Oher and Other Great Fake Sports Stories

Hollywood strikes again, and it does so, as it often does, in spectacular fashion. Sport has always been a favorite metaphor for directors and screenwriters around the world: a direct, practical and exciting way to reach out to the public. On screen, sport tells a piece of who we are, who we would like to be, or who we never will be, and in each of these narrative threads lies an ancient charm. Examples are countless: from Robert De Niro’s Jake LaMotta to Mickey Rourke’s Randy Robinson, from Bend It Like Beckham to Margot Robbie’s Tony Harding, from a biopic about King Richard, the controversial father of the Williams sisters, to movies. which sought to convey the spirit and majesty of Muhammad Ali, both signed by Will Smith. Cinematography draws heavily on our favorite pastime for inspiration, and in the process of remaking a success story, it almost never forgoes some tear-jerker excesses for stage purposes to turn a found rough stone into a diamond, money.