Rudy

To be completely honest, I was actually impressed with this film. It is sweet, but there is an honesty and a strong sense of realism at the heart of this film, which to me, provides the base of its appeal. "Rudy", unlike the majority of films about athletes, paints a picture of the real everyman (basically, the jock who isn't a jock) and it does so in a way that is plausible from start to finish. Working hard, eating, breathing and sleeping the game does not mean that you will wind up the star quarterback. Rudy's struggles are genuine: his family is poor and has never sent anyone to college, his grades are sub-par (largely the result of an undiagnosed learning disorder), he can't afford his junior college let alone Notre Dame and Rudy is, at best,only a moderate athlete. It is in the way that he overcomes these obstacles (not to mention the beautiful performance by Sean Astin) which provides the refreshing realism which is at core of this film. "Rudy" is what sports are really all about.

Sean Astin is "Rudy" in this 1993 true story of Rudy Ruettiger, a short, average kid who wanted to dress for the Notre Dame football team. Rudy's story is one that is used to demonstrate the power of single-mindedness and determination in the face of all odds. His story provides a great lesson - the brick walls aren't there to keep you out, they're only there to keep out the people who don't want something badly enough.

Rudy grows up obsessed with Notre Dame football, but he lacks the physical prowess for the game and the grades for Notre Dame. He also comes from a family, headed by Ned Beatty, whose attitude is, know your place and stay there, and whose goals are to join the union, work a union job, and have a home and family. Rudy's girlfriend wants to get married, and the only person who understands his dream is his best friend. When tragedy strikes, Rudy realizes that he has to pursue his dream or he'll never be happy.

This is a very inspirational film, all the more inspirational because it's true. Sean Astin gives a very natural performance as Rudy - he doesn't "act" in the sense of giving an emotional, big performance, but rather behaves like a young man from a lower middle class family in Joliet, Illinois, probably much as the real Rudy acted.

Life can be pretty frustrating and when trying to break through a glass ceiling or a brick wall like Rudy did, it's tempting to want to give up. People today want things to happen fast, too. Rudy's compelling story says that passion and perseverance can bring you a long way. Here was a kid with no money, no family support, dyslexia, average grades, who was too wimpy for football. Watch what happens to him.

This is a movie for everyone who ever felt like the little person, overlooked by those who were bigger or more popular. "Rudy" had kind of a lame title for a sports movie, and i remember the first time I saw a preview of it, I was totally moved and involved by the scenes and then guffawed aloud at the end when the announcer intoned, "RUDY." That set the rest of the theater laughing too, so imagine my surprise when i saw it a couple months later and it was a 10 out of 10 in my book. I'm not even a sports fan but this movie got me. It shows the power of faith to get by with any frustration in life, the performances are great and it's a shame that Sean Astin had to wait eight years to get another great break with "Lord of the Rings." His is a worldclass performance in this film, see it as it is one of the most inspiring films you'll ever see.

What can I say? I've seen the movie three times, and each time I was moved by the story of the kid who wouldn't let his dream die.

Even though I grew up Protestant in Texas and loved the Longhorns, I reveled in the history and the tradition of Notre Dame football. While I was in junior high and high school, I read lots of books on the history of college football, and naturally Notre Dame was a prominent part of each book. I can only imagine how strong a pull Notre Dame would have had for a football-loving boy in a Catholic family in the Midwest in the '50s and '60s. I thought the filmmakers did a reasonable job of showing enough about the conflicts in Rudy's life without getting mired in a lot of subplots that in my opinion would've detracted from the storyline.

I like the fact that they spent so much time actually developing the story of how he struggled to get to become a Notre Dame student. A lot of filmmakers might've opted to focus on the actual Notre Dame experience, which I think would've made the film a lot less effective.

Anyway, the music was wonderful, Sean Astin gave a great but understated performance, all the football sequences were real enough to make you wince, my wife who knows next to nothing about football or Notre Dame loved the movie, and it made me want to head to South Bend someday and take in a game.

Why do so many great sports films (Breaking Away, Hoosiers, and Rudy) take place in the upper Midwest? Just a random musing...

And here's a little factoid that to the best of my knowledge is still correct--Terry Gannon, who played on North Carolina State's national championship basketball team in the early '80s and now is a sports broadcaster, has the actual helmet that the real-life Daniel Reuttiger wore in the game.

Rudy is a story that pulls at every heart string and emotions you possibly could have. Why? Well it doesn't have to do with the actors, though they are all great. It doesn't have to do with the filming, it isn't what draws us in. It is one thing. The one major fact.

The True Story. To watch and see how Rudy overcomes every obstacle he faces. To see how Rudy truly triumphs, even if it isn't the best possible success for someone, for Rudy it is everything.

This movie is a story that teaches a lesson. It is about football, but it is about believing. Never giving up. Always giving it your all.

Rudy is a movie that gives us something to believe in. Believe.