance that engrosses the film, the football scenes act as the uniting force of the movie, demonstrating just how impactful the game can be.
Any Given Sunday
Now we can get to the hard-hitting stuff. While Any Given Sunday emphasizes the life of the players, coaches, and managers off the field, it also has some great in-game footage between the lines. It features a fantastic ensemble cast that includes Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and Dennis Quaid, alongside NFL stars Dick Butkus, Johnny Unitas, Lawrence Taylor, and others. If you find yourself coaching pee-wee football, feel free to steal Pacino’s motivational speech.
Brian’s Song
Back to the real-life football stories because they honestly make the best movies. The 1971 TV movie drama Brian’s Song starred James Caan and Billy Dee Williams as Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers. Piccolo was a Wake Forest University football player who was stricken with terminal cancer soon after turning pro with the Chicago Bears. Brian’s Song has long been held as the only movie men are allowed to cry at, and even though that's an archaic way of looking at masculinity, it's not hard to see why this movie is the one to do it. (But men, remember, you can cry at any movie you want!)
The Waterboy
Now that everyone’s done crying, let’s lighten it up again. Adam Sandler has made two football-related movies, but I’m going with his earlier one for this list (Sorry, The Longest Yard). The Waterboy is easily one of Sandler’s most iconic roles (and I wish he’d go back to doing movies like this) as well as being a fun football movie filled with big hits and wild characters. Bobby Boucher’s mama (Kathy Bates) and Coach Klein (Henry Winkler) provide some of the best scenes, but the overall cast makes this a fantastic football comedy flick.
Friday Night Lights (2004)
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Before it became a popular television show starring Kyle Chandler, the unrelenting and passionate Friday Night Lights sheds new light on just how woven football is in the fabric of America. Based on the book of the same name, the movie stars Billy Bob Thornton as Coach Gary Gaines, who is facing both local and state-wide pressure to bring another championship to the Permian High Panthers. While Remember the Titans blends drama and comedy in a way only Disney can, Friday Night Lights’ gritty version of high school football life goes far beyond the ups and downs of the game. Look for a stand-out early acting performance from country star Tim McGraw, who plays a former Panther champion looking to regain his high school glory through his son.
Invincible (2006)
Philadelphia football fans have a passion for their Eagles that goes beyond what happens every Sunday. The team has become an extension of the city and Invincible’s real-life underdog story of Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) making his way from local bartender to football player will brighten up any Thanksgiving dinner. While the movie’s football scenes aren’t going to make you forget the action of the NFL, the heart of the story is the sentiment that it’s never too late to chase your dreams, making it the perfect watch for the holiday season. Wahlberg’s on-screen chemistry with Elizabeth Banks adds a distinct flavor that you don’t often see in the traditional football movie.