Football Movie Marathon #15: Rudy (1993)

Our second to last movie of the season is one of my favorites thusfar, 1993's Rudy, which could make a strong case as the best underdog sports movie (although Hoosiers and Rocky would probably beat it out).

Sean Astin (The Goonies, The Lord of the Rings) plays Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, a high school graduate in a steel town, expected to be a steel worker like every guy he knows. This is everyone's expectation except his own however; his goal is to play football at Notre Dame, a school that used to have a good football team in the era this movie is set. Rudy played high school ball, but was considered too small to be a collegiate player. Also problematic is his grades, which fall below the Notre Dame standards.

Rudy spends some time in the community college near Notre Dame to get the grades he needs. He also works with the groundscrew at the football field to be around the program. At one point while cleaning, he reads the famous speech from Knute Rockne: All American (1940) (reviewed earlier in marathon) off of a plaque in the locker room. Eventually his grades improve, and he gets into Notre Dame. He follows this accomplishment with an even bigger one, walking onto the practice squad by giving an effort that greatly impresses the coaches. From here we follow his quest to get onto the field for the rest of the movie.

The reason Rudy lives on as a sports movie classic is the gigantic emotional payoff at the end. I'm hard pressed to think of a sports movie with a better ending. It is probably one of the few movies that guys are allowed to cry during. There is more to it than just the ending of course. Despite giving us very little sports action from start to finish, the movie is never boring or meandering. Characters all seem well fleshed out....whereas in too many sports movies the writers seem content to give each character a gimmick and let them run with it. The only part of the story I didn't really like was the somewhat "bad guy" potarit they painted of Dan Devine. In the movie, Rudy doesn't make it onto the final games roster until the rest of the team appeals. In real life, it was actually Devine who rewarded Rudy for his hard work by sticking him in the game. I know its just a movie and all, but it seems cruel that they made one of his biggest supporters into one of his biggest opposers. The 5 or 10 minutes between Rudy finding out he didn't make the last game up until the decision is turned around is the worst part of the movie...just one hurdle too many for the lead character that throws off the balance a bit. Minor complaint though.

Merry Christmas

1) Any Given Sunday (1999)
2) Brian's Song (1971)
3) Rudy (1993)
4) Knute Rockne: All American (1940)
5) Varsity Blues (1999)
6) The Longest Yard (1974)
7) Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? (2009)
8) Horse Feathers (1932)
9) Gridiron Gang (2006)
10) The Waterboy (1998)
11) The Band That Wouldn't Die (2009)
12) Little Giants (1994)
13) Invincible (2006)
14) The Longest Yard (2005)
15) Two For the Money (2005)