Power Rankings: The Films of Robert Redford

Ever since I saw Quiz Show, my first Robert Redford movie, I have been a fan. Every one of the films that he so carefully chooses to direct has a sense of urgency and painstaking attention to detail. He also lets his actors do their thing. His movies are more realistic than most directors, almost in a Norman Jewison type of way (another one of my favorites). He is not a showy director. He has no real recognizable style or look, which makes his consistent greatness even more astonishing. Within the last few weeks, I have finally completed his directorial filmography, so I thought it would be a good time to rank/rate his films. Plus, today is his birthday. Check it out!

9. The Milagro Beanfield War (1988) **1/2

This is the only one of his films that doesn’t completely work. It is lighter than it should have been. It is essentially a Promised Land-type movie, but without the underlying serious tone throughout the movie. The technical aspects are great, as is the inspirational final act, but overall it falls just short. His sophomore slump did not last long, though. He clearly learned from this misstep, seeing how his peak came with his next three films.

8. The Legend of Bagger Vance (2000) ***

This is exactly the type of movie that makes Redford as great as he is. Under lesser hands, this would have been a corny and sappy sports movie. With the beauty of his direction and the subtlety of the performances, the film becomes a Field of Dreams-level fantasy films with a great emotional impact. It is a beautiful little movie that got an unfair poor reception when it came out.

7. The Company You Keep (2013) ***

This is a totally solid, richly detailed journalism thriller. There are a few points where the film loses its way, but that is the case in every movie of this kind outside of All the President’s Men. It is smart thriller, as well as a very realistic one. The film may not be the deepest or most significant of Redford’s works, but it is an entertaining and intelligent film with one of the most impressive casts assembled in years.

6. Lions for Lambs (2007) ***

I do not know of a single person who appreciated this movie as much as I do, but I really think this is a brilliant movie. Sure, the film had high expectations, but I never understood why everyone was so disappointed. The overly talky style is all that the film promised, and it delivered some of the deepest conversations I have had the pleasure of experiencing in a movie. Redford clearly saw something in the young Andrew Garfield, making his screen debut with arguably his most memorable performance playing opposite Redford himself. The other two sections are not quite as good, but they have their moments. The film is essentially in real time, which only heightens the urgency. This is tense stuff. It is too bad that no one else saw that.

5. Ordinary People (1980) ***1/2, #5 of 1980

 

Robert Redford’s critical favorite is one of the more interesting Oscar Best Picture winners. It was Redford’s directorial debut. It is also a domestic family drama, not exactly the most Oscar-friendly material. The way the film has gained its reputation is through its expert storytelling. Every one of the characters is completely fleshed-out and authentic. The movie has a deep and impactful final act. There really are not too many movies out there quite like this. It is a case of a talented actor who was clearly paying close attention to his directors and using the best parts of each of them in his mini-masterpiece debut.

4. The Horse Whisperer (1998) ***1/2

This is certainly Redford’s most surprising movie. It is here where I realized that he may be the best working director at pulling greatness out of younger actors. Scarlett Johansson gives her best work ever in this film. The movie is a big, long, gorgeous western of sorts that has a very strong emotional impact as well as eloquent style. It is his most family-friendly movie, and arguably his most widely appealing. Each time I revisit this movie, I just sit there in awe of the landscapes and in the raw beauty and emotional resonance of a film by a director fully in his element.

3. The Conspirator (2011) ***1/2

I get it: there have been countless films made about Lincoln and his death. However, this has got to be one of the most intriguing takes on the period that I have come across. The film is certainly a political movie, but it is also a To Kill a Mockingbird- type courageous courtroom drama. It has a dynamite cast and a razor sharp script. The artistic and technical aspects of the film are as good as any Redford has done. The film plays like a thriller, but it actually has a very human drama at its core. It is a blistering experience and probably the most haunting film of Redford’s canon.

2. Quiz Show (1994) ****, #5 of 1994

This is undoubtedly the best script that Redford has had the pleasure of working with. The film is one of those films in the category of The Truman Show where it has a plot clearly made for the movies, but underneath it all there is a message about celebrity and the deception of the entertainment fields. The movie flies by in one of the most low-key thrillers in the past couple decades. It is probably Redford’s most impressive direction and best film, but there is one movie that holds a special place in my heart…

1. A River Runs Through It (1992) ****, #2 of 1992, #79 on Top 100

This is Robert Redford’s masterwork. It is one of the most nostalgic movies ever made. It is one of the most beautiful and unique movies made about teenagers. It has a few shots that will be forever engrained in my head. The score is fantastic. The performances are subtle and true. The direction is the most assured and professional that Redford ever accomplished. There is nothing like this movie anywhere. It is inspiring, sensitive, richly detailed, and always deep and cautiously devastating. It is one of the best films of the 90s and the main reason why Redford is one of my favorite directors.

 

Thoughts? Comments? Anyone else a big fan of his directions? Is he the best actor-turned-director? Who else is excited for his next film, A Walk in the Woods, written by Michael Arndt? Sounds like a winner to me! Hit me up in the comments.

Power Rankings: Top 10 Cheers (Inspiring Movies)

---Recently, Zach told me that he had revamped his all time top 10 list, which got me thinking about doing the same. Mine is always fluctuating, so I came up with the idea of doing a series of power rankings of AFI categories (as well as some of my own) leading up to the unveiling of my all time list. These lists will include Cheers (inspiring), Peers (on-screen couples), Fears (scariest), Tears (emotional), Jeers (worst), Thrills, Laughs, and finally my top 10 films of all time. Note: My lists are not going to be even a fraction as objective as AFI’s lists. They are solely my personal preferences and experiences. Enjoy!---

The first of my top 10 lists is the AFI-style list of cheers, the most inspiring movie experiences. I have not planned all of these lists out yet, so hopefully they do not all equate to knee-jerk reactions and skew toward the past few years. I will give a bit more weight to my favorite movies as opposed to ones that are more manipulatively inspirational (for example: Shane, while not really as inspiring of an experience, will receive slightly more merit than something like The Pursuit of Happyness). AFI’s list was topped by It’s a Wonderful Life, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Schindler’s List. Will those crack my top 10? Check out below. Note: There may be mild spoilers within the clips if you aren’t familiar with the stories.

Blind spots (notable unseen films): Being There (1979), The Diary of Anne Frank (1959), Miracle on 34^th Street (1947), The Miracle Worker (1962), Norma Rae (1979)

Others receiving votes: Apollo 13 (1995), The Fighter (2010), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Shane (1953), Titanic (1997)

10. The Ten Commandments (Cecil B. De Mille, 1956)

This may have lost a bit of its vigor over the years, but you will be hard-pressed to find something as inspiring as the story of Moses freeing his people. I still catch myself watching chunks of this movie every Easter when ABC does its annual broadcast of it.

9. Dead Poets Society (Peter Weir, 1989)

This is the most obvious choice of inspirational sentiment on this list. Just watching this clip brought back all of those feelings I had when I first watched the movie. Of all the inspiring teacher movies, this is my overwhelming favorite. Carpe diem: seize the day. 

8. A Beautiful Mind (Ron Howard, 2001)

This movie will always hold a special place in my heart, standing as the first movie to really open my eyes to seeing film as something more than just entertainment. This film is an inspiring portrait of overcoming great obstacles and achieving greatness despite them.

7. 12 Angry Men (Sidney Lumet, 1957)

There has never been a better portrait of standing up for what is right than in this movie. Conformity is easy, but holding your ground against it is much more difficult.

6. Schindler’s List (Steven Spielberg, 1993)

The power of the human spirit is on display in Steven Spielberg’s masterpiece. Even when he has saved the lives of over 1000 people, he still proclaims “I could have done more.” Chills. If this were #1 on anyone’s list, I would not argue for a second. 

5. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (Frank Capra, 1939)

This is another film about standing up against something much greater and more powerful than one person. I find it hard to believe that someone would not get caught up in it. This is 1930s cinema at its finest and most timeless.

4. The Truman Show (Peter Weir, 1998)

This is not exactly a typical choice, but there are few things more stirring than the final scenes of this movie. Even when it is much simpler to stay put, change is a good thing. Breaking norms and finding meaning in life is one of the most difficult things anyone can do.

3. Rocky (John G. Avildsen, 1976)

There has never been an underdog story quite like the Rocky saga. Just hearing the iconic score makes me want to get up and work out. If you are not moved by Rocky, then you do not deserve to be reading this.

2. The Shawshank Redemption (Frank Darabont, 1994)

It would be difficult to argue with anyone who calls this the most inspirational movie. It is one of the most heartwarming and rousing film conclusions that I have ever seen. “Get busy living or get busy dying.” That’s about as good as it gets.

1. Hoosiers (David Anspaugh, 1986)

Now this is the greatest underdog sports movie of all time. It is not obvious or overblown. It is grounded and just poetically-written. Watching tiny Hickory High battle its way to the top will inspire any audience. “My team is on the floor.”…“We’re gonna run the picket fence at ‘em!”…“I’ll make it.” It is so loaded with classic quotes and scenes that it almost seems corny now. This movie started it all. It is the gold standard for sports films and inspirational movies.

I know I had to exclude a bunch of favorites. I was tempted to just load this list with sports movies, but I tried to mix it up. Thoughts? Comments? Your most inspirational movies? Let me know below.

Coming up soon: Top 10 Peers, my favorite on-screen pairs!

Power Rankings: Sports Movies (Other than the Big 3 and Boxing)

The majority of the most popular sports movies of all time are about basketball, football, baseball, or boxing. So, after recently watching a pretty good track and field movie called Prefontaine, I thought a list of the best sports movies not in the Big 4 would be interesting. For the sake of this list, it is a sport if it is played or shown highlights of on ESPN. So, the list of qualifying sports includes but is not limited to hockey, soccer, wrestling (pro, MMA, or Greco-Roman), rugby, tennis, volleyball, cheerleading, Olympic sports, poker, bowling, rodeo, billiards, golf, racing (horse or auto), chess, and even the Spelling Bee. That is still a lot of movies, but it narrows it down by about half. Without further ado, here is the list…

Notable movies I have not seen: Bend It Like Beckham, Endless Summer, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Miracle, National Velvet, Searching for Bobby Fischer

Others receiving votes: Redbelt, Seabiscuit, Slapshot

10. Spellbound (Spelling Bee; 2003)

This movie, directed by indie filmmaker Jeffrey Blitz, is one of the most unique and surprising documentaries I have ever come across. It follows 8 kids on their path to the 1999 National Spelling Bee. I have no idea how Blitz came to choose the kids that he did, but his selection turned out to be more interesting than anyone could have expected. In that way, it is not too far removed from Hoop Dreams in the director’s vision. He chose them from several different walks of life, and their stress-filled journey through the regional rounds to the nationals is intriguing and at times breathtaking to watch. It is an amazing story about the most unlikely of topics, and it as suspenseful and unpredictable as any great sports film.

9. Invictus (Rubgy; 2009)

This Clint Eastwood crowd-pleaser is about South Africa’s unlikely run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup on their home turf. The movie is does a brilliant job of getting into the matches, showing the game from the ground level and really authentically letting the audience know what it is like on the field when everything is on the line. The movie is about much more than just rugby too. President Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) was using the underdog rugby team as a way of uniting his nation, which was torn apart by apartheid. It is a brilliant, inspiring, and somehow quite underrated and underseen movie.

8. Offside (Soccer; 2007)

This Iranian movie from director Jafar Panahi is one of the most original and intense sports movies of the last 10 years. It is about a group of women who disguise themselves as men in attempt to gain access to a World Cup qualifier game in 2006. In Iran, women are not allowed to attend men’s sporting events, so this was a very serious issue. The women are found and held outside of the stadium during the game. It takes place in slightly quicker than real time, making each and every moment in it even more essential and breathtaking. You may not see a single shot of the game in the movie, but you feel like you lived it. It is an incredible movie.

7. Rounders (Poker; 1998)

Director John Dahl fashioned what has become the quintessential movie about poker. The movie is about a reformed former poker player/current law student Mike (Matt Damon) who gets mixed up in high stakes poker games again when his buddy Worm (Edward Norton) gets out of jail and has to pay back huge debts to loan sharks. The movie is the smartest poker movie that I have ever seen, and it basically started the huge craze around Texas Hold ‘Em. There are some scenes that are just instant classics, and as we see Mike make his way to his final opponent and nemesis Teddy KGB (John Malkovich), the audience is one the edge of their seats and glued to the screen like any great underdog story.

6. Breaking Away (Cycling; 1979)

Peter Yates directed his masterful coming-of-age tale about four friends who just graduated high school and are struggling to break out of their small-town life and image. Dave (Dennis Christopher), one of the friends, is an accomplished bicycle racer who idolizes the Italian cycling team. He takes up the Italian culture, poses as an Italian to win over a college girl, and one day wants to race against the Italian team. The four friends, in attempt to feel some sort of accomplishment in their lives and stick it to the rich college kids who look down them, set out to win the Little Indy team cycling race. There are a few scenes in this that will go down among the greatest in any sports movie. It is a classic, widely-appealing, and inspirational movie that everyone should see.

5. Dogtown and Z-Boys (Skateboarding; 2002)

Stacy Peralta, one of the subjects in the film, directs this masterpiece of a sports documentary. The movie accounts the skateboarding culture in the 1970s. In Dogtown (around Santa Monica, California), the Zephyr skating team revolutionized the sport. Previously, it was just a way for the local surfers to ride when not in the water, but this group of local skaters had a vision of something greater. The movie chronicles the skateboarding heyday in the 70s, to the decline in the 80s, to its triumphant return in the 90s. I am someone who could not care less about skateboarding, but this movie (later made into a dramatic feature as Lords of Dogtown) is so interesting and involving that I could not help but get caught up in it. It is a capsule that will take you back to that time. These guys are legendary in the boarding community now, and their story is important and just astonishing to learn about.

4. The Cincinnati Kid (Poker; 1965)

This film by Norman Jewison is a brilliant character study of a man in 1930s New Orleans moving up the poker ranks. Eric Stoner (Steve McQueen), aka The Cincinnati Kid, wants to face “The Man” (Edward G. Robinson), the best stud poker player in the world. As the long-awaited and hyped match approaches, the Kid faces a variety of distractions and offers from gangsters to help him cheat, since his odds of winning are minimal. The final poker game is filled with as many twists and turns as any great sports match. This movie deserves a wider following.

3. Murderball (Paralympics; 2005)

This documentary from directors Henry Alex Rubin and Dana Adam Shapiro is a brutally honest and inspiring movie about a team of quadriplegics who play full-contact rugby games on their way to the 2004 Paralympics in Athens. The movie centers on the rivalry between the American and Canadian teams, a relentless and brutal rivalry that has stemmed hatred between them. We get to know a lot about the team, including their personal lives and their candid feelings about their spinal injuries. These guys have a ton of pride. Their sport is as harsh as any sport in existence, shattering the image of what one can do with those “limitations”. Watching this movie was a tense experience. It does not play like a documentary. It is a sports movie through and through, and the heartbreak and thrill of these games reminds us of the possibilities of sports films when they are treated with the utmost authenticity and feeling.

2. The Hustler (Billiards; 1961)

Robert Rossen directed this masterpiece about “Fast” Eddie Felson (Paul Newman; a character revisited in The Color of Money), a local pool hustler with a world of talent but without the discipline or attitude to be great. In a marathon game against the legend Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason), Felson loses not only the match but his confidence. With the help of his manager (George C. Scott) and his own pride, Felson avoids hitting rock bottom by beginning to play again. His girlfriend threatens to leave, and the grind of playing such high stakes may be more than Felson is willing to pay to regain confidence and meaning in his life. Everything about this movie is just about flawless. There is an inevitable buildup to a rematch with Fats, but it is getting to that point that makes this movie so special. Felson’s quest for redemption is complex and gripping. This is an emotional character study, a compelling sports drama, and one of the best movies ever made.

1. The Wrestler (Wrestling; 2008)

Director Darren Aronofsky’s masterpiece centers on Randy “The Ram” Robinson (Mickey Rourke), a pro wrestling sensation about 20 years past his prime. His heart begins to give out, but wrestling is the only thing that The Ram knows. He cannot relate to his estranged daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) or his prospective stripper girlfriend (Marisa Tomei). He begins working at a grocery store on days when he is not wrestling in meaningless bouts for minimal pay. The ring is the only place where The Ram feels like he belongs and he cannot be hurt, though. This movie documents his struggle to find meaning in life and repair his broken relationships. The wrestling scenes are brutal and difficult to watch. If anyone had any doubt about whether pro wrestling was a sport of just a glorified performing art, that debate is settled in this movie. This is a film that will spark the deepest emotions in its audience, especially in the final scenes, which are as perfect and devastating as any sports scenes in history. When thinking up this list, there was little doubt what would end up at the top. This movie is one-of-a-kind, and a movie-going experience that I will never forget.

So, I know I must have missed some good ones. What are your favorites? What do you think of this list? Let me know. Also, do not forget to participate in the Oscar Challenge.