Released: June 11th, 2021
Viewed: June 24th, 2021
This film is one those types of biopic/docudramas that tries not to dazzle you with flash-in-the-pan excitement or huge megastars. It is one of those meticulously pieced-together retellings of something that happened from our past. It is based on true events. This particular one centers on a historic sports theme. We are introduced to the 1930s and the horrible after effects of the great depression and the dust bowl. The film takes place in 1938, which means, we also know today, that WW1 ended under 20 years ago and we are heading towards WW2. It is a time that a depressed America was looking for inspiration from anywhere.
The main plot arc of the film involves an orphanage, run by a controlling scoundrel, Frank Wynn (Wayne Knight), who hires a new math teacher and football coach, Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson), to come help at the orphanage. Rusty brings his daughter and unconvinced wife (Vinessa Shaw), who live with him on the campus. She also teaches at the orphanage. The orphanage doctor (Martin Sheen), comes on to act as the defensive coach of the team. The team undergoes tough times and challenges as they manage to crawl their way to the championships and the hearts of Americans everywhere, including FDR. There are many other arcs and character information that is woven into this film.
It is a story that has been told before, weather it was football, hockey, basketball or any other sporting event. It is one of those trial and tribulation-type of stories, with the underdogs beating adversity, with hopes of finding the best of happy endings, that history can provide. This counts as the docudrama part of the film. A film that is always a difficult task for a director, because he has to find a way of bringing in the right amount of entertainment, without sacrificing the historical accuracies needed to get the audience's trust. This kind of small budget, small cast, meticulously told sports history story, involving characters ages 12-19, has been seen before, but it is the part this story plays in history, that makes this film different and interesting. It does not have the feel of a remake or a clone, but does give feelings of consumed, artistic familiarity.
When we look at the biopic portion of the film it doesn't center around just one person. In this film, we get to see the biopics of many characters. These kids start at rock bottom and eventually become excellent contributors to society. The team's exploits actually changed the course of football into a new direction, much like we see the sport played today. There are many interesting points of history hit upon in this film and it is that aspect that makes this film special. The acting of the cast is very well done. They do convey the pain and the sorrow that the orphans must face. We feel for Rusty as he deals with PTSD induced reminders of his days in WW1. We feel the stress, along with the struggles, as Sheen's Doc Hall, fights his alcohol demons. We see Rusty make an impact on the orphanage, as well as, relieving his wife's doubts and winning over the whole town.
I have always liked Wayne Knight, as far back as his Seinfeld days and Jurassic Park (1993). However, there are some moments when Wayne Knight's Frank Wynn does go overboard with the comic relief reaction shots. We do witness Wayne, just being Wayne, for minor comic relief uses. It made his character come off as being cartoonish at some moments in the film. I mention that only as it applies to this film. The injection of these moments do derail the tone of the film sometimes, but it has nothing to do with Knight's great talent.
The film does accomplish what it was supposed to. It entertains, as much as history will let it, while also teaching us a little history, that increases the interest in the plot. The characterizations and seasoned acting makes this film enjoyable. Seeing greats like Martin Sheen, Luke Wilson and cameos by a bunch of veteran actors, brings in that old, wonderful, Hollywood-style. I noticed a couple of editing miscues and the film could have been a little shorter, but familiarities are not a problem here. It's just a nice, low-energy, walk down history's lane.
8.2 (B MyGrade) = 8 IMDB.
This film is one those types of biopic/docudramas that tries not to dazzle you with flash-in-the-pan excitement or huge megastars. It is one of those meticulously pieced-together retellings of something that happened from our past. It is based on true events. This particular one centers on a historic sports theme. We are introduced to the 1930s and the horrible after effects of the great depression and the dust bowl. The film takes place in 1938, which means, we also know today, that WW1 ended under 20 years ago and we are heading towards WW2. It is a time that a depressed America was looking for inspiration from anywhere.
The main plot arc of the film involves an orphanage, run by a controlling scoundrel, Frank Wynn (Wayne Knight), who hires a new math teacher and football coach, Rusty Russell (Luke Wilson), to come help at the orphanage. Rusty brings his daughter and unconvinced wife (Vinessa Shaw), who live with him on the campus. She also teaches at the orphanage. The orphanage doctor (Martin Sheen), comes on to act as the defensive coach of the team. The team undergoes tough times and challenges as they manage to crawl their way to the championships and the hearts of Americans everywhere, including FDR. There are many other arcs and character information that is woven into this film.
It is a story that has been told before, weather it was football, hockey, basketball or any other sporting event. It is one of those trial and tribulation-type of stories, with the underdogs beating adversity, with hopes of finding the best of happy endings, that history can provide. This counts as the docudrama part of the film. A film that is always a difficult task for a director, because he has to find a way of bringing in the right amount of entertainment, without sacrificing the historical accuracies needed to get the audience's trust. This kind of small budget, small cast, meticulously told sports history story, involving characters ages 12-19, has been seen before, but it is the part this story plays in history, that makes this film different and interesting. It does not have the feel of a remake or a clone, but does give feelings of consumed, artistic familiarity.
When we look at the biopic portion of the film it doesn't center around just one person. In this film, we get to see the biopics of many characters. These kids start at rock bottom and eventually become excellent contributors to society. The team's exploits actually changed the course of football into a new direction, much like we see the sport played today. There are many interesting points of history hit upon in this film and it is that aspect that makes this film special. The acting of the cast is very well done. They do convey the pain and the sorrow that the orphans must face. We feel for Rusty as he deals with PTSD induced reminders of his days in WW1. We feel the stress, along with the struggles, as Sheen's Doc Hall, fights his alcohol demons. We see Rusty make an impact on the orphanage, as well as, relieving his wife's doubts and winning over the whole town.
I have always liked Wayne Knight, as far back as his Seinfeld days and Jurassic Park (1993). However, there are some moments when Wayne Knight's Frank Wynn does go overboard with the comic relief reaction shots. We do witness Wayne, just being Wayne, for minor comic relief uses. It made his character come off as being cartoonish at some moments in the film. I mention that only as it applies to this film. The injection of these moments do derail the tone of the film sometimes, but it has nothing to do with Knight's great talent.
The film does accomplish what it was supposed to. It entertains, as much as history will let it, while also teaching us a little history, that increases the interest in the plot. The characterizations and seasoned acting makes this film enjoyable. Seeing greats like Martin Sheen, Luke Wilson and cameos by a bunch of veteran actors, brings in that old, wonderful, Hollywood-style. I noticed a couple of editing miscues and the film could have been a little shorter, but familiarities are not a problem here. It's just a nice, low-energy, walk down history's lane.
8.2 (B MyGrade) = 8 IMDB.