My All American

source: My All American

I was in Fort Smith, Arkansas when President Nixon flew up to Fayetteville for the game. I was one of the Boy Scouts who held the rope for him on his way to Marine One.

Decent football movie based on a true story. Actors did a decent job, though I can't specifically say anyone was a standout. Script was, if not overly original, at least well written and produced believable characters. Characters were a bit 2D, but considering most are based on real people with real families, making up extra drama for the story is contraindicated. Directing, cinematography, CGI all decent. Good take on the story. Overall, decent way to spend a couple hours.

What an emotional great ride My All American is. It's a beautiful movie about humanity using football as the vehicle. In that I don't see this as a football, or even sport, movie as it explores how greatness uses our world around us to which, yes, football is a part. It's the exploration of the human spirit and how it rises around the life one lives within. Freddie Stenmark was a true force of nature. The kind of person who is uplifting to all those in his sphere. He was a positive force who unrelentingly worked to overcome the deficiencies of being small in a tough world of football where size is, perhaps, valued on par with skill. That never stopped Freddie and the story of a life lived positively with grace is one for the ages. If a story were to use football as a backdrop it couldn't be better than the 1969 meeting of The University of Texas and the Arkansas Razorbacks. Texas coach Daryl Royal had handed Arkansas their only loss the previous year, but was not content with his team's record of 6 and 4 that year. The rivalry between these two teams, always heady, reached a fevered pitch for their 1969 meeting which would decide the national championship. It was a battle for the ages living up to it's advanced billing as The Game Of The Century as college football was also celebrating it's 100th year. As large a role as this game plays in the movie it's fitting ending is only a wonderful fulfilling within a greater story. It's this great story revolving around Freddie Stenmark's abilities and heart combined with coach Daryl Royal's vision and guidance that trumps the big game. My All American is one of the finest tributes to a fallen hero I've ever witnessed on celluloid. Aaron Eckhart's portrayal of coach Daryl Royal is wonderful. Smartly, the movie opens with an aged Royal giving an interview in which a young reporter asks which All American to come out of his system stood above all others. The answer is a perfect way to begin the re-telling of an inspirational story which could end with tremendous sadness, but celebrates how one player defined both the coach and team, and continues to do so. Special mention goes to Finn Whittrock's Freddie Stenmark. Whittrock honors the legacy with a moving, very realistic, look at one of football's all-time greats who deserves being remembered This is a movie, IMHO, that has such appeal that it should be seen by all…even those with no interest in football. A tremendous testament to a life well lived tragically cut short. It's not an understatement that in terms of sports meeting humanity this one stands with the classic "Pride of the Yankees". It's that good.

Just the values it has this history is so underrated. Is a great movie, with an awesome new cast and some fresh blood. Might seem like same old same old football movie, but is not like that. I've seen many football movies (Invincible, We are Marshalls, Any Given Sunday,Gridiron Gangs, remember the titans, the blind side, and some others) and this one got me, is natural, soft and with 'ok' performances, not Oscar worthy, but they're great for the movie. I recommend it if you love movies, drama and sports is great for you to watch with your teens and show them some values about endurance, love, family and team. My favorite quote was "Football doesn't build character, it eliminates out the weak ones". That's just applicable to life and anything you pursue with your heart.

"We would not have been national champions if you had not been on that field." Freddie Steinmark (Wittrock) is a tremendous football player, but was always told he was too small to play for a major college. When Texas coach Darrell Royal (Eckhart) recruits him, Freddie works harder than anyone on the team and finally earns a starting job. In the midst of a run at the National Championship season Freddie's knee begins to bother him. When he sees the doctor his life, and the legacy of Texas football is changed forever. I am a huge fan of sports movies, especially ones that are true. This one took awhile for me to get invested in, but when I did I really got into it. This is not one of the best sports movies I have ever seen, but it is very much worth seeing and I do highly recommend it. The movie has great sports scenes as well as a very emotional arc that can only be true, this isn't something you can make up. Sports movie fans will really like this, and this is actually a decent family movie. It is rated PG, but some of the subject matter may need to be explained. Overall, a very good movie that I recommend. Not one of the best sports movies ever made, but a very good addition to the genre. I give this a high B.

Although he only lived for 22 years on planet earth Freddie Joe Steinmark touched a whole lot of lives and still does today in the great state of Texas. He's their version of the Gipper for those University of Texas Longhorns. The film is done in flashback with Freddie's Knute Rockne, UT's coach Darrell Royal played here by Aaron Eckhart. Freddie Joe Steinmark did not make All American, but in Royal's mind he's his once and forever My All American. Finn Wittrock plays Freddie with a minimum of sentimentality who led that Texas team to its first national championship in a generation and then it's discovered he has one bad almost always terminal version of bone cancer. Both Wittrock and Eckhart are supported by an impeccably cast group of supporting players. To this day in Texas the Longhorns win for Freddie the way Knute Rockne had them win one for George Gipp. The film is also a winner.

. . . in the current Docudrama, MY ALL AMER!CAN. A runt-like Colorado boy is the only player on his public high school football team attending mass daily. His dream is to play college ball at Notre Dame, like "The Gipper," and continue on to the Chicago Bears. He's going to have tons of babies with his high school sweetie on the side. When his only scholarship offer comes from an apparently Lily White University of Texas grid-iron squad, his new goal is to lead the Longhorns to an unprecedented Cotton Bowl match-up against the integrated Fighting Irish & Whatnots. Though MY ALL AMER!CAN does not overtly caution against making "pacts with the Devil," this 20-year-old runt DOES lead U-T to a national championship in his final game to set up the impossible long-shot of a few years back: U-T playing ND in the Cotton Bowl three weeks later. But as soon as that match-up is set, the under-sized over-achiever has a leg amputated at the hip, due to a baseball-sized cancerous tumor. This allows the U-T coach to pull a page from legendary Notre Dame master Knute Rockne, and plead for his team to "Win one for Freddie!" Most football fans and religious folks will be totally disillusioned by MY ALL AMER!CAN (unless they're up to the mental gymnastics being talked about in this week's sports sections, about how the "devout" families of Gridder Bart Starr and hockey great Gordie Howe see nothing wrong in filling these aging legends with stem cells from aborted babies to keep them going for a few more inches).

As an Australian who knows absolutely nothing about American football (rugby union, rugby league and Australian football are our three types of football) this was a wonderful tearjerker of a movie. Beautifully paced and very well acted. I've never seen Eckhardt give such a well-rounded performance. This could have been just another soppy, cliched sports movie but instead it's an inspiring movie with a lot of heart. If you're not American, don't be put off. I strongly recommend it.

An elderly Coach Royal (Aaron Eckhart) is being interviewed about his playing days. He starts recounting one of his player named Freddie Steinmark (Finn Wittrock). Steinmark isn't an All-American player but he has an All-American heart. He is a hard-working, religious, and pious kid. He's the first to arrive and the last to leave. Linda Wheeler (Sarah Bolger) is his high school sweetheart. He plays for Royal's University of Texas Longhorns. Nothing really dramatic happens in the first two thirds of the movie. There are some cute stuff like his puppy love with Sarah Bolger. Wittrock isn't that charismatic and the character is very square. It's a very straight biopic. The writer should realize the meat of the story is the eventual expected medical issue. Honestly, I don't know anything about the true story. Since nothing happens for most of the movie, I assumed that some big tragedy happens in the climax. That's what happens in most of these movies and in this one, it's not that climatic. Even the twist is problematic. Essentially, Steinmark is too stubborn to go to a doctor. It's playing-thru-the-pain ethos on steroids. Even his refusing to use a wheelchair is problematic. He's willing to pop his stitches and ignore his doctor. There are ways to make this a compelling journey. It would make more emotional sense if people start pitying him. This could have been a great movie about the battle for his life. Instead, we're spending hours on the predictable football games.