At The Movies
By Val Porter

I almost hate to admit it, but I love a good chick flick. The kind that no good wife or girlfriend would force her man to sit through. The kind of movie that you go to with your best girlfriend and cry and she doesn't roll her eyes at you.

But, I do love a good sports movie too. Rarely could you confuse one type of movie for the other, but it happens.

Take Kevin Costner's "For Love Of The Game". A co-worker, who shall remain nameless, claims it's a sports movie. I argue that it's a chick flick. Costner plays 40 year old pitcher Billy Chapel, who seemingly has finally found something to love other than baseball. That would be Jane Aubrey, played by Kelly Preston. The movie shows Chapel pitching what might be the last game of his career, a perfect game, interspersed with romantic scenes with girlfriend Jane.

That's where the problem is. No real sports movie has romance in it! Many sports movies highlight the romance of the game.

Take another Costner movie, "Field Of Dreams." I think it's all about the romance of baseball, the pure love of the game itself. That type of romance fits in a sports movie, not the sappy kind with candles and sweet kisses and longing looks and soft-focus. That makes it a chick flick!

Let's look at some other sports movies. There are some that are clearly NOT chick flicks. The "Rocky" movies, "The Longest Yard," "Bad News Bears," "Eight Men Out," and "Slap Shot." All are clearly NOT chick flicks, but I've seen them all and love every one. They are comedies, dramas, and movies about triumph. No romance.

But there are movies that blur the line. Take Jerry Maguire, considered by many to be one of the best sports movies of all time. But "You complete me" and "You had me at hello" really launch it towards chick flick status. So, is it a sports movie disguised as a chick flick, or a chick flick disguised as a sports movie?

Either way, it's attractive to both genders, which results in more money at the box office. Exactly what the studios are looking for.

So how do you know which category your favorite movie falls into? Maybe it's determined by who cries. Quite a few men I know got tears in their eyes watching "Miracle." I've blubbered through "Brian's Song" and I'm guessing it's tough for any man with a heart to get through it without getting choked up.

But one movie that made a lifelong impression on me was "Something For Joey." It's the story of Penn State's John Cappelletti, who won the Heisman in 1973 and dedicated it to his brother Joey, who was battling leukemia. I remember being a kid and watching it on TV in our living room and sobbing uncontrollably.

In the end, I guess it doesn't matter how you classify it. If it moves you to tears, I guess it's just a great movie.