You've seen the insurance commercial with the football in the baby carriage? The ball's covered in a blanket, being cradled and hushed by a lineman. Then, in the last five seconds, that same lineman pulls away the cover and prances into the end zone. Then it's over.
That's this movie. 25 seconds of schmaltzy sentimentality or family drama. 5 seconds of gridiron.
If that sounds like a skewed ratio for a sports movie, you'd be right. That might not be a problem for many. And to be fair, I enjoyed both performances from Levi and Paquin. But there should be more touchdowns and fewer letdowns.
Kurt's relationship with Brenda and her family stands front and center. While Brenda brought emotional baggage into the fold, Kurt's brand of baggage proved more toxic: a myopic singular dream to play in the NFL. The rift that develops hurts to watch, but Brenda's faith in God gives Kurt strength to discover faith of his own and to be a better man. Then Kurt reiterates his dream. Brenda supports him. Dream consumes Kurt. Brenda resents dream. Kurt tries to woo Brenda. Rinse and repeat. But where's football?
It's here and there.
I found Kurt's relationship with his coaches and teammates to be more compelling. Yet outside of a handful of instances, we only get tidbits. The football scenes are pretty good, too. Also liked seeing Kurt play against Ray Lewis.
This movie works for what it is, but make no mistake: it's a stretch to market this as a sports film. I remember that Ben Affleck flick where he's a youth basketball coach with dependency issues, and there was way more basketball than Ben hitting the bottle. Invincible? Remember the Titans? Plenty of sports action. Here? Not nearly enough.
That's this movie. 25 seconds of schmaltzy sentimentality or family drama. 5 seconds of gridiron.
If that sounds like a skewed ratio for a sports movie, you'd be right. That might not be a problem for many. And to be fair, I enjoyed both performances from Levi and Paquin. But there should be more touchdowns and fewer letdowns.
Kurt's relationship with Brenda and her family stands front and center. While Brenda brought emotional baggage into the fold, Kurt's brand of baggage proved more toxic: a myopic singular dream to play in the NFL. The rift that develops hurts to watch, but Brenda's faith in God gives Kurt strength to discover faith of his own and to be a better man. Then Kurt reiterates his dream. Brenda supports him. Dream consumes Kurt. Brenda resents dream. Kurt tries to woo Brenda. Rinse and repeat. But where's football?
It's here and there.
I found Kurt's relationship with his coaches and teammates to be more compelling. Yet outside of a handful of instances, we only get tidbits. The football scenes are pretty good, too. Also liked seeing Kurt play against Ray Lewis.
This movie works for what it is, but make no mistake: it's a stretch to market this as a sports film. I remember that Ben Affleck flick where he's a youth basketball coach with dependency issues, and there was way more basketball than Ben hitting the bottle. Invincible? Remember the Titans? Plenty of sports action. Here? Not nearly enough.