Movie of the Week: We Are Marshall

   

 

    Movie of the Week (8/25/13-8/31/13): With the football season kicking off this week, I thought it only logical to pick a football movie. However, this football movie will not really get you pumped up like most other football movies because it tells a sad true story. This film isn't about an underdog overcoming all of the hardships, it doesn't focus on a select number of players on a team that is good or bad, and it is not about one single player trying to play for a team. No, this is an emotional film about a football program having to start from scratch because a horrific and tragic event struck the town at the end of the previous season. This is We Are Marshall.
    The film opens with the teams last game before the accident of the 1970 season and then shows the tragic plane crash very briefly that killed seventy-five members of the Marshall football team including several other people. We then see the aftermath and the story takes off. The President of Marshall University plans on not having the 1971 season but a couple players, who were not on the plane, and the students persuade him and the board otherwise. They then begin to search for a new coaching staff who then has to find new players. While all of this is going on the President tries to persuade the NCAA to let freshman play and family and friends of the people who died continue to cope with their losses. The season finally comes around as the new football team tries their best to replace what was once there.
    The first thing that makes this a good movie is the cast and it is a fantastic cast all of who did wonderful jobs. We have Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, Matthew Fox as Red Dawson, Anthony Mackie as Nate Ruffin, David Strathairn as President Dedmon, Ian McShane as Paul Griffen, Kate Mara as Annie Cantrell, January Jones as Carole Dawson, Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Sandy Lengyel, and Brian Geraghty as Tom Bogdan. I know that's a lot, but I'm not going to go through each one. But, I will say that Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, and Ian McShane all give us fantastic performances. McConaughey probably gave us his best performance of his career, but the recently released Mud surpassed that. David Strathairn and Anthony Mackie also give us great performances.
    One thing that surprised me about this movie was the direction that we get from McG, or Joseph McGinty Nichol, who does a very good job when it comes to the football scenes and emotional scenes. There are many scenes that are emotional to watch and he did a great job at directing the actors through these difficult scenes. He also did a great job at directing the football scenes which are very realistic and look great, they almost match that of Friday Night Lights. With those shots comes good cinematography, not great, which is what we have and it helps bring that 1970's feel come to life. And of course it makes the football scenes great!
    But, we don't really watch this film for the football scenes because that is not what this movie is about. This is about the drama that occurred the year after the accident and that is what makes this a great movie. It is a great drama that is a sports movie, there are only a few of those that we watch for the drama of the situation and not the sports scenes. One last thing that makes this a good movie is the score, if you don't shed a tear or two in some of the scenes with no music, you will once the music begins. The emotional score adds so much to the movie, especially at the end, that it is hard not to shed a tear. This is a good underrated film and McG's best film to date because of a good screenplay, great performances, and an emotional score. This film will not get you pumped up for the football season, but it will certainly inspire you!
3/4 Stars