Our Winning Season

Yesterday I saw this film for the fist time. Two things immediately struck me. Was this a warm-up for Dennis Quaid's role in Breaking Away? Almost the same character, same time frame, competitive aura; the similarities were striking. Also who did not have a crush on Jan Smithers? She looked so amazingly wholesome yet knowing at the same time. In fact I thought her relationship with her brother bordered on creepy from the outside but if you were the brother maybe, OK. Do not miss the Joanna Cassidy role. The woman every high-school guy dreamed of. the whole movie combined elements of early TV shows with frequently used movie cliché. The run up the fire outlook has been done so many times before and yet Sylvester Stallone could not keep it out of Rocky 1. Not a bad movie even enjoyable. Share it with people in their 50's, the conventions used are so familiar they are enjoyable.

High school seniors in 1967 hope to get a lock on their futures: Scott Jacoby is the track and field jock who needs to win the big meet in order to get a college scholarship; Dennis Quaid is the goof-off; Joe Penny is the romantic and the first to be drafted. 'Nostalgic' teen pic has a fine cast, though the focus is strictly on the boys (the ladies are either girlfriends, sexual conquests or, in Joanna Cassidy's case, a prostitute). No cliché goes unturned in this script. It's a by-the-numbers underachiever despite a handsome production including great-looking classic cars (but, curiously, no vintage pop songs on the soundtrack). Shot on-location in Georgia, the woodsy settings never become vital to the proceedings (this story could have taken place anywhere). Not much headway from TV's "Happy Days"; worse, the movie had the unfortunate luck of opening in the US one month prior to "Grease", after which it promptly sank. * from ****

Before there was a "Chariots of Fire" or a film that dealt with the pressures of winning for oneself, there was this little gem of a film. "Our Winning Season" is a film about David Wakefield (portrayed well by little known Scott Jacoby) who is not quite the star runner of Griffin High School. He has his friends who

encourage him (Played by Randy Hermann and a then unknown Dennis Quaid)

and his sister and her boyfriend (Jan Smithers and Joe Penny) who face

difficulties with the Vietnam war. Then you have a cast of remarkable youngsters (including a very energetic and sexy P.J. Soles) who support David in his final hour of running. Taking place in the sixties, if you want to make a film that is both coming of age and psychological in the eyes of young male adolescents, this is the way to do it. The star of this film is a runner, which alot of people can relate to. As I said, this came before "Chariots of Fire" so it is definitely worth a look. Produced by big man Samuel Z. Arkoff, and Joe Roth, and released by

American International Pictures, the same company that released Wes Craven's

"Last House on the Left", and directed by future acclaimed director Joseph

Ruben, this film was made to look good, and does on several levels. The only

stars on this film that ever made it into any bigger than this were Dennis Quaid and P.J. Soles(whom were both married after this, as I am told.) Film with this subject matter have since grown very banal, and tiring, and don't sell anymore. This film was one of the first, and is the most unknown of the bunch. Ensemble cast film is hard driving and very dramatic, with some comic touches to be seen. And of course, anyone who has ever wanted to win for themselves will get the

message of this one. Good music by Charles Fox, and cinematography by

Steven M. Katz. 7.5/10