Top Fifteen

10. Jerry Maguire (1996): Can a movie about an agent be a sports movie? Hey, check out the sports pages. What's more, Cameron Crowe's script is brilliant—moving and real.

11. Bang the Drum Slowly (1973): The film is so powerful that we barely care that Robert De Niro doesn't swing the bat like a major leaguer, even a dying one.

12. The Natural (1984): The movie has a timeless aspect that, sentimentality aside, makes it watchable again and again.

13. The Bad News Bears (1976): The lovable underdogs sponsored by Chico's Bail Bonds.

14. North Dallas Forty (1979): A teammate tells a receiver ( Nick Nolte) that he has too much respect for his body to take drugs. The receiver answers, "You'll get past that."

15. Breaking Away (1979): The Bloomington, Indiana, home-boys (Dennis Christopher, Jackie Earle Haley, Dennis Quaid and Daniel Stem) make this biking movie click.