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Rudy
From the Rocky school of film making comes 1993's Rudy, a fact-based sports melodrama that is slightly corny and manipulative, but the manipulation works...sort of. So does the charismatic performance from the actor in the title role.

Rudy Reuttiger is part of a large family in a steel mining town in Indiana who has dreamed of playing football for Notre Dame pretty much from the time he could crawl. His passion for football is unparalleled, unfortunately, his grades are less than spectacular and he is about half the size of the average football player. But Rudy has drive and determination and works harder at his dream than any guy on the team. Rudy has a long uphill battle ahead of him including a year of school at a different school before he can even glimpse his dream at the end of the tunnel.

Not really sure what all the fuss is regarding this film, which I have heard for years has brought grown men to tears. If the truth be told, it doesn't take a lot for a movie to make me cry. This movie really didn't do anything to ignite my tear ducts and it might be the fact that the movie is basically Rocky, transferred to an Indiana town, a college campus, and a football stadium. We have the pushed around underdog established from the beginning with a dream that is beginning to evaporate finally get a chance at said dream, but the journey to that shot is a very long one.

Angelo Pizzo's screenplay is too overly detailed, taking way too much time with exposition. As a matter of fact, it felt like so much time was taken with exposition and backstory that the most important parts of the story end up getting short shrift. We're halfway through the film before Rudy even gets the letter that says he's been accepted to Notre Dame, a moment in the film that I felt was severely underplayed. He reads the letter, gets a little choked up and takes it straight to his father. I think it should have been played with the same exuberance as the moment when Rudy learned that he actually made the team. And when he reconsiders and returns to the team after quitting, his return is actually greeted with the slow motion clap? Seriously? I thought the team all turning in their jerseys so Rudy could play was a bit much, but I LOVED when Rudy ran out of that tunnel for the first time.

Sean Astin does light up the screen in the title role and makes up for a lot of the predictable screenplay and David Anspach's manipulative direction. Future stars like Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Lili Taylor do pop up in small roles. The film is handsomely mounted with outstanding cinematography, loved that shot of the Notre Dame football stadium covered in snow and Jerry Goldsmith's music was superb, but this one did not quite live up to its reputation in this reviewer's opinion.