Let’s Talk Inspiring Movies That Make Us Feel All Warm and Fuzzy

The Pitch’s film editor, Abby Olcese, took to Twitter to ask a simple question: What’s an inspirational movie that makes you feel like Coach Taylor from Friday Night Lights is cheering you on?

The replies to Olcese’s original tweet include some brilliant choices.

While the replies are filled with feel-good movies, I have my own suggestions for some films that make me feel like Ted Lasso is my unqualified soccer coach, and I’m not even mad he got that position without any prior experience.

But the thing about inspiring movies is that yes, they can come off cheesy, but each person has a different kind of idea of what inspiring films mean to them. When I first thought about it, I instantly thought about my love of the 2001 movie Hardball starring Keanu Reeves, but I also haven’t seen that movie SINCE 2001 (when I was 9 turning 10), so I cannot in good faith say this for sure. But here is a scene that lives rent-free in my mind.

But, for me personally, there are four movies that I find inspiring that I turn to whenever I need to just have hope in the world once more and let’s explore them.

Ricki and the Flash

Probably the worst Meryl Streep movie, Ricki and the Flash is inspiring to me for one simple line: “Walk on.” The movie follows Ricki (Streep), who has to go back home because her daughter, Julie (Mamie Gummer), tried to take her own life. Throughout the movie, they start to rebuild their relationship with each other and understand how they grew from an estranged mother and daughter to two people who finally understood each other.

Sebastian Stan is there, Kevin Kline has a poodle, and I regularly think about Meryl Streep singing “My Love Will Not Let You Down” by Bruce Springsteen unprompted at her daughter’s wedding. But that line, “Walk on”? It helped me through my grandmother’s illness and her death. It helped remind me to pick myself up and keep going, and as silly as it is, it was this batshit movie that truly carried me through a really rough time.

The Judge

Another movie that is truly wild (Maybe batshit movies are inspiring to me? Who is to say?) but The Judge follows Hank Palmer (Robert Downey Jr.) as he goes home for his mother’s funeral. There, he begins to rebuild his relationship with his father (Robert DuVall) and his brothers (Jeremy Strong and Vincent D’Onofrio) as they deal with the fact that their father maybe killed someone.

What is inspiring to me about The Judge (and I guess also Ricki and the Flash) is that it is a movie that shows how people can change and relationships can mend. Not every relationship needs to be fixed and some are better off left to the sands of time, but sometimes, two people can work through their differences and come together again, and watching that play out for a father and son is sort of inspiring to me in a way that makes me not think about the fact that The Judge is nearly two and half hours long.

I, Tonya

If there’s one thing about me that people in this world know, it’s that I would die in the honor of I, Tonya. A movie that follows the career and subsequent fall of Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding, the movie (I think) does a good job of showing just how hard she worked and the effort she put in and how she, despite all her shortcomings, changed the way we look at figure skating for the better.

While obviously not a happy story, I think I, Tonya is inspiring because it shows a will to overcome—especially with Tonya and her dedication to skating and her own life. She came from an abusive family, went into an abusive marriage, and came out of it all as a figure in the world of ice skating that we still talk about not just because of what happened with Nancy Kerrigan, but also because Tonya’s own struggles brought up a problem in the sport as well.

It wasn’t about talent or who was the best; it was about who had the most money to spend on the thing, and Tonya’s rough exterior and homemade looks were nothing compared to her triple axel, and yes, I love this movie a lot. So what.

We Are Marshall

Yeah yeah yeah, WHATEVER. There is something about hearing “We are MARSHALL” chanted that is inspiring to me, and yeah, this isn’t the best sports movie, but also, who cares? I still cry while watching it, and that, in a lot of ways, is what is important. Following the tragic loss of the Marshall football team in 1970, the movie focuses on Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) rebuilding the football team and their spirit from the ground up.

Did I watch this movie because I was obsessed with LOST and Matthew Fox? Yes. Do I regret it? Absolutely not.

For Love of the Game

I love a good baseball movie, clearly, but For Love of the Game always hit with me in ways that other baseball movies didn’t. Maybe I liked the idea of a pitcher going out and wanting to have a perfect game before his career ended more than younger players? I don’t know, but this movie still makes me feel happiness in a way that no other sports movie has managed.

It stars Kevin Costner as Billy Chapel, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers who is heading to New York to play against the Yankees. Throughout the movie, we see Chapel’s career and his life leading up to this moment, and look, this movie didn’t get great reviews, but I remember watching it as a kid and crying as he was pitching. So like … if it makes you happy, then who cares?

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

I could, in theory, put any Spider-Man movie here and it would work for me. But there is something different about Spider-Verse that just makes anyone who watches it feel like they could put on the mask. There’s a reason that I’ve turned to this movie throughout quarantine. Over and over again, I put it on just to feel that joy at watching Miles Morales understand his powers. I watch it to cry over Peter B. Parker learning that he isn’t alone. Gwen’s strength gives me hope and trust in my own, and I even look to Spider-Ham for the humor in everything despite the world falling to pieces around me.

There is a character for everyone in this movie. We can all find a bit of ourselves in these Spidey characters, and they also give us the hope we need to get through the day. There’s a reason why Spider-Man is one of my all-time favorites, and Spider-Verse gave us a beautiful look into why the character means so much to us all and inspires us to be the hero we need.

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There are so many other movies out there that inspire me and make me feel like I can lead a team (or myself) to victory, and a lot of them star Kevin Costner and have to do with baseball. But at least we have these movies.

What are some of your favorite inspiring movies? Let us know in the comments below!

(image: Marvel Entertainment/Sony Pictures)

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Rachel Leishman

Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at the Mary Sue. She's been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff's biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she's your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell's dog, Brisket. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.

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