Rudy (1993)

Genre

Biography | Drama | Sport

Director

David Anspaugh

Country

USA

Cast

Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty, Charles S. Dutton, Robert Prosky, Jason Miller, Lili Taylor, Mitch Rouse, Chelcie Ross, Ron Dean, John Beasley, Vince Vaughn, Rudy Ruettiger

Storyline

Rudy (Sean Astin) has always been told that he was too small to play college football. But he is determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of playing for Notre Dame.

Opinion

Here I am reviewing another inspirational, motivational, feel-good sport film. And here I am saying basically the same things over and over again. Like that "Rudy" is a highly clichéd and predictable underdog tale that is slightly uplifting. But it's also boring. 

This is your typical underdog defeating the world kind of story but there really isn't anything else going on other than that. It's all about Rudy, a guy who just wants to play college football, and it's another true story. And like I said before is tremendously predictable. But that's the same with most of the films of this genre.

Something unusual this film does is putting the sport aside. The film indeed focuses on all the things the title character has to do to fulfill his dream and the actual football and playing football takes a back seat. This is a good thing because sport scenes always look fake in movies, but if you want to see a film about football you may want to avoid it.

The film's biggest flaw is the character. While Rudy is a guy one is supposed to like and relate to - which is basically what always happens in these films -, to my surprise the film didn't give me enough to care about the character. And eventually the film didn't really have an emotional impact on me.

The acting isn't very inspired either. While Sean Astin does a fairly good job as the leading character, the supporting cast delivers shallow, flat performances.