Top 5 Inspirational Movies - Weekly Wednesday Inspiration #7

-by Matt Leedham

Welcome back! This is the fourth and final installation of the Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies. There are many more than 5 inspirational movies, so we’ve divided them into three four categories:

1. Sports
2. Military
3. Life
4. BONUS!

We covered Inspirational Sports, Military and “Life” movies already over the last three weeks. Below, you’ll find the BONUS LIST of the Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies that didn’t make the other three lists. Did your favorite movie make it this time?

Top 5 Most Inspirational Movies – BONUS EDITION:

#1: Apollo 13 – This all too real plot details the story of three astronauts whose safe return home is looking less and less likely. After successfully landing on the moon, America seems to have little interest in “routine” space flights. But an explosion on board which necessitates a nearly impossible fix becomes their reality. America quickly pays attention after hearing those famous words from the space, “Houston, we have a problem.”

#2: Erin Brockovich – Based on true events, we follow the life of the down-and-out Erin Brockovich who is desperate to find a job. After a failed lawsuit related to a car accident, she convinces her lawyer to hire her on as legal assistant. No one takes her seriously until she finds herself doing routine research and discovers something big. Her tough questions and compassion for the victims eventually leads to the biggest class action lawsuit in American history.

#3: Jerry Maguire – After much success as a greedy sports agent, Jerry Maguire faces inner conflict with the lifestyle he chose and doing the right thing. After expressing his epiphany, he is fired and left with just one client who he begs to stay with him. Fighting and scratching for even a little success, Jerry almost loses his girl and his only client.

#4: Field of Dreams – “If you build it, he will come.” I don’t know about you, but if I heard that voice in my head, I wouldn’t have built a baseball field on my farm. But that’s what Ray Kinsella (played by Kevin Costner) does. And who appears? Shoeless Joe Jackson and the 7 other Black Sox of 1919. These 8 players were banned from baseball after throwing the World Series.

#5: To Kill a Mockingbird – Gregory Peck stars in this 1962 film based on Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize winning book from two years earlier. Peck plays Atticus Finch, a lawyer in a racially divided town in Alabama in the 1930’s, who has chosen to represent a young black man who is accused of raping a white woman. Tensions flare, but the principled lawyer takes a stand against intolerance in this inspiring film.

Check out this great clip from Apollo 13. Failure is NOT an option!

Thanks for reading about our top 26 Inspirational Movies. We hope you have an opportunity to be inspired by them in the near future!