The unrealized dreams of some can often motivate them to help others realize theirs. But when the pain of those lost dreams doesn’t find much healing or redemption, that desire to help others can look pretty brutal. One of the more difficult movies for me to watch had me celebrating and enjoying the redemption the story found all the more. It is riveting and powerful and worth the ride. The culminating scene toward the end is unbelievable. (Full disclosure, my own time spent pounding the skins may have jaundiced my view of this one!) This incredibly well reviewed film from 2014 won three Oscars and probably deserved more.

• IMDB 8.5

• Rotten Tomatoes 94%/94%

• (R)