Inspiring, Uplifting & Moving TRUE STORY !!!!
The most cynical viewers will have a hard time hiding the lumps in their throats watching the enormously moving football drama 'We Are Marshall'.
If it feels like Hollywood's gone to the mat one too many times with inspirational sports stories, this latest entry is distinct and well-made enough to separate it from the pack. And if the movie unabashedly wears its heart on its jersey sleeve, it's so sincere and honest that it rightfully earns its tears.
This is the True Story of one of the worst disasters in American Sports History: 1970 plane crash that wiped out most of Marshall University's Football Team, along with its coaches and boosters. A total of 75 people died that fateful night, leaving the football-crazy steel town of Huntington, West Virginia, grieving and heartbroken. The big question then was whether or not to continue the college football program, which would mean starting over from scratch and testing the emotional strength of the devastated community. Not surprisingly, residents and students spoke up and the difficult decision was made to get back to the gridiron.
Led by University President Donald Dedmon (David Strathairn), surviving Team Captain Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie), newly recruited Coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey), and Assistant Coach Red Dawson (Matthew Fox), a spotty replacement team was assembled and, against massive emotional and physical odds, the new team helped the town overcome the tragedy.
What makes the story less formulaic is the drive and creativity the characters use to achieve their thorny goals. Also, the film is charged with so much vivid emotion and urgency it's impossible not to get swept up in it all. Most importantly, it won't take a sports fan to appreciate the movie's vast merits, which is not always the case with this sub-genre.
While it's heart is squarely in the right place, it's not as complete a success as, say, the similarly themed 'Friday Night Lights'. First-timer Jamie Linden's screenplay packs an emotional wallop, for sure though. He's created a strong surface picture of the key figures, and we certainly know where everyone's coming from.
The only problem is McConaughey's uneven performance, which doesn't quite zero in on the real Lengyel. At first, the actor plays him as a gung-ho eccentric, but by the end he turns into, well, Matthew McConaughey, honey-dripping voice and all. While "McC" seems right on paper and definitely commits to the part, he's just not versatile enough to fully inhabit the role of the colorful coach.
The rest of the cast, however, is uniformly excellent, with Strathairn, Mackie, and Fox all turning in award-caliber work. Fox (Party of Five, Lost), as the intensely conflicted assistant coach, is a particular revelation, and his success here could bring him leading-man status beyond the small screen. Kate Mara, as a young waitress (and the film's narrator) whose fiancé dies in the accident, and Ian McShane as the boy's shattered father, are also superb.
The early 1970s setting is nicely recreated without overdoing the period trappings, which include an effective array of Top 40 tunes.
'We Are Marshall' (named after the team's stirring chant) is a memorable, deeply felt tribute that scores serious points.
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