As we head into the holiday season, many aren’t feeling so merry. When times are hard, what do you need? Do we need traditional holiday movies?? Sure but what we need even more is uplifting cinematic fare! Try these to raise your spirits:
The Blind Side: Talk about a rags to riches story! The film is based on the life of Michael
Other, an offensive tackle for the Baltimore Ravens (a pro football team for those that don’t know!). As a young, homeless black man, Other was taken in by Leigh Anne and Sean Tuohy and given a chance at life in a loving, supportive environment. The Tuohy’s are as white and southern as they come. This could have been a stereotypical film that makes you wince but instead it is a heartfelt, inspirational film with an Oscar winning performance by Sandra Bullock (Leigh Anne).Need more sport films to inspire you? Try Hoosiers (basketball and my all-time favorite for best sports film ever!), Cinderella Man (boxing), Rudy (football), Miracle (hockey) or The Rookie (baseball).
Places in the Heart: We like her! We really, really like her! I bet Sally Fields rues the day she made that statement to the world when accepting her Best
Actress Oscar for this film. (Her first Best Actress Oscar was for Norma Rae, another uplifting performance.) But I DO like her in this heartbreaking role of a woman faced with the death of her husband and the hardship of keeping her cotton farm and life together. Her courage and tenacity is inspirational as she looks tough times in the face and stares it down; a lesson for our times. (Of course, with Danny Glover, Ed Harris and John Malkovich as her supporting cast....she had a lot of acting talent to support her). You go, Sister Bertrille!Need more inspiration by strong women? Try Fried Green Tomatoes (which includes one of my favorite quotable scenes: “Face it girls, I am older and have more insurance!” and if you don’t know what that means…see the film! Tawanda!).
Apollo 13: The amazing thing about this film is that I know how it ends, and yet I waited in
anticipation at the end of the film to learn the fate of the astronauts. I credit this anticipation to the film making skills of Ron Howard. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon play the stranded Apollo astronauts who have us pulling for them every step of the way! This type of courage and ingenuity shows America at its best!It’s a Wonderful Life: Egads, you say! What is this Christmas film doing in an uplifting movie list? Believe me….I didn’t want to include it but in my research one film just kept coming up as
the most inspirational and uplifting (plus, I have a secret thing for Jimmy Stewart…shhhh…don’t tell!). Could there possibly be someone who hasn’t seen this film? After a turn of events, George Bailey (my boy, Jimmy) decides that his family would be better off without him. An intruding angel gives him the grim truth of life for his family and friends in a George-less world. (I mean really, without George in her life, his wife would have ended up a librarian! How tragic is that…hey wait! Maybe this film isn’t as uplifting as I thought!) Regardless, the feeling of good will and community that ends the film makes up for any slights on my profession.So keep your chins up out there! Inspiration can come from movies, books and more often from each other. You don’t need to be a celebrity to make someone’s day!
