It is surprisingly difficult to find movies that deal specifically with lung cancer. Not sure why that would be. Wonder if there is a group of large, wealthy, multinational corporations who are influencing the decisions (and funding) for movie making? Anyway, here are a couple of films that address it (kind of). Brian’s Song is such a great film that it is worth watching with your kids even though he dies from bone cancer. (Stretch it a bit so that cancer is cancer.) The Insider will give you and your kid some idea about what I was talking about in the earlier sentence about wealthy, multinational companies.
Brian’s Song (G)
This film is the true life story of the friendship between Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, both professional football players for the Chicago Bears in the late 60s. Sayers was talented and famous, Piccolo barely made the cut. They unexpectedly became best friends. Piccolo develops cancer, fights to beat it but ultimately ends up dying from the disease. The eulogy Sayers give for Piccolo at the end of the movie makes grown men cry.
The Insider (R)
A research chemist comes under personal and professional attack when he decides to appear in a “60 Minutes” expose on Big Tobacco. The movie is rated R mostly for language. The message is really important about the terrible effects of smoking tobacco and of the importance of following your conscience (and how costly it can be).
Here are a paltry few other films that address lung cancer, mostly: Thank You For Smoking (R), Bucket List (PG-13), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (G), Grand Torino (R), Constantine (R),
