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Sports comedies exist smack dab in the center of my Venn diagram of favorite hobbies: sports and movies.
Only snobs can take umbrage with the sports comedys promise of laughs and hijinks aplenty.
Its a simple genre, but one of the most reliably amusing.
Part of the genres delightfulness stems from its familiarity.
The old guard pulls some tricks resulting in a crisis of faith and/or eligibility issue.
See:Bull Durham,The Longest Yard,Diamantino,Mr.
3000,Blades of Glory,etc.
See:Caddyshack,Slap Shot,Talladega Nights,Semi-Pro,Space Jam,Major League,etc.
And therein lies the ultimate variable that distinguishes a great sports-comedy film from the regularly entertaining.
All-Star Performance: Andy Samberg in7 Days of Hell.
The Person Who Knows What to Say can no longer find the right thing to say.
Until, of course, a different person who knows a different thing to say presses the right button.
They might not always get the big win, but the Lovable Underdog tries anyway.
All-Star Performance:Buster Keaton inCollege.
Would I have ever watched this if I didnt go to film school?
Does it remain one of my favorite sports-comedy performances?
Was learning about this movie worth however much film-school tuition cost?
Jury is definitely out!
Second-Team Performances:Randy Quaid inKingpin,Alan Tudyk inDodgeball,Everyone inCool Runnings.
Its the Rugged Veteran With As Much Wisdom to Impart As Life Lessons to Learn.
This refusal, of course, leads to some pretty sticky (see: hilarious!)
This character traditionally shows up in sports rom-coms or dramedies, requiring at least one scene of capital-A acting.
All-Star Performance:Kevin Costner inBull Durham.
Costner givesDances With Wolveslevel intensity in this baseball comedy, making for a completely satisfying character transformation.
I mean, by the end, my dude is literally wearing a kimono and boning in the kitchen!
The Idiot With a Heart of Gold
My personal favorite of the sports-comedy character archetypes.
The IWAHGs brain can barely comprehend the roots of their own athletic ability, much less any worldly issues.
All-Star Performance:Carloto Carro inDiamantino.
A bonkers story grounded by Carros iconic performance as a slack-jawed footballer with abs of marble.
Second-Team Performances:Kit Harrington in7 Days in Hell,Seann William Scott inGoon,Bill Murray inCaddyshack.
Chuckle-worthy when youre a kid, maybe, but incredibly cringeworthy in hindsight.
Lets just say there are no all-stars here.
Still, the Wildly Prone to Violence plays off the audiences transparent love of carnage and hard hits.
All-Star Performance:Jeff Carlson, Steve Carlson, and David Hanson inSlap Shot.
Theirs are gritty and realistic performances, played so straight you cant help but laugh.
Second-Team Performances:Adam Sandler inThe Waterboy,Jon Favreau inThe Replacements,Liev Schreiber inGoon.
This duality makes the Will Ferrell archetype simultaneously stupider and headier than your average sports comedy character.
All-Star Performance:Will Ferrell inTalladega Nights.
The stupid-smart dichotomy of a Will Ferrell sports-comedy performance is best exemplified inTalladega Nights.
Its a performance possessing elements of all four previously mentioned character archetypes: Its stunningly stupid and sneakily smart.
Second-Team Performances:Will Ferrell inSemi-Pro,Will Ferrell inBlades of Glory.
All these characters love playing golf, they just love hijinks and a good time even more!
All-Star Performance:Rodney Dangerfield inCaddyshack.
Rodney Dangerfields Al Czervik isnt as much a character as he is Rodney Dangerfield with a different name.
His whole narrative arc is roasting the uptight Judge Smails (Ted Knight) and partying.
Second-Team Performances:Adam Sandler inHappy Gilmore,Bruce Bruce inWhos Your Caddy?
Essentially the Lovable Underdog archetype but go literal on the dog part.
All-Star Performance:Air Buddy inAir Bud.
You dont go to Italy and order ramen.
Could have used more than three minutes of Air Bud draining buckets, though.
Second-Team Performances:Ed inEd;Jack inMVP:Most Valuable Primate.
The Actual Athlete
A staple of so many sports comedies: the Actual Athlete.
Thats not to say athletes cant be funny (see: Kareem Abdul-Jabaar inAirplane!
), just rarely when theyre showing up as themselves in the context of their actual profession.
All-Star Performance:Lee Trevino inHappy Gilmore.
When Lee chimes in about Grizzly Adamss beard at the end of an argument between Happy and Shooter?
Laugh-out-loud funny every time.
Second-Team Performances:Charles Barkley inSpace Jam,Lawrence Taylor inThe Waterboy,Lance Armstrong inTour De Pharmacy.
