We Are Marshall (2006)

When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.

Director:

McG

Writers:

Jamie Linden (screenplay), Cory Helms (story),

Stars:

Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Matthew McConaughey	...	Jack Lengyel
Matthew Fox	...	Red Dawson
Anthony Mackie	...	Nate Ruffin
David Strathairn	...	President Dedmon
Ian McShane	...	Paul Griffen
Kate Mara	...	Annie Cantrell
January Jones	...	Carole Dawson
Kimberly Williams-Paisley	...	Sandy Lengyel
Arlen Escarpeta	...	Reggie Oliver
Brian Geraghty	...	Tom Bogdan
Tommy Cresswell	...	Gene Morehouse
Christian Kanupke	...	Young Keith Morehouse
Nina Jones	...	Mrs. Morehouse
Kevin Atkins	...	George Olson
Mark Patton	...	Bill James

Storyline

In November, 1970, virtually the entire football team and coaches of Marshall University (Huntington, W.V.) die in a plane crash. That spring, led by Nate Ruffin, a player who was ill and missed the fatal flight, students rally to convince the board of governors to play the 1971 season. The college president, Don Dedman, must find a coach, who then must find players. They petition the NCAA to allow freshmen to play, and coach Jack Lengyel motivates and leads young players at the same time that he reexamines the Lombardi creed that winning is the only thing. The father and the fiancée of a player who died find strength to move on. Can Marshall win even one game in 1971?

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Plot Keywords:

coach | football | marshall university | university | football team | 

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Taglines:

When Jack Lengyel's chances of victory were slim and none...he went with the slim.

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Genres:

Drama | Sport

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for emotional thematic material, a crash scene, and mild language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Warner Bros. [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 December 2006 (USA)

Also Known As:

Untitled Marshall University Football Project

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,582,508 (USA) (22 December 2006)

Gross:

$43,532,294 (USA) (2 March 2007)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Thunder Road Pictures, Legendary Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

131 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered DC-9, from Kinston, NC (ISO) to Huntington-Tri-State/Milton Airport (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. The plane was carrying 37 team members, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, four flight crew, and one charter company employee. On November 14, 1970, at 7:35 PM, the plane crashed into a hill just short of Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 on board. Because it was the team's only chartered flight of the season, many prominent citizens were on board, including a city councilman, a state legislator, and four of the city's six physicians. Seventy children lost one parent in the crash; an additional 18 were orphaned.

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Goofs

When Jack Lengyel and Paul Griffen are seated at Boone's, and Lengyel eats a piece of pie, a minivan passes on the street behind them. Minivans did not exist in 1971.

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Quotes

Jack Lengyel: When I heard about what had happened, your situation, the only thing I could think about was the four of them. I thought about how much they mean to me, about how bad it would hurt if... well if I was to lose them. Then I thought about a team, and a school, and a town thats gotta be hurtin' real bad. And I thought, hell, maybe I could help.

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Crazy Credits

There are no opening credits, not even a title.

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Connections

Features NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams (1970)

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Soundtracks

"Paranoid"
Written by Ozzy Osbourne (as John Osbourne), Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler (as Terence Butler) and Bill Ward (as William Ward)
Performed by Black Sabbath
Licensed courtesy of Downlane Limited and Sanctuary Records Group Limited

User Reviews

We Are Marshall

I was lucky enough to see an advanced screening of 'We Are Marshall' for audience research purposes therefore being part of the first audience in Britain to see the film.

We were given a brief plot description when offered the tickets which didn't interest me to be honest (I was more interested in seeing a free film!) So when I went to see it I didn't know what to expect, just that apparently it is supposed to be very good and quite emotional.

I was pleased to see that it managed to live up to that, as coming out of the cinema I felt it managed to stand by what I heard in being a very good film, in fact I would go so far as to say brilliant. Staying behind for a quick discussion about the film for research purposes, two people (including myself) rated the film as 'excellent', four rated it 'very good' and two (somewhat miserable and stubborn) people rated it 'good'.

In my opinion, the film manages to portray the death of the football team in a tasteful and respectful way, showing the emotions of the characters in the way the town cared for the team. However, shortly after the plane crash I felt that the film stumbled into a very slow and boring corner. Luckily about twenty minutes later, the film manages to pick up very well. I found the remaining hour of the film very enjoyable and emotional, with a few humorous lines from Matthew McConaughey.

I was also very pleased to see how well Matthew Fox managed starring in a feature film. Being only fifteen, my only knowledge of Fox is Jack form 'Lost'. I feel that he managed to play the character of Red very well - very quickly in the film, the role of Jack was soon forgotten.

The ending to the film is done very well and manages to keep you in suspense, despite a quite predictable result. I was also quite surprised how little knowledge of the game football is needed. Being English, I can't say I have ever seen a game of 'American' Football, let alone understand the rules - I found myself thoroughly enjoying the action packed games despite knowing nothing of the sport.

All in all, in my opinion this is a very, very good film which I strongly recommend. As said, I found a part of the film rather dull but felt 'We Are Marshall' delivered a second half so good, I soon forgot about it.

Go see this film!