North Dallas Forty (1979)

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The great, gruff Nick Nolte (48 Hrs., Lorenzo’s Oil) stars in this brutally honest, all-time classic sports film about one man’s rebellion against the bureaucratic, manipulative world of professional football. Based on the semi-autobiographical novel by former Dallas Cowboy Peter Gent, North Dallas Forty depicts Nolte as an aging ballplayer who, through a woman he meets (Dayle Haddon), is drawn away from the masculine, violent world in which he has lived so long. In doing so, he finds himself at odds with the team’s management (G.D. Spradlin, Charles Durning and Steve Forrest). Superbly play-called by director Ted Kotcheff (Billy Two Hats, First Blood), the excitement, humor and drama of North Dallas Forty is heightened by its meticulous attention to the details of a football player’s private and public life and its authenticity on the playing field. Co-starring country music legend Mac Davis with Bo Svenson and Dabney Coleman.