We Are Marshall

Got to see the premier of "We Are Marshall" last week, courtesy of Dallas and Rivals.com. Must admit, I was a little apprehensive due to the presence of Matthew McConaughey, since he can be somewhat of a blowhard. But don't let that stand in your way of seeing this film, which I thought was wonderfully done.


And McC (not to be confused with McG who is the director) actually plays the perfect role for himself. I'd be curious to know a little about the actual Coach Lengyl, just to see how closely his character is portrayed in the film. I'd suspect McConaughey embellishes the character a little, but his quirky wack-a-doo-ness offers some well needed comic relief to this tear jerker. Yeah, I was near tear. Swelled up within the 1st 15 minutes, so kudos to 'Marshall' for that.

Must admit, I knew very little about the Marshall plane crash tragedy of 1970. But that's not entirely what this film is about. 'Marshall' deals with how the entire college campus and surrounding community was rocked by the crash, which killed 75 team members, coaching staff, supporters, and flight crew. The central focus is the resurrection Marshall's football program in the midst of this tragedy, which only had a handful of team members left (who were fortunately left behind for their final road game due to injury). 'Marshall' also presents the morale dilemma of when is it appropriate for those left behind to return to 'normalcy.'

As most know, I'm usually not a fan of these big mega-movies, and there are some of your typical sports movie cliches here, but overall I say bravo to 'We are Marshall.'

Bring tissue.