Levantándose de Nuevo

This was inspired by a true story.

California High School football coach Bob Ladouceur (Jim Caviezel) takes the De La Salle high school to 151 straight victories. This movie starts when the streak is broken and how everyone handles it.

This is one of those movies that gets better and better as it goes along. Bob Ladouceur insists that it not about scoring touchdowns and winning. But he has a method of teaching that actually insures that scoring touchdowns and winning will result. He says his main goal is to prepare his young players to be able to handle life after school so whatever happens, they can be counted on. Simply said, it works. Because of his belief in how he teaches and what he believes, he turns down offers to coach college football.

This is well acted all around and the hard-hitting (ouch, ouch, ouch) scenes on the football field appear to be quite real (Hey, Bob, it's movie magic). Well, I hope so, but I checked with my doctor anyway. So far he says I am good to watch more of these hits. Ouch!

The father of the Quarterback wants his son to achieve the record for the most touchdowns in High School competition nationwide. And, it is here the ending is nothing short of Pure Gold. You will be touched.

Also, you will understand why the title is perfect. (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.

As a member of team who previewed the movie, I have seen this 6 times and customarily, I HATE to see movies over and over but this is a GREAT movie. I am also not a huge football fan. This movie has a great message about family, character and why one should do anything they enjoy...win is great but it's more than that. This says a great deal about the character of the coach, his staff, his family and HIS players. I will have to read the book now. There is everything from elation to heartbreak; you will find yourself dancing and you may shed a tear. I enjoyed NOT having to cringe through nudity, bullets, and f-bombs.

I recommend EVERYONE go see this. It's a great family film and it has something for everyone.

Before I review the movie proper, let me just mention how pleasantly surprised my movie theatre-working friend was in seeing LSU football coach Les Miles as an audience member in the beginning of the movie with lines, to boot! I wasn't as surprised since I knew about it having read about his appearance in last Friday's review-by John Wirt-in the Red section of our town paper, The Advocate. All right, we both loved the various plays as depicted on screen of the games and were touched by many of the dramatic scenes of many of the teammates outside of the game. Oh, and the filmmakers did a good job of disguising New Orleans as a California town, too. I really don't have anything else to say except I recommend When the Game Stands Tall.

First, let me say, I LOVE sports movies--any sport, even if I'm not a fan. Pro, College, High School--even "The Sandlot" (a GREAT movie, by the way). Having lived in the Bay Area during "The Streak," and seeing the previews a few times, I was REALLY looking forward to seeing this film and went with a pocketful of Kleenex.

I am beginning to wonder if filmmakers put TOO much of the good stuff in their trailers. There weren't many other big moments in this movie that I hadn't seen in the weeks prior. It's a GREAT story, but just a good movie. I don't agree with some others that it's "too preachy." This is a Catholic High School, where kids are required to take religion classes. They aren't always about scripture, but about morals and ethics and leading a good life (regardless of your religion or no religion). Without this element, I don't think Coach Lad would have been as successful as he was. (And yeah, he probably "recruited" a bit, too).

The football scenes were very well done and exciting--not sure how much creative license was given there to create the nail biting finishes. I just felt the family dynamics and the player comraderie could have been delved into a little more deeply. Why tease us with bits and pieces and then not follow through? I also enjoy, at the end of such "real life" movies, to find out "where are they now?" It would have been nice to see what some of boys-who-became-men-through-football are up to now.

Out of curiosity, I did a bit more research and found that 2 of the main character/players were composites, which bothered me not because of the creative process, but because the most unlikable kid in the film is black. It bothered me when I watched the film, but I thought, OK, that's a real person. But it isn't. We don't need Hollywood to fuel racial bigotry.

So go see it--you'll come out of the theater a little bit better of a person. It's no "Brian's Song" or "Field of Dreams," but it's not The Bad News Bears" either.

I found it entertaining and it left me with a warm feeling. Solid performances help to enhance this incredible story of sport and courage. This one is an austere, gripping movie about surviving against the odds. It tells the journey of legendary football coach Bob Ladouceur, who took the De La Salle High School Spartans from obscurity to a 151-game winning streak that shattered all records for any American sport. What I like best is how the director lets the actors breathe and the music lets the atmosphere live. It reminds me of some of those sombre Japanese films that were popular back in the 1990. By the end, we feel that we have learned a great deal about the characters and the community that produced them.