No. 29 Heart of Champions aka Pressure Point (2021) 86 of 100
I saw this film as ‘Pressure Point’ on Netflix but its title on release was ‘Heart of Champions'. Both titles are somewhat generic but I prefer the later – ‘Pressure Point’ sounds like a web app fused with a cookery show. We open with a university rowing team in the middle of a race. They head into the lead but are soon overtaken and finish last. A man watches from the side with binoculars – he’s going to be their new coach and is ably played by Mr Shannon. He meets the team and comes across as a right pain in the ass by asking lots of questions – ‘Why are you here?’ ‘What is your purpose?’ ‘When does the canteen close?’. The team are already fractured with Alex having aspirations of making the US Olympic team. His Dad is a rich benefactor of the university and it was he who employed Shannon to get the team into shape so that his son’s dreams can be realised. There are other issues in the team of course, with orphan Chris reluctantly rowing to meet his scholarship re...