movielex
movie
L
ex

Movies like The Main Event

Key Features:
Entrepreneurship, Comeback story, Underdog, Sports, Boxing, Financial trouble, Mentor-mentee relationship, Business, Friendship, Second chance
Tone:
humorous, whimsical
Target Audience:
Comedy fans, Sports enthusiasts, Those seeking lighthearted entertainment, Fans of underdog stories
Emotional Arc:
Frustration → Hope

The Main Event

1979-06-22
The Main Event Poster - Find Similar Movies

A bankrupt entrepreneur attempts to recoup some of her losses by getting a washed-out boxer she picked up as a tax loss back into the ring — an idea her protégé isn't fond of.

Genres
Comedy, Romance
Cast
Barbra Streisand, Ryan O, Paul Sand, Whitman Mayo, Patti D, Chu Chu Malave, Richard Lawson, James Gregory, Richard Altman, Seth Banks
Crew
Howard Zieff, Gail Parent, Andrew Smith
Rating
5.254(65 votes)
The Main EventThe Main Event
Select exactly what you are looking for


Grudge Match
6.1

A pair of aging boxing rivals are coaxed out of retirement to fight one final bout -- 30 years after their last match.



Rebound
Rebound(2005)
5.594

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.



Knucklehead
5.6

A fight promoter deeply in debt to his crooked rival and desperate for a new fighter catches a break when a 450 pound church handyman who has spent his entire life in an orphanage agrees to wrestle on behalf of his fellow orphans.



The Boss
The Boss(2016)
5.821

A titan of industry is sent to prison after she's caught for insider trading. When she emerges ready to rebrand herself as America's latest sweetheart, not everyone she screwed over is so quick to forgive and forget.



A Valentine's Match

Fired from her job as a reality TV host, Natalie returns home for Valentine's Day, only to find herself running the town festival's auction with her ex-fiancé thanks to two scheming mothers.



The Main Event
6.4

An 11-year-old aspiring wrestler enters a competition to become the next WWE superstar by using special powers from a magical mask.



Bomber
Bomber(1982)
6.405

Bomber is an unemployed boat captain. One day he meets Jerry, a manager of boxers who are struck by the force of his fists. That is when they see the chance to win big money.



The Comebacks
4.82

Out-of-luck coach Lambeau Fields takes a rag-tag bunch of college misfits and drives them towards the football championships. In the process, this life-long loser discovers that he is a winner after all by redeeming himself, saving his relationship with his family and friends, and finding that there is indeed, no "I" in "team"!



Southpaw
Southpaw(2015)
7.363

Billy "The Great" Hope, the reigning junior middleweight boxing champion, has an impressive career, a loving wife and daughter, and a lavish lifestyle. However, when tragedy strikes, Billy hits rock bottom, losing his family, his house and his manager. He soon finds an unlikely savior in Tick Willis, a former fighter who trains the city's toughest amateur boxers. With his future on the line, Hope fights to reclaim the trust of those he loves the most.



Back in the Day
3

A young boxer is taken under the wing of a mob boss after his mother dies and his father is run out of town for being an abusive alcoholic.



DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

When megalomaniacal White Goodman, the owner of a trendy, high-end fitness center, makes a move to take over the struggling local gym run by happy-go-lucky Pete La Fleur, there's only one way for La Fleur to fight back: dodgeball. Aided by a dodgeball guru and Goodman's attorney, La Fleur and his rag-tag team of underdogs launch a knock-down, drag-out battle in which the winner takes all.



Beer League
5.1

An unemployed slacker inspires his softball teammates to improve their game to avoid getting kicked out of the local league.



Wimbledon
Wimbledon(2004)
6.2

Britain’s Peter Colt has never quite lived up to his dreams of tennis stardom. Once ranked as high as number 11 in the world, the journeyman veteran has watched his number slip to 119 as his confidence on the court slowly ebbs away.  Now, on the eve of his leaving the world of professional tennis, he’s granted a wild card, allowing him to play his final Wimbledon tournament…make that his final tournament ever.



Champions
Champions(2023)
6.72

A stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach is forced to train a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.



The Ringer
5.7

Pressured by a greedy uncle and a pile of debt, lovable loser Steve Barker resorts to an unthinkable, contemptible, just-crazy-enough-to-work scheme. He pretends to be mentally challenged to rig the upcoming Special Olympics and bring home the gold. But when Steve's fellow competitors get wise to the con, they inspire him to rise to the greatest challenge of all: becoming a better person.



The Hammer
6.106

Approaching forty, Ferro is unsatisfied with his life as a construction worker and part-time boxing instructor in Los Angeles, CA. After a successful bout with a young pro boxer, Ferro decides to don the gloves one last time. The movie recounts his unlikely quest for Olympic gold.



Major League II
5.7

After losing in the ALCS the year before, the Cleveland Indians are determined to make it into the World Series this time! However, they first have to contend with Rachel Phelps again when she buys back the team.



Just Friends
6.218

While visiting his hometown during Christmas, a man comes face-to-face with his old high school crush whom he was best friends with – a woman whose rejection of him turned him into a ferocious womanizer.



Championext
6.47

Los Amigos wins the Spanish basketball championship for the first time but are disqualified due to Sergio’s fault, leading to their dramatic breakup. Two years later, Cecilia, an inexperienced but optimistic coach, commits to fulfilling Julio’s dream of reuniting the team. Despite a string of misfortunes associated with Cecilia’s arrival, labeled as a “jinx”, Los Amigos’ enthusiasm remains unwavering. Against all odds, they find themselves participating in a thrilling and unexpected international eSports tournament watched by millions worldwide.



Rocky V
Rocky V(1990)
5.78

A lifetime of taking shots has ended Rocky’s career, and a crooked accountant has left him broke. Inspired by the memory of his trainer, however, Rocky finds glory in training and takes on an up-and-coming boxer.



Coffee Shop
5.9

When a young coffee shop owner is threatened with repossession she must take a chance with life and love as she fights to save her business.



Sparring
Sparring(2017)
5.884

Steve Landry, an aging boxer with more losses than wins, accepts to become a sparring partner for an emerging champion in a last-ditch attempt to stay relevant.



Against the Ropes

A fictional story inspired by North America's most famous female boxing promoter, Jackie Kallen. Her struggle to survive and succeed in a male dominated sport.



Dirty Work
6.2

Unemployed and recently dumped, Mitch and his buddy Sam start a revenge-for-hire business to raise the $50,000 that Sam's father needs to get a heart transplant.



Music and Lyrics
6.4

A washed-up '80s pop star gets a chance at a comeback when reigning pop diva Cora Corman invites him to write & record a duet with her, but there's a problem--Alex hasn't written a song in years; he's never written lyrics and he has to come up with a hit in a matter of days.



Bruised
Bruised(2021)
6.8

Jackie Justice is a mixed martial arts fighter who leaves the sport in disgrace. Down on her luck and simmering with rage and regret years after the fight, she's coaxed into a brutal underground fight by her manager and boyfriend Desi and grabs the attention of a fight league promoter who promises Jackie a life back in the Octagon. But the road to redemption becomes unexpectedly personal when Manny - the son she gave up as an infant - shows up at her doorstep. A triumphant story of a fighter who reclaims her power, in and out of the ring, when everyone has counted her out



The Champ
The Champ(1979)
7.034

Billy used to be a great boxer, but he's settled into a hardscrabble life that revolves around drinking, training horses, and the one bright spot in his existence — his young son, T.J. Although Billy has had custody of T.J. since his wife, Annie, left the family years ago, her return prompts a new struggle for the former fighter. Determined to hold on to his son, Billy gets back into the ring to try and recapture his past success.



Major League
6.9

When Rachel Phelps inherits the Cleveland Indians from her deceased husband, she's determined to move the team to a warmer climate—but only a losing season will make that possible, which should be easy given the misfits she's hired. Rachel is sure her dream will come true, but she underestimates their will to succeed.



The Great White Hype

When the champ's promoter, Rev. Sultan, decides something new is needed to boost the marketability of the boxing matches, he searches and finds the only man to ever beat the champ. The problem is that he isn't a boxer anymore and he's white. However, once Rev. Sultan convinces him to fight, he goes into heavy training while the confident champ takes it easy and falls out of shape.



Necessary Roughness
5.492

When the Texas State University Fightin' Armadillos football team is disqualified for cheating and poor grades, the University is forced to pick from a team that actually goes to school. Will they even win a single game?



The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

Don Ready is many things, but he is best-known as an extraordinary salesman. When a car dealership in Temecula teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, he and his ragtag team dive in to save the day. But what Ready doesn't count on is falling in love and finding his soul.



The Winning Season
6.354

A comedy centered on a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team



Run Fatboy Run
6.2

Five years after jilting his pregnant fiancée on their wedding day, out-of-shape Dennis decides to run a marathon to win her back.



Battle of the Year
6.8

A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.



Ready to Rumble
5.2

Two slacker wrestling fans are devastated by the ousting of their favorite character by an unscrupulous promoter.



Fist Fight
6.052

When one school teacher gets the other fired, he is challenged to an after-school fight.



Knockout
Knockout(2011)
5.454

Outsider and new kid Matthew desperately wants to join his high school's boxing team, but resident bully and boxing champion Hector stands in his way. Facing constant torment, Matthew finds an unlikely ally in Dan, the school's janitor and one-time amateur boxer. Together, they train for the biggest boxing match of Matthew's life and discover what it truly means to be a winner.



Fighting Spirit: Champion Road

Makunouchi Ippo is the new Featherweight champion of Japan and is now ready for his first title defense. His opponent, the former Jr. Featherweight champion and a medical student, Sanada Kazuki. In addition to this feud, Sanada is being coached by Kamogawa's former rival, Hama Dankichi. What makes things worse is that Sanada works at the same hospital where Kumi is a nurse at and everybody at the hospital wants Sanada to win. Not only does Ippo have to defend his title, he has to reclaim his love.



Life with Mikey
5.7

Michael Chapman, a former child TV star, runs a struggling talent agency specilizing in child acts. When a young girl off the street puts on a real performance after he catches her picking his pocket, he may have just found the next big thing.



School for Scoundrels

In the hope of winning the woman of his dreams, Amanda, lovelorn meter-reader Roger Wadell enrolls in a secret confidence-building class. The course's title takes on much more meaning when he discovers that his egomaniacal professor Dr. P also wants the same woman. They begin a fierce rivalry that quickly spirals out of control, their pranks and insults get uglier as they try to prove who is the ultimate guy's guy.



Results
Results(2015)
5.048

Two mismatched personal trainers' lives are upended by the actions of a new, wealthy client.



Queens of the Ring
5.8

More than anything, 30-year-old Rose longs to be reunited with Mickaël, her estranged 11-year-old son who has been placed with a foster family and blames his mother for their long separation. When she discovers that Mickaël is crazy about wrestling, Rose thinks she's found a way to melt the ice: she'll put together a tag team with three girlfriends from the store where all four work as checkout girls...



Crazy Fist
6.8

After an opponent dies mid-match, a prominent MMA champion swore never to fight again and retired to run his family's company. But when his best friend dies under suspicious circumstances, he has no choice but to step back in the ring.



Champions
Champions(2018)
7.5

A disgraced basketball coach is given the chance to coach Los Amigos, a team of players who are intellectually disabled, and soon realizes they just might have what it takes to make it to the national championships.



Bull Durham
6.599

Veteran catcher Crash Davis is brought to the minor league Durham Bulls to help their up and coming pitching prospect, "Nuke" Laloosh. Their relationship gets off to a rocky start and is further complicated when baseball groupie Annie Savoy sets her sights on the two men.



The Fighter
7.4

Boxer "Irish" Micky Ward's unlikely road to the world light welterweight title. His Rocky-like rise was shepherded by half-brother Dicky, a boxer-turned-trainer who rebounded in life after nearly being KO'd by drugs and crime.



Santa's Little Helper

After getting fired from his job, a slick, fast-talking businessman is thrown into an elf competition to become Santa¹s next second-in-command. Put through a series of rigorous training exercises to prepare for the contest, The Miz and another aspiring elf go head-to-head in the hopes of becoming Santa¹s Little Helper.



Unbeatable
6.9

Fai, once a world champion in boxing, escapes to Macau from the loan sharks and unexpectedly encounters Qi, a young chap who is determined to win a boxing match. Fai becomes Qi's mentor and rediscovers his passion to fight not only in the ring but for his life and the cares.



Perfect Addiction
6.763

A female boxing trainer discovers that her champion cage-fighter boyfriend has been cheating on her with her sister and decides to seek revenge by training up his arch-rival to challenge him.



Irudhi Suttru
7.5

A grumpy boxing coach takes on a young, rebellious woman under his wings and starts training her for the world championship. But their biggest battle has to be fought outside the ring.



Starting Over
6.3

After divorcing his ambitious singer wife, a middle-aged man begins a new relationship with a teacher.



Rocky III
Rocky III(1982)
6.894

Following Rocky Balboa's intense battle with his most powerful adversary yet – the ferocious Clubber Lang – Rocky joins forces with former rival Apollo Creed in an effort to get back his fighting spirit.



The Wannabes
6.084

Daniel and Stéphane, two salesmen working in the same store but who cannot stand each other, decide despite everything to team up to participate in television games so they can pay their debts.



Drunken Master
7.4

After getting into trouble, a mischievous young man is sent to train under a brutal, but slovenly old beggar, who teaches him the secret of the Drunken Fist.



Hustle
Hustle(2022)
7.718

After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past abroad, a down on his luck basketball scout takes it upon himself to bring the phenom to the States without his team's approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.



Cinderella Man
7.564

The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.



Bleed for This
6.8

The inspirational story of World Champion Boxer Vinny Pazienza, who after a near fatal car crash, which left him not knowing if he'd ever walk again, made one of sports most incredible comebacks.



Resurrecting the Champ

Up-and-coming sports reporter rescues a homeless man ("Champ") only to discover that he is, in fact, a boxing legend believed to have passed away. What begins as an opportunity to resurrect Champ's story and escape the shadow of his father's success becomes a personal journey as the ambitious reporter reexamines his own life and his relationship with his family.



Love, Guaranteed
6.385

A lawyer takes on a new client that wants to sue a dating website because it guarantees love.



Challengers
6.94

Tennis player turned coach Tashi has taken her husband, Art, and transformed him into a world-famous Major champion. To jolt him out of his recent losing streak, she signs him up for a "Challenger" event — close to the lowest level of pro tournament — where he finds himself standing across the net from his former best friend and Tashi's former boyfriend.



The Life Coach
5.4

Max Chêne is a life coach who helps to motivate everybody from professional athletes to government ministers to business executives. After his gambling debts get out of control and his wife throws him out, he is approached to take on a unique client.



The Cutting Edge
7.2

Two former Olympians, one a figure skater and the other a hockey player, pin their hopes of one last shot at Olympic glory on one another. That is, of course, if they can keep from killing each other in the process...



Dream Horse
7

The inspiring true story of Dream Alliance, an unlikely race horse bred by small town bartender, Jan Vokes. With very little money and no experience, Jan convinces her neighbors to chip in their meager earnings to help raise Dream and compete with the racing elites. Their investment pays off as Dream rises through the ranks and becomes a beacon of hope in their struggling community.



Here Comes the Boom
6.218

A high school biology teacher moonlights as a mixed-martial arts fighter in an effort to raise money to save the school's music program.



Million Dollar Baby
7.954

Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.



Diggstown
Diggstown(1992)
6.289

Gabriel Caine has just been released from prison when he sets up a bet with a business man who owns most of Diggstown, a boxing-mad town. The bet is that Gabe can find a boxer that will knock out 10 Diggstown men, in a boxing ring, within 24 hours. Roy 'Honey' Palmer is that man that, at 48, many say he is too old.



Second Act
6.3

Value Shop assistant manager Maya Vargas wants only one thing for her 43rd birthday -- a promotion. While her résumé may not scream upper management, her track record certainly does; she is an innovator who listens to her customers and delivers results. When she loses the job to a college-educated candidate, Maya sets out to prove to Madison Avenue that street smarts are as valuable as book smarts -- and it's never too late for a second act.



Like a Boss
6.229

Two female friends with very different ideals decide to start a beauty company together. One is more practical, while the other wants to earn her fortune and live a lavish lifestyle.



Goon
Goon(2012)
6.408

Doug Glatt, a slacker who discovers he has a talent for brawling, is approached by a minor league hockey coach and invited to join the team as the "muscle." Despite the fact that Glatt can't skate, his best friend, Pat, convinces him to give it a shot, and Glatt becomes a hero to the team and their fans, until the league's reigning goon becomes threatened by Glatt's success and decides to even the score.



Four Against the Bank
5.918

After losing their respective nest eggs thanks to a bumbling bank employee, three men use him to plot a bold and batty heist to get their money back.



Taking Care of Business

An uptight advertising exec has his entire life in a filofax organizer which mistakenly ends up in the hands of a friendly convict who poses as him.



What's Up, Doc?
7.4

The accidental mix-up of four identical plaid overnight bags leads to a series of increasingly wild and wacky situations.



Pegasus 2
Pegasus 2(2024)
7.1

The former champion driver Zhang Chi became a driving school instructor in troubled times, living a life of relying on his reputation to make ends meet. Unexpectedly, pie in the sky falls, and the director of Laotoule Automobile Factor, who is on the verge of suspending production, offers to sponsor Zhang Chi to form a team to compete in the last Bayinbrook Rally.



Joe Somebody
5.7

When underappreciated video specialist Joe Scheffer is brutally humiliated by office bully Mark McKinney in front of his daughter, Joe begins a quest for personal redemption. He proceeds by enduring a personal makeover and takes martial arts lessons from a B-action star. As news spreads of his rematch with Mark, Joe suddenly finds himself the center of attention, ascending the corporate ladder and growing in popularity.



Punchline
Punchline(1988)
5.469

Lilah Krytsick is a mother and housewife who's always believed she could be a stand-up comedian. Steven Gold is an experienced stand-up seemingly on the cusp of success. When the two meet, they form an unlikely friendship, and Steven tries to help the untried Lilah develop her stage act. Despite the objections of her family and some very wobbly beginnings, Lilah improves, and soon she finds herself competing with Steven for a coveted television spot.



Dirt
Dirt(2018)
6

In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.



Major League: Back to the Minors

At the behest of Roger Dorn -- the Minnesota Twins' silver-tongued new owner -- washed-up minor league hurler Gus Cantrell steps up to the plate to take over as skipper of the club's hapless farm team. But little does he know that Dorn has an ulterior motive to generate publicity with a grudge match between the big leaguers and their ragtag Triple A affiliate.



Made
Made(2001)
5.8

Two aspiring boxers and lifelong friends get involved in a money-laundering scheme through a low-level organized crime group.



The Hustle
6.189

Two female scam artists, one low rent and the other high class, compete to swindle a naïve tech prodigy out of his fortune. A remake of the 1988 comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels."



The Underdoggs
7

Jaycen 'Two Js' Jennings is a washed-up former pro football star who has hit rock bottom. When sentenced to community service coaching the Underdoggs, an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown, he sees it mostly as an opportunity to rebuild his public image. But in the process, he may just turn his life around and rediscover his love of the game.



100 Yen Love
7.2

Slacker Ichiko gets into a fight with her younger sister and begins to live on her own, working the late shift at a 100 yen shop. On her way home, she passes a gym and meets boxer Kano who trains there in silence...



Opening Night
5.663

A failed Broadway singer who now works as a production manager must save opening night on his new production by wrangling his eccentric cast and crew.



Good Guys Go to Heaven, Bad Guys Go to Pattaya

Franky and Krimo dream of leaving the grey grime of their neighborhood behind and of traveling to the famous and diabolical Thai beach resort of Pattaya. To get there cheaply, the two friends have the crazy idea of registering, unbeknownst to him, the local little person for the Thai Dwarf Boxing World Championship. But what was supposed to be a dream vacation will transform into the most insane and dangerous adventure of their lives.



Mr. Woodcock
5

Taken aback by his mother's wedding announcement, a young man returns home in an effort to stop her from marrying his old high school gym teacher, a man who made high school hell for generations of students.



Hands of Stone
6.617

The legendary Roberto Duran and his equally legendary trainer Ray Arcel change each other's lives.



Big George Foreman
7.56

Fueled by an impoverished childhood, George Foreman channeled his anger into becoming an Olympic Gold medalist and World Heavyweight Champion, followed by a near-death experience that took him from the boxing ring to the pulpit. But when he sees his community struggling spiritually and financially, Foreman returns to the ring and makes history by reclaiming his title, becoming the oldest and most improbable World Heavyweight Boxing Champion ever.



The Associate
6.2

Laurel Ayres is a businesswoman trying to make it but unfortunately she works at a investment firm where she does all the work but all the senior investors like Frank Peterson grab all the credit. She then leaves and starts her own firm. While trying to find clients Laurel pretends that she has a male partner named Robert Cutty. And when she starts to do well all of her clients wants to meet Cutty which is difficult since he doesn't exist.



Chick Fight
5.803

When Anna Wyncomb is introduced to an underground, all-female fight club in order to turn the mess of her life around, she discovers she is much more personally connected to the history of the club than she could ever imagine.



Throw Down
6.7

A former Judo champion is given the chance to redeem himself after he befriends a competitor and an aspiring singer.



Standing Up, Falling Down

An unlikely friendship kindles between a struggling stand-up comedian from L.A. — forced to move back home to Eastern Long Island with his tail between his legs — and a tragically flawed, but charming and charismatic, alcoholic dermatologist. Discovering to be kindred spirits, each helps the other find healing, in addition to the confidence to face the "failures" in their lives.



Mirreyes contra Godínez

A group of yuppies fight over a group of office stooges for the control of a shoe factory.



Rumble
Rumble(2021)
6.8

In a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes, teenage Winnie seeks to follow in her father’s footsteps by coaching a loveable underdog monster into a champion.



Sandy Wexler
5.478

When a hapless but dedicated talent manager signs his first client who actually has talent, his career finally starts to take off.



The Slammin' Salmon
5.835

The brutal former heavyweight boxing champion Cleon "Slammin'" Salmon (Duncan), now owner of a Miami restaurant, institutes a competition to see which waiter can earn the most money in one night: the winner stands to gain $10,000, while the loser will endure a beating at the hands of the champ.



The Wise Guys
7.924

Hector Valentin returns to France from Canada when he inherits a small sawmill. He has difficulties restarting the run-down operation which has inefficient workers and is hampered by the dirty tactics of its bigger...



Rocky II
Rocky II(1979)
7.283

After Rocky goes the distance with champ Apollo Creed, both try to put the fight behind them and move on. Rocky settles down with Adrian but can't put his life together outside the ring, while Creed seeks a rematch to restore his reputation. Soon enough, the "Master of Disaster" and the "Italian Stallion" are set on a collision course for a climactic battle that is brutal and unforgettable.



Juwanna Mann
5

A basketball star is booted out of the NBA when his on-court antics go too far, so he poses as a woman and joins the WUBA.



Hot Dog... The Movie

When a hopeful young American hot-dogger goes pole-to-pole with an arrogant Austrian pro, the snow really starts to fly! But as hot as it is on the mountain, it gets even hotter off when the pro's ex-girlfriend sets her eyes on the new blood. Who'll win the competition and the girl? Only a race to end all races can determine which skier can really cut the mustard!



Rocky
Rocky(1976)
7.792

Rocky Balboa is a Philadelphia club fighter who seems to be going nowhere. But when a stroke of fate puts him in the ring with a world heavyweight champion, Rocky knows that it's his one shot at the big time — a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go the distance and come out a winner!

AboutPrivacy PolicyTerms of ServiceContact Us