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 Synopsis:
 In 1970, after a
17-14 loss by
Marshall University,
the team chartered
a plane home.
A few hundred yards
from touching down,
the plane clipped
trees and crashed,
killing everyone on
board. 75
people total
including the
coaching staff, all
players on the team
and the university's
biggest financial
boosters. It
was labeled the
greatest disaster in
college sports
history. It
left a university,
rich in football
tradition, with
nothing to root for.
The university toyed
with the idea of
scrapping the
football program
altogether and
moving on.
After student
protests, the
university decided
to try to rebuild.
The Freak's
Rating: B- : Sports
movies all follow
the same pattern,
right? A team
struggles to come
together at the
beginning of a
season, usually with
a new coach.
After a while they
learn that the
methods the coach is
using actually makes
them better!
Following the
coach's advice, they
truly come together
as a team and make
it to the
championship game.
The final play is
always a do or die
play and is always
shown in slow motion
to emphasize the
effect it has on the
team and the journey
they took.
Sometimes the best
player gets hurt
right before the big
game and they play
it anyway ("for
him"). Somtimes the little
guy who everyone
said couldn't play,
does.
Sometimes the coach
is the one who
changes because of
his team.
Sometimes the last
play fails, but
rarely. There
is most likely a
musical montage of
the team practicing
and getting better.
Most of these
stories are told
about teams that
actually did have
something amazing
happen. The
amazing thing,
however, is usually
lost in all sorts of
clichés.
I'm not going to
tell you now that We
Are Marshall has no
sports clichés as
you might expect.
The film has
clichés, a few of
them. The
point about these
clichés is that some
are necessary and
some are not.
I feel that We Are
Marshall chooses the
correct ones to
leave in and the
correct ones to
leave out.
Jack
Lengyel (Matthew
McConaughey) was
perhaps the only
coach in the country
willing to take on
the responsibility
of rebuilding a team
along with a
community.
Facing the reality
that only three
varsity players were
left (injured or
sick who stayed
behind) and one
assistant coach
named Red (Matthew
Fox), the task was a
tough one.
Lengyel along with
the university
president (played
wonderfully by David
Strathairn)
petitioned the NCAA
to allow them to
play freshman on
their varsity team
(a policy at the
time outlawed).
People who don't
follow sports may
never understand
people who do.
Football is a sport
of modern-day
gladiators.
You become engrossed
in the way the team
is run and the
players who play on
"your" team.
I'm not big enough
to tackle a guy that
weighs 200 lbs, but
my favorite players
are. They can
hit the shots at the
buzzer and throw the
winning touchdown.
And you know what,
they do it for me,
not for anyone else.
By purchasing
tickets to the game,
buying the sports
packages on
television and
wearing my team
gear, I am their
boss. Without
me they are nothing
and the best players
and teams know this
and respect their
fans. In
exchange for my
support, they are my
gladiators.
Each game day I send
my gladiators out to
do battle against
another team.
I experience joy
with them when they
win, sadness when
they lose.
They are, after all,
my team. As
such, I stick by
them. If they
lose, I try to help
them get better by
supporting
management who make
correct decisions
and blast those who
don't. Once
you own an army of
gladiators the way
that sports fandom
allows you to do,
you never let them
go. They are
part of you and vice
versa. This is
why people can bond
so easily over
sports. We are
on the same level.
If I see someone
wearing a Packers
jersey, I instantly
have a topic of
discussion that I
know they want to
talk about. It
is a bond that is
amazing and
something you get
pride from. I
dread certain
battles my
gladiators will
fight, for I know
they most likely
won't win.
However, I send them
out anyway.
There is always a
chance my guys can
win and if they beat
someone they aren't
supposed to, the
victory is even
sweeter.
You can ask my wife
about it. She
wasn't a football
fan at all until a
year and a half ago
when she decided to
"see what all the
fuss was about" and
watch a game.
Before long she was
asking questions and
showed a real
interest in what was
happening. Now
she is as anxious
about the playoffs
as I am! And
boy do I love that!
Along with not
"getting" sports,
the sports movie
will be most likely
lost on them as
well. If
you've never seen
what a good coach
can do to a team, or
how important one
player can really
be, or seen a
situation where "it
all comes down to
this" is an accurate
statement, then you
won't get the
meaning on screen
and you sadly won't
enjoy the film as
much as you should.
The fact is that
coaching can have an
ENORMOUS effect on a
person, especially
from someone you
trust. For
those who blast the
sports clichés, I
would argue most
simply haven't
experienced it.
We Are Marshall is a
well-made sports
movie. It has
clichés, but does
them well. The
last shot of the
film along with the
credits are perhaps
the most emotional
times during the
film. It is
worthy of a see to
any sports fan.
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