Excellent blend of comedy and drama in underrated film

rosscinema

Some have said that this is the best film about football ever made and they may be right but at the center of this film is a solid performance by the lead. Story is about a fictional football team from Dallas, Texas where we see cold hearted management and players that must endure incredible amounts of pain to be able to play. Phillip Elliott (Nick Nolte) is a veteran wide receiver who has gone through many operations and walks with a limp and must take assorted pain killers not to play football but to just be able to get through the day. His only friend is quarterback Seth Maxwell (Mac Davis) and together they smoke pot and drink beer and that's during the training for a game! Elliott has to sit on the bench and only makes rare appearances in games and this makes him angry but he puts up with the cold hearted rantings of Coach Strothers (G.D. Spradlin) while waiting to play.

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

Elliott meets a nice woman named Charlotte (Dayle Haddon) who doesn't like football but together he is able to talk about his dreams of building a ranch. Finally after a star player gets injured Elliott is told that he is going to start in an important game but come game time coach Strothers has changed his mind. During the game Elliott gets to play and does very good but a few days later management has decided his future with the team.

This film is directed by Ted Kotcheff who was a pretty good director during the 1970's but he couldn't hold on to his success and has basically directed television ever since. The film works on two levels and the first is the way that it shows how players are used by both coaches and management. Just before the big game they trick their star player into using a pain killer which also means that the starting player that's taking his place will be screwed. But it's the performances that really make this film work from the supporting roles to Nolte's lead. Mac Davis wasn't known as a good actor when this was made but he's good here as the quarterback who knows how to play the game (Not football) and keeping his players cool. Nolte's performance I think is one of his most underrated and while he physically may not exactly look like a player he perfectly embodies an individual who has sacrificed his own body to play the game. Nolte's natural wit and sarcasm are of good use here but what really shines through is how jaded he has become of the system. The scene where his girlfriend wakes up in the middle of the night and catches him trying to crack and twist his pain ridden body back into place has become a near classic and if anyone wants to know what it's like to be a football player than they can watch that scene. Does the script go over the top? Probably, but I'm not convinced that it's by much as we have all heard stories about what goes on during and after games. Very entertaining film has only a few minutes of actual game playing because it's emphasis is on the players and their manipulation and that in itself is an achievement but none of that would matter without Nolte's rock solid performance.

score 7/10

rosscinema 28 July 2004

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0169722/