25 best sports movies, ranked by the dust in your eye

17. Million Dollar Baby (2004)

Directed by Clint Eastwood
Starring Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, and Morgan Freeman

Most sports movies that bring audiences to tears do so through by presenting narratives that are ultimately hopeful in nature. They are largely about resolute heroes who overcome tremendous challenges. And in seeing those heroes triumph, audiences feel a rush of ecstatic emotional release. And then there’s Million Dollar Baby. The winner of four Academy Awards including Best Picture, the film is one of the most prestigious sports movies on this list. And though it is incredibly emotional, the sense of emotional release it triggers is one of profound sadness.

In it, Maggie Fitzgerald (Swank) makes a play to escape her low-income life by becoming a professional boxer. To do this, she approaches grizzled veteran trainer Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) for guidance. Initially, Dunn declines as he views Fitzgerald’s gender and age as insurmountable problems. Eventually, though, her indefatigable drive and undeniable talent win him over. After racking up a string of impressive wins, Maggie earns a shot at the WBA welterweight title and a million-dollar purse. But in a stunning subversion of boxing movie tradition, the aspiring young pugilist not only loses her big fight but becomes a quadriplegic due to a freak accident.

It’s at that point that Million Dollar Baby ceases being a standard sports movie and becomes something else, a meditation on guilt, family, and morality. Because of the film’s brutally bleak and controversial ending, the film is not a cheer-inducing crowd-pleaser. On the contrary, the kind of movie that leaves you so emotionally devastated that all you can really do is cry.