Two “feel good sports movies” I unexpectedly had the pleasure of watching in the past week share Nelson Mandela’s belief that “There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.” Arthur the King (in theaters) and The Beautiful Game (Netflix) both are family worthy, novelty sports setting, motivational films that share the same message: winning is not a finish line or gold medal, it is caring about others. Without any previews or knowing the backstory, and knowing the ending would be positive, I was immersed in pure joy throughout both movies. And cannot wait to watch both again.
Arthur the King is based on the true story of an adventure racing team that meets a dog during a world championship race. The stray dog stays with the team through their five-day race through mountains and jungle, keeping them alive at certain points. The bond is so strong the team will not leave Arthur behind during the last stretch of the race. There is nothing complex or different in the storyline – but just a great 107 minutes of humans and dog finding what is needed to get to that finish line – and find the importance of life. And the actors, including Mark Wahlberg and Simu Liu (yay), all do an excellent job making the characters real…plus I loved Bear Grylls ever since I watched these adventure races back in the day so to have him be himself as sports commentator was a sweet surprise in an already sweet movie. And frankly, I admire the risks the team take when going off the intended trail- just like in life. Potential Triggers: entirely clean movie for kids of any age. Tell younger kids the dog lives so they do not get scared at the very end when the veterinarian says to put him down.
The Beautiful Game is inspired by real stories from participants in the Homeless World Cup. What is the Homeless World Cup? It is an annual tournament where countries compete in a style of street futbol (soccer). All players are/were homeless and can only play once. The film focuses on a team from England- with a last minute teammate who wants nothing to do with any of them. But it also profiles the team from South Africa who were favorites and the team from Japan who were in the tournament for first time. Focus is also on one of the USA members who is female and a “Dreamer”. We never get enough screen time with any of them which matters because we easily care about all of them. It is a fast-paced story that is full of happy humorous moments- especially with the Japanese team that is mostly older men but coached by a young female. Like England’s coach says, everyone has a story…but I don’t want to give away too much. The bonds between all the teams are precious as is the cultural aspects. You can’t help but smile with so many of the characters and want everyone to win. Bill Nighy and Valeria Golino (from Rain Man) are great in their roles, but it is the rest of the cast that are so endearing. Many of the nonspeaking cast were former players from the Homeless World Cup. And yes, what a beautiful game it is. Potential Triggers/Warnings: family appropriate movie but has one inappropriate sexual line that young kids may not understand (They call it out as inappropriate in the movie). Two characters do not have custody of their kids. One character (one of the most sincere) is former heroine addict that needs drugs to stay lucid.
Bottom line: simple can be beautiful and both are must see movies.
Intrepid Oaks 