Should Hollywood Make An A-Rod Movie?

It was painful to watch Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez at the press conference the other evening in Chicago. He seemed regretful to be in this public position again – accused of taking illegal performance enhancing drugs. He never confessed to it, but he also never denied it, which in itself, is a sign of culpability in the court of public opinion.  For this, he has been suspended by MLB commissioner Bud Selig to 211 games for violating the games drug policy. That means all of this season and all of next. He’s lucky he didn’t get a lifetime ban which is what Selig was looking for. The unruly crowd of reporters from every corner of the world amassed in the press room to cover the event, but let’s be frank, to also be part of a notorious moment in sports history. It all so felt like a movie – as if Al Capone was addressing the Chicago police department on national TV.

Because that presser felt like The Untouchables and because Alex’s whole life is like a movie, I beg the question… should Hollywood make an A-Rod movie? 

A-Rod has lived a rare life to most of us normal terrestrials. Think about it, who goes what he goes through? It has all the ingredients for a great movie – the frenzy media attention, the almost supernatural athletic feats, dating beautiful celebrity women and the scandalous disgrace from a once untouchable crest. Let’s go through each one of them, shall we? 

1. The frenzy media attention: The press just can’t get enough of him. Any one being who attracts as much global attention from the media as Alex can be looked upon a cash cow by any business executive looking to cash in on his notoriety. Whether you like him or not, you can’t deny he’s a train wreck you can’t keep your eyes off of. Fans too have a love hate relationship with him. Crowds line up for his autograph then they boo him the first minute they get. They even tuned in in droves to watch his first return at bat on the YES network making it the highest rated game of the Yankee season. Alex Rodriguez sells and we’re all responsible for it. This is why people will flock to the theaters to see a biopic on one of the most polarizing players in sports history. 

2. Beautiful women: You know every movie has a romantic angle and what better romantic interests in a movie than Madonna, Kate Hudson, Cameron Diaz, or Torrie Wilson? They can even play themselves if they wish. Alex has dated a pop icon and several high profile actresses that men would only dream of dating. Is it his good looks, his radiant tan, his almost half a billion worth tag on his face or the Yankee caché, or all of them, that has riled up the stars? It’s all of it and they loved it the attention they got from it. I’d say Alex is more famous than all of them except Madonna.

3. Good looks / Talent: Every leading man in Hollywood is for the most part endowed with good looks and A-Rod fits the role perfectly. The tan at this point is hilarious, but he does have a superhero physique that men envy. Women pay to see handsome men at the box office and guys already have proven that they support sports movies – see where I am going with this? The man is also very talented and one axiom that cannot be contradicted is that people are attracted by the freakishly adroit. He has been the very best on the diamond for a long period of time, even if it was all cheating, he’s better all the cheaters.

4. Scandalous lifestyle: He cheated on his wife with strippers, lied to 60 Minutes on national TV about not taking steroids, upstaged the 2007 World Series with his announcement of exercising his opt-out clause to become a free agent, participated in an illegal high stakes poker game where cocaine was used… also, during a playoff game, he was caught flirting with two female fans and having a ball boy toss a baseball with his phone number, but his most egregious transgression was deceiving the whole sport of baseball, and the fans, about achieving his feats naturally and then promising to never do it aga… wait, I guess he’s still working on that one.

When you look at the structure of today’s movie scripts, they are all founded on most of the principles above. This man’s life is a movie and Hollywood would be doltish not to do it.

To further explain my case, why make a movie on Lance Armstrong, an athlete who belongs to a niche sport in cycling, when Rodriguez is in a bigger sport and commands more attention than him? Their stories are eerily the same - fraudulent and disgraced athletes who used PED’s to reach the the pinnacle of their sport – yet one of them is getting the movie treatment.

What do you think?  Should Hollywood make an A-Rod movie? Give us your thoughts and leave your comments in the section below.

American League All-Star National League All-Star during the 79th MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium on July 15, 2008 in the Bronx borough of New York City.