Personally, I felt it unwise to leave the sick bag beyond arm’s length. This was a huge hit in 2009, with great swathes of America undoubtedly deeming it to be inspirational (perhaps the “inspirational” movie is itself an American genre). She takes in a troubled African American teen and helps mould him into a top football player. One movie that was lauded as inspirational, The Blind Side, features Sandra Bullock in an Oscar-winning performance as a well-to-do Christian Republican mom in the Sarah Palin mould. When I’m asked for my favourite inspirational scene, I nominate Tom Courtenay’s final, miserable act of defiance in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Inspirational means aspirational, no arguments – and it brings out my ironic, grumpy Brit. An inspirational film often feels soupy and syrupy, schematic and cliched, faintly coercive and reactionary. But when people talk about “inspirational” films – underdogs achieving spectacular sporting success, charismatic teachers winning over pupils, people overcoming disabilities – I am sometimes a bit agnostic. And, in a broader sense, going to the cinema is a narcotic, luxurious experience that makes you feel inspired, uplifted and stimulated.

C an films be inspirational? Well, the good ones all are.

The raging bull