A gritty kitchen sink drama from director Lindsay Anderson, THIS SPORTING LIFE is a character study of a man struggling with existential angst and the driving motivations of conquest and anger that are causing his life to spiral out of control. Richard Harris, unrecognisable in his youth, plays the burly rugby star attempting to woe the widow who just happens to be his own landlady; there's plenty of drama and conflict along the way, alongside the usual British character actors. It's engaging stuff, with more to say than the comparable likes of BILLY LIAR.
Review of This Sporting Life
