Inspirational Movies

A friend recently asked me to post some of the movies
that I have seen that I have found most inspiring or
life changing. Well, I found this remarkably
difficult. Usually, I watch movies either to purely
be entertained, as a form of escapism, or if I really
want to dig into a well written and well acted drama.
Being inspired is usually just a bonus along the way.
So I found the list hard to create. So I decided
instead to talk about a few different categories of
films I found inspiring, either in whole or in part,
and gave a few examples of each. So, here goes.

Sports films:

These are some of my favourite inspiring sports
stories.

1. The Rookie - a baseball film about a 38 year old
who became a major leaguer. A good wholesome film
about following your dreams. Actually, the best
example in the film (I thought) was the character of
the wife. She was supportive, independent, and firm
but loving. A good movie overall.

2. Rudy - the tale of a kid that has a dream to play
football for Notre Dame, but he's too small, not that
bright, etc. Actually, my nickname on the football
team was Rudy.

3. Remember the Titans - a film about racial
integration in the US in the 70s, and how a team
overcame the challenges of integration to overcome the
struggles of the football field.

Movies with coming of age or redemptive themes:

1. Patch Adams - Robin Williams plays a man that
decides later in life to go through medical school,
but ruffles a lot of feathers by challenging how
doctors should interact with their patients. I think
this movie is outstanding.

2. Scent of a Woman - a movie about a college student
who learns much about life while taking care of a
blind man (Al Pacino) who has learned much about life
by doing the wrong things.

3. With Honours - Joe Pesci plays a homeless person
who changes the lives of 4 bright young Harvard
students. A very good movie

4. Mr Holland's Opus - Richard Dreyfuss plays a
musician who goes from a reluctant teacher to one of
the most respected teachers at his school, and tries
to cope with a deaf son.

5. Gross Anatomy - a lesser known film (and honestly I
haven't seen it in a long time, but I remember it
being quite good) about a brilliant medical student
trying to learn the reality of being a doctor.

Good movies with redemptive aspects or inspiring
moments:

1. Searching for Bobby Fisher - A movie about a young
chess prodigy, deals with things like playing fair,
and determining priorities and what is really
important in life.

2. Forrest Gump - everyone knows about this film. I
don't know how inspiring or life changing it is (the
lessons it teaches are not all that profound) but it
is very well put together, and always an enjoyable
viewing.

3. Regarding Henry - Harrison Ford plays a lawyer who
loses his memory, and discovers that he doesn't like
the life he was leading when he starts to remember who
he was.

4. Braveheart/Gladiator - both top notch films about
war heroes. I'm sure no further comment is needed on
these movies.

5. Pay it Forward - This movie contains a good idea,
the concept of repaying favours by paying them forward
to other people. Very good actors in this film (Kevin
Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joe Osmont) Overall, an
average movie, but with some good ideas.

Comedies that I have drawn inspiration from:

1. The American President - mostly just a fun movie,
but there is a moment near the end where the President
(played by Michael Douglas) has a very good speech
that shows a lot of growth and consideration of
priorities.

2. Bruce Almighty - In amidst all the comedic crap,
you get to watch Bruce (played by Jim Carrey) go from
a very self centred, self serving individual, to one
that becomes a little bit more humble and aware of
others.

3. Groundhog Day - Bill Murray is stuck on Groundhog
Day seemingly for eternity, but finally gets the day
to go the way he wanted it to. It's interesting to
see the approach that finally leads to success, and
how he undergoes the transformation from using the
repetition purely to his own advantage, to getting
discouraged by it, to finally deciding to use it to
serve others.

4. Office Space - I know it seems ridiculous that this
movie is on my list, but I cannot underestimate its
impact on my decision to move on from banking. Take
this quote: "We don't have a lot of time on this
earth, we were not meant to spend it this way. Human
beings were not meant to sit in little cubicles all
day, filling out useless forms and listen to 8
different bosses drone on about mission statements."

Other forms of inspiring movies:

1. Bad guy/girl gets taught a life lesson - these
movies can be inspiring if done right, but they are
rarely done right. There is a satisfaction in
watching the bad guy learn his lesson. Unfortunately,
no good examples of this type come to mind, as this
theme is usually explored in forgettable comedies.

2. Romance - I already get a lot of flak for enjoying
so called 'chick flicks', but there are some good
tales that can teach about perseverance, going after
what you want, what not to do, etc. And since I'm a
hopeless romantic, I'm always pulling for the stupid
guy on the screen to pull it together and get the
girl. I won't even give examples of this for fear of
further ridicule.

3. Realizing what's important in life - I've already
listed a few movies that explore this theme, but a
couple others are "Scrooge/A Christmas Carol" (the
classic Christmas tale), "It's a Wonderful Life" (the
other classic Christmas tale, where he finds out the
impact he's made by seeing what life would have been
like if he hadn't existed, "Mr. Destiny" (where a man
gets to find out what his life would have been like if
he had hit the game winning home run in high school,
and finds himself longing for the life he originally
had, "Family Man" (which is almost the opposite of Mr
Destiny, where he realizes that his life would have
been better if he had married his college sweetheart)

Well, that's about all I have to say about that. Hope
that answered the question somewhat.