Movies Like This Sporting Life (1963)

This Sporting Life is a 1963 drama film from Lindsay Anderson with a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Kes and Room at the Top.

Drama

Kes

1970

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

7.4

MagicScore

Room at the Top

1958

An ambitious young accountant schemes to wed a wealthy factory owner's daughter, despite falling in love with a married older woman.

6.9

MagicScore

The Damned United

2009

Taking over Leeds United, Brian Clough's abrasive approach and his clear dislike of the players' dirty style of play make it certain there is going to be friction. Glimpses of his earlier career help explain both his hostility to previous manager Don Revie and how much he is missing right-hand man Peter Taylor.

7.2

MagicScore

When Saturday Comes

1996

Jimmy Muir comes from a typical gritty, northern town where there are only two options: working down the pit or in a factory. But Jimmy has other ideas - he dreams of becoming a professional footballer. Confronted by a bitter and unsupportive father, hard drinking friends and a lifetime of bad habits...has Jimmy the will to achieve his ultimate goal?

5.6

MagicScore

A Kind of Loving

1962

As Vic Brown vacillates between infatuation and disinterest for his co-worker Ingrid Rothwell, she finds out that she is pregnant and Vic has to reconcile how he thought his life would go with what life actually has in store for him.

7.0

MagicScore

Billy Liar

1963

A young Englishman dreams of escaping from his working class family and dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. A number of indiscretions cause him to lie in order to avoid the penalties. His life turns into a mess and he has an opportunity to run away and leave it all behind.

6.8

MagicScore

Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974

2009

Yorkshire, 1974. Fear, mistrust and institutionalised police corruption are running riot. Rookie journalist Eddie Dunford is determined to search for the truth in an increasingly complex maze of lies and deceit surrounding the police investigation into a series of child abductions. When young Clare Kemplay goes missing, Eddie and his colleague, Barry, persuade their editor to let them investigate links with two similar abductions that draw them into a deadly world of secrecy, intimidation, shocking revelations and police brutality.

6.7

MagicScore

Black Jack

1979

When honest young Tolly is forced on the run with ‘Black Jack’, a villainous ruffian, adventure and mishap are never far away. As the two enter a world of body-snatchers, private lunatic asylums, and traveling fairs they find friendship in the most unlikely places.

7.0

MagicScore

Threads

1984

Documentary style account of a nuclear holocaust and its effect on the working class city of Sheffield, England; and the eventual long run effects of nuclear war on civilization.

7.6

MagicScore

#10

Brassed Off

1996

A Yorkshire coal mine is threatened with closure and the only hope is for the men to enter their Grimley Colliery Brass Band into a national competition. They believe they have no hope until Gloria appears carrying her Flugelhorn. At first mocked for being a woman, she soon becomes the only chance for the band to win.

7.0

MagicScore

#11

Four Lions

2010

Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce.

6.9

MagicScore

#12

Wasteland

2012

A young man recently released from prison recruits his three best friends to rob the local drug kingpin who is responsible for his incarceration.

6.7

MagicScore

#13

The Railway Children

1970

After the enforced absence of their father, the three Waterbury children move with their mother to Yorkshire, where they find themselves involved in several unexpected dramas along the railway by their new home.

6.7

MagicScore

#14

The History Boys

2006

The story of an unruly class of bright, funny history students at a Yorkshire grammar school in pursuit of an undergraduate place at Oxford or Cambridge. Bounced between their maverick English master, a young and shrewd teacher hired to up their test scores, a grossly out-numbered history teacher, and a headmaster obsessed with results, the boys attempt to pass.

6.6

MagicScore

#15

Calendar Girls

2003

Members of a Yorkshire branch of the Women's Institute cause controversy when they pose nude for a charity calendar.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

Little Voice

1998

After the death of her father, Little Voice or LV becomes a virtual recluse, never going out and hardly ever saying a word. She just sits in her bedroom listening to her father's collection of old records of Shirley Bassey, Marilyn Monroe and various other famous female singers. But at night time, LV sings, imitating these great singers with surprising accuracy. One night she is overheard by one of her mother's boyfriends, who happens to be a talent agent. He manages to convince her that her talent is special and arranges for her to perform at the local night club, but several problems arise.

6.5

MagicScore

#17

The Phantom of the Open

2022

Maurice Flitcroft, a dreamer and unrelenting optimist, managed to gain entry to The British Open Golf Championship qualifying in 1976 and subsequently shot the worst round in Open history, becoming a folk hero in the process.

6.7

MagicScore

#18

My Summer of Love

2005

In the Yorkshire countryside, working-class tomboy Mona meets the exotic, pampered Tamsin. To seal their friendship, Mona introduces Tamsin to her born-again Christian brother and helps her spy on her adulterous father. Bound together by their secrets, the two girls see their friendship deepen and enter into dangerous waters.

6.1

MagicScore

#19

Rita, Sue and Bob Too

1987

Rita and Sue are two teenagers living on a run-down council estate in Bradford, who both share a job babysitting for Bob and Michelle's children. Whilst giving them a lift home one night, Bob decides to take Rita and Sue up to a deserted, country-side landscape. Clearly knowing what he has in mind, Rita and Sue are only too happy to oblige and both have a sexual encounter with him that becomes a regular occurrence.

6.1

MagicScore

#20

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

2005

Cheese-loving eccentric Wallace and his cunning canine pal, Gromit, investigate a mystery in Nick Park's animated adventure, in which the lovable inventor and his intrepid pup run a business ridding the town of garden pests. Using only humane methods that turn their home into a halfway house for evicted vermin, the pair stumble upon a mystery involving a voracious vegetarian monster that threatens to ruin the annual veggie-growing contest.

7.1

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like This Sporting Life?

The top films similar to This Sporting Life by MovieMagicScore are Kes (7.4), Room at the Top (6.9), The Damned United (7.2). Each shares drama themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is This Sporting Life worth watching?

This Sporting Life holds a MovieMagicScore of 7.0/10 from 114 viewer ratings, putting it among the better-reviewed titles in its genre.

What kind of movie is This Sporting Life?

This Sporting Life (1963) is a drama film directed by Lindsay Anderson, starring Richard Harris, Rachel Roberts, Alan Badel.

Where can I find more recommendations like This Sporting Life?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Kes Movies like Room at the Top Movies like The Damned United Movies like When Saturday Comes Movies like A Kind of Loving Movies like Billy Liar

About movies like This Sporting Life

This ranked list pairs This Sporting Life (1963), a drama film from Lindsay Anderson, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Richard Harris take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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