Other reviews will describe the grim imagery and relay the kitchen sink stuff, but for me THIS SPORTING LIFE has a visceral reality I can feel, from the cold mud, to the cold hearts. Richard Harris certainly is somewhere near the waterfront with Marlon on this one, and certainly Lindsay Anderson would have seen the film funded on the strength of making a British near equivalent of the 1954 Brando film. Harris is magnificent as the young bull willing to emotionally commit to a squeamish widow and her two kids. He lays his heart on the line for everyone in this film and his character takes leaps of loving willingness and faith only to be flung in the mud constantly. He begs for a family life and begs for a chance to be a husband. The peripheral characters of the football club are well realized and frank talk of desire from all genders, along with astonishing male nudity make this a film that still holds an audience. Only a few times does the story slip (the flophouse scene) but the brutal sexual reality of freezing grimy little houses with freezing cranky little souls is clear to see. A massive sad masterpiece of 1963 Brit film making. Harris a magnetic as the wounded gladiator seriously wanting love and family.
Review of This Sporting Life
