'Rush,' '42,' headlined tepid year in sports flicks
Chris Hemsworth, left, and Daniel Bruhl in a scene from "Rush." Credit: AP
The 2013 year in movies officially grinds to a halt Sunday night with the awarding of the Academy Awards, and none of them will be going to scripted sports flicks.
No surprise there. It was a rather tepid year for movies about sports.
My favorite based-on-truth film was “Rush,’’ about the mid-1970s F1 rivalry between Niki Lauda and James Hunt, which left me with a man-crush on actor Chris Hemsworth and gave me the chance to tell director Ron Howard I was born the day “The Andy Griffith Show’’ premiered.
There also was some mighty good racing action.
By far the biggest moneymaker was “42,” the second-highest-grossing baseball movie ever (not inflation adjusted) – behind only “A League of Their Own.’’
It was an earnest, family-friendly take on Jackie Robinson’s story that many people liked more than I did.
The best overall sports film I saw in 2013: the HBO documentary “The Crash Reel,’’ about snowboarder Kevin Pearce.
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