One of the best football movies ever made IMO.
Anyone else see it?
Full Version: "We are Marshall"
One of my friends saw it last night and hated it. And the reviews have been really awful for the most part.
From the San Francisco Chronicle, which gave the movie a D grade: Other than one incomplete pass at the beginning of the film, the first hour of "We Are Marshall" is a sports movie without any sports. Sure, there's a plane crash, emotional hand-wringing and what seems like the same conversation happening over and over -- but nobody snaps a ball, runs a pattern or even steps on the football field. Filmgoers choose movies such as "We Are Marshall" to be inspired, and manipulation of their feelings is part of that game. But this film is so obvious in its methods and so repetitive with its uplifting messages that I suspect most will grow weary in the first 20 minutes. And when the big sports scenes finally arrive, they're filled with cliches from other, more frivolous, movies -- followed by a forced happy ending. This is what "Hoosiers" would have been like if it was directed by Michael Landon. "We Are Marshall" is a bit of a shame, because the subject matter could have been something special in the hands of stronger filmmakers.
From USA Today, which gave it one star out of four: "The film does palpably capture a sense of the shock and bedlam that followed the crash. But, then it seems to wallow for a while in the grief of an entire college town, unsure of how long to devote to the mourning period. The movie seems to almost exploit this tragedy so it can make audiences weep, and ultimately, cheer. Though "We Are Marshall" is no doubt built on good intentions — and for those who knew the real victims might even be cathartic — its use of trite "Win one for the Gipper" dialogue, overbearing soaring music and conventional plot devices makes it far too formulaic to truly move us."
Newsday, which gave it an F rating: "A depressingly mechanical sports drama that seems not to have been written and directed so much as home assembled, Ikea-style, by pictorial instruction."
From the San Francisco Chronicle, which gave the movie a D grade: Other than one incomplete pass at the beginning of the film, the first hour of "We Are Marshall" is a sports movie without any sports. Sure, there's a plane crash, emotional hand-wringing and what seems like the same conversation happening over and over -- but nobody snaps a ball, runs a pattern or even steps on the football field. Filmgoers choose movies such as "We Are Marshall" to be inspired, and manipulation of their feelings is part of that game. But this film is so obvious in its methods and so repetitive with its uplifting messages that I suspect most will grow weary in the first 20 minutes. And when the big sports scenes finally arrive, they're filled with cliches from other, more frivolous, movies -- followed by a forced happy ending. This is what "Hoosiers" would have been like if it was directed by Michael Landon. "We Are Marshall" is a bit of a shame, because the subject matter could have been something special in the hands of stronger filmmakers.
From USA Today, which gave it one star out of four: "The film does palpably capture a sense of the shock and bedlam that followed the crash. But, then it seems to wallow for a while in the grief of an entire college town, unsure of how long to devote to the mourning period. The movie seems to almost exploit this tragedy so it can make audiences weep, and ultimately, cheer. Though "We Are Marshall" is no doubt built on good intentions — and for those who knew the real victims might even be cathartic — its use of trite "Win one for the Gipper" dialogue, overbearing soaring music and conventional plot devices makes it far too formulaic to truly move us."
Newsday, which gave it an F rating: "A depressingly mechanical sports drama that seems not to have been written and directed so much as home assembled, Ikea-style, by pictorial instruction."
All I can say is...I'm glad my boyfriend had free passes and I didn't have to pay for it because I would've DEMANDED my money back!! I could've spent that time finishing up my Christmas shopping or having sex. Thats time I'll never be able to get back for that awful movie.
The true life story and the memories of all those who died deserved so much better than this paint-by-number TV movie. I really wanted to like it but I didn't at all. The musical score was perhaps one of the most annoying and intrusive I've heard in years.
Are you guys all divorcing prozac at the same time? Being a WVU fan, I was more inclined to dislike all things about this movie since it paints Marshall in a very positive manner. Typically, I am no fan of the Rah Rah American mainstream movies as I prefer independant movies ( mostly foreign), so my inclination was to give it a thumbs down. I was pleasantly surprised.
Also, the movie has received bad to great reviews. Most viewers rate the movie as outstanding as movies.com shows an A score by its viewers. To each's own I guess.
From Movies.com:
Critics Grade C plus.
Fans Grade A
Movies.com Grade B
http://movies.go.com/we-are-marshall/r768815/drama#critics
Chicago Tribue:
"Surprisingly restrained and undeniably entertaining …""
Washington Post:
"skillfully manipulative"
TV Guide:
"deemphasizes sports-movies cliches in favor of a larger and more resonant story …"
Also, the movie has received bad to great reviews. Most viewers rate the movie as outstanding as movies.com shows an A score by its viewers. To each's own I guess.
From Movies.com:
Critics Grade C plus.
Fans Grade A
Movies.com Grade B
http://movies.go.com/we-are-marshall/r768815/drama#critics
Chicago Tribue:
"Surprisingly restrained and undeniably entertaining …""
Washington Post:
"skillfully manipulative"
TV Guide:
"deemphasizes sports-movies cliches in favor of a larger and more resonant story …"
I saw it while I was in WV for Christmas and I didn't care for it. It could have been a lot better. It didn't suck but it could have been a lot better.
I did like how they treated the crash though. I'm glad that they didn't show the plane going down. That would have been too much.
Do you all remember the shots of the fountain? That by far is the ugliest fountain or any sort of sculpture that I've ever seen in my life. It's nickname is the spewing uterus.
I did like how they treated the crash though. I'm glad that they didn't show the plane going down. That would have been too much.
Do you all remember the shots of the fountain? That by far is the ugliest fountain or any sort of sculpture that I've ever seen in my life. It's nickname is the spewing uterus.
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