Le destin de Brian

This movie was awesome. Had all of the ingredients of friendship, love, acceptance and breaking of racial barriers considering the era it took place in. One of the best. However, I do recommend that before viewing this, one gets 20 boxes of kleenex and a bottle of prozac, you are gonna need it.

......emotional and tear-jerking movie ever made! Brian's Song will have you weeping and an emotional wreck regardless of how many times you see it! Simply put, the greatest TV movie ever made and some of the finest performances ever put on film. "Nuff said!

After more than 30 years, this movie has earned its place as the standard for all television movies that followed it. A great score, a great cast............it just does not get any better than this. That remake (2001) does not measure the quality or the warmth of this 1971 standard bearer.

The 1970's gave rise to the "made for TV" movie on a regular basis, and a lot of them were pretty disappointing, with weak stories and poor acting. But then there's "Brian's Song" - which 40 years later still has to rank as one of the best (if not the best) TV movies ever made. It's a "football" movie to an extent, but it's far more than a football movie. It's a story about a friendship that known no bounds and that overcomes a lot of odds. In 1965, Gayle Sayers and Brian Piccolo were rookie running backs for the Chicago Bears. The should have been rivals and not friends. They were competing for starting positions; Sayers was black and Piccolo was white. There should have been too many divides for them to cross to build a friendship, and yet they did build a friendship.

Billy Dee Williams and James Caan were wonderful in these title roles. For I would say two thirds of its short run time (minus TV commercials, it comes in at a little under an hour and a quarter) this is essentially a football movie. The friendship is well developed, but there's a heavy emphasis on training shots and a lot of really good real football footage, mostly of some spectacular runs by Sayers. The movie really takes off though once Sayers suffers a knee injury that knocks him out of the lineup. Piccolo takes his place, and Piccolo wants him back and helps him get back into game shape. For a while they share the backfield, and then the movie becomes a powerful tearjerker, as Piccolo is diagnosed with cancer, and Sayers sees him through his final illness.

Yes, this is a made for TV movie. It's not flashy, but it's good - very good. And it's very moving. You can't help but feel sad as it comes to an end. Let's face it. 26 years olds (football players or not) shouldn't die, but they sometimes do - and it's very sad. But sad though it is, in the end you have to feel uplifted by this movie about the power of a friendship that overcomes all the odds against it. The movie also features a pretty strong performance from Jack Warden as the legendary Chicago bears coach George Halas. You can't ask for much more than this. (9/10)

I just love this movie! It is a story of 2 men--Gale and Brian...2 unlikely people to become the best of friends...The actors were well cast--James Caan and Billy Dee Sayers fit their roles to a tee. It is a film not only of friendship but also of love...a film of triumph of the human spirit. It is a story that transcends time and overcomes barriers to relationships, whatever they might be--racial, religious, or political. It challenges the viewer to assess his/her own prejudices and why it must be overcome. It is as timely as it was when it was first shown. A real winner but be prepared with a box of Kleenex when watching this very touching film. I saw a remake of this film quite recently but I think the original movie was much better than the remake.