We Are Marshall
STARRING
Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, David Strathairn, Kate Mara, Kimberly Williams
WHAT THE BOX DOESN'T TELL YOU
A predictable series of events, as is normal with the genre, leads to a day of reckoning for the West Virginia residents and families who suffered the loss of the Marshall College football team. Survivors are left to piece together an existence amidst the tragedy. Healing begins after an eager, but unorthodox new football coach (McConaughey) is hired and manages to salvage from the wreckage several players, an assistant coach (superbly played by Lost's Matthew Fox) and an unwilling but supportive college president (Strathairn). We like the first twenty minutes, we love the last forty and somewhere in between, we struggle with Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle director McG's choices, good and bad.
WHY I WOULD RENT IT AGAIN
Loyal readers will expect me to pan this film for a variety of reasons. McConaughey's lack of range, yet another football movie, Hollywood's stylized versions of true events, etc., but in all truth I enjoyed the film. It flowed and without flaw for sometime until I realized because of the nature of this true story, they struggled with clearly identifying the protagonist (Fox) and never really succeeded with overcoming some of the against-all-odds stereotypes. Was it uplifiting? Yes. Did I think McConaughey should have been a football coach instead of an actor? Yes. Would I rent it again. Maybe not, but I would watch it again, even with some of the cliches. Is Remember the Titans still a better rental? Absolutely!
WILL MY GIRLFRIEND/BOYFRIEND LIKE IT?
That's the plan......it does not endeavor too far into the football realm that anyone cannot enjoy it, but if college football was played like this we wouldn't make it to the bowl games.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Yes, but unless you love this movie, you will be bored in a matter of minutes.
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2 comments:
Yes, but more importantly did you cry? :) I thought it had its really touching scenes but such a unique story, with much potential, was molded into a Hollywood cliché of many sports movies people have seen. It almost reminded me of The Replacements with Keanu, mixed in with a little Necessary Roughness.
Yvo,
Agreed! Might have gone that route if not for the, at least I thought, over the top montage of scenes at that climatic moment when they could think of nothing better to do then show you the whole movie in 15 seconds. If that can be done it makes me ask why did I spend two hours watching the whole movie......
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