We Are Marshall

So what's better than a sports movie? A sports movie with underdogs! As a movie lover, there are few things better than rooting for the underdog against some behemoth favorite. And wouldn't you know it? Most of the best underdogs are the real ones. Take the true story of the 1971 season for the Marshall Thundering Herd football team. A remarkable story, one that was turned into one of the most underrated sports movies around, 2006's We Are Marshall.

It's November 14, 1970 and the Marshall football team has just lost a late-season game to East Carolina. Flying back to campus in Huntington, the plane crashes just a mile short of the runway, killing all 75 people on-board including the coaching staff and most of the team. It is a tragedy that rocks the campus and college town, leaving the administration to decide if the next football season should be suspended. Following raucous, loyal support from the fans, Marshall decides to go forward with the upcoming season, hiring a little-known but energetic coach, Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey), to build the program up from nothing. With just a trio of players remaining from the team, Lengyel has his work cut out for him as one barrier and roadblock after another awaits. As Jack says though, sometimes it's more than just about winning. It's about giving it your all.

What a crazy, incredible true story. Director McG turns in a gem, an excellent sports story that hits all the right notes. It's difficult watching this in 2016 without thinking "How would a tragic incident like this play out in '16?" Like so many other sports movies tend to do, 'Marshall' actually does a good job of sticking to the truth, to the real-life people and events that developed following the plane crash. Maybe some smaller, quieter moments are tweaked and twisted, but the history and guts of the story are spot-on. That really appeals to me because McG and Co. aren't pandering to the audience for emotional responses. It's a heartfelt story about how the people, the students, the families, the football players coped with such a horrific. life-taking incident.

This is an interesting leading part for star Matthew McConaughey, featuring some of the best of his work. He plays Jack Lengyel, a coach who takes on the gargantuan task of starting a program from the ground-up with just three returning players, no coaching staff and lingering doubts about if they should do this. McConaughey brings a ton of energy to the part, and that's what Marshall needs. Quirky, funny, and very real, it is an excellent performance. He's taking on this difficult job for all the right reasons, which we see in a couple of the movie's most effective scenes. In the football scenes, he throws himself into the action with reckless abandon and it shows, adding something necessary to the proceedings. This isn't a part that will go down as one of McConaughey's best, but I certainly think it should. He's rarely been better.

Watching the new coach arrive, we see how he interacts with so many different people in so many different ways. In a movie featuring several very strong performances, Matthew Fox is a scene-stealer as Red Dawson, a coach who was supposed to be on the doomed plane but changed plans last second. Now, he's dealing with horrific amounts of survivor's guilt. His scenes with McConaughey are heart-breaking, funny, and like two brothers getting to know each other. Next up, Anthony Mackie (a favorite here) as Nate Ruffin, a star player who wasn't on the plane and now feels he must start up the team again as if it is his calling. He pushes and pushes himself through injury and the pain of losing his teammates. And last but not least, David Strathairn as Marshall President Donald Dedmon, tasked with making the decision to not suspend the football team and then back Jack in his crazy plan to get the team going again. Three excellent supporting parts.

Because this isn't a movie just about football, also look for Ian McShane as the father of one of the players who died in the accident. His son was engaged to a cheerleader, Annie (Kate Mara), who similarly struggles with what to do in the wake of the crash. January Jones and Kimberly Williams-Paisley have thankless roles as the coaches' wives.

Running 131-minutes, 'Marshall' covers a ton of ground with a lot of characters, but things never feel too rushed. We go from the crash to the aftermath to the coaching hire to building the team, practice through the first two games. The football -- from the practices to the games -- has a great energy, especially the movie's last game as Marshall looks to do the impossible. The soundtrack? A drum-heavy college marching band playing as the different plays develop, drumming in step with the on-screen action. It's a cool, stylish moment that anyone who's ever been to a college sport event with a marching band will definitely appreciate. The soundtrack itself is heavy with some classic 1970's rock, adding another welcome, nostalgic layer to the story.

A gem, one that as I read some critics' reviews, I see I may be on an island with my love of 'Marshall'! I'm a sucker for sports movies across the board, but this one is really, really good. Highly recommended.

We Are Marshall (2006): *** 1/2 /****

Unknown

Here we are again....amnesia. Okay, at least partial amnesia. I didn't really care for 2011's Unknown, but because Liam Neeson and some other typically reliable (and cool) co-stars were in it I stuck with it. I kept waiting for it to get better, and it didn't. Maybe I'm missing something. The reviews I'm reading seem to be from a different movie.

Traveling with his wife, Elizabeth (January Jones), to Berlin, Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) is prepping for a biotechnology summit. Going back to the airport to pick up a left-behind briefcase via taxi, Harris is in a horrific accident and is only saved by the driver (Diane Kruger). He wakes up some four days later though in a hospital with a serious head injury. Freaking out that his wife must be terrified at his disappearance, Harris heads back to the hotel, but Elizabeth doesn't even recognize him. She's with a different man (Aidan Quinn) who claims to be Dr. Martin Harris. Security forcibly removes Harris, leaving the good doctor to question what the hell is going on?

Because I'm struggling coming up with a transition here, the Wikipedia (yes!) entry lists this 2011 flick as a psychological thriller, and I'm thinking....yeah, I guess so. It seems like my 2012 Phrase of the Year, but like so many failures, there's a ton of potential here. Okay, maybe not a ton, but certainly some. Amnesia in thrillers is nothing new -- cough Bourne movies cough -- but when everything around you that you know just isn't right, that's an unsettling feel to watch. Your wife doesn't recognize you?  She's now with a different man claiming to be you? That's a great jumping off point.

Unfortunately that Twilight Zone feel to the story is undone by a couple different things. The biggest obviously is the execution. At one point, Neeson and Quinn are yelling the same conversation at a man to prove they each have talked to him before. Literally, word....for...word in unison in an angry, pissed off tone. I'm assuming it was a scene meant to be dramatic, but it got a laugh out of me. And that's the problem. The developing story is overdone. Neeson is running around Berlin yelling "I'm Dr. Martin Harris!" in seemingly every scene. That uncomfortable feeling becomes unintentional comedy.

The only reason I won't completely torch this film from director Jaume Collet-Serra is the cast. Even in schlock like this, they're still worthwhile. Liam Neeson is Liam Neeson. Even when the drama is overplayed, he's still fun to watch. Kruger makes the most of a part similar to her role in National Treasure 1 and 2. She's unknowing female sidekick, the pretty lady dragged along with our hero because he needs someone to talk to. Aw shucks, that January Jones sure is purty, but she just isn't a good actress. Quinn is okay in a pretty generic part. Bruno Ganz is a real bright spot as Jurgen, a former investigator Neeson's Harris uses to look for answers. Frank Langella is here too, but it's such an obvious, telegraphed part. When Frank bleeping Langella shows up 75 minutes into a movie, it's not because he's a Good Guy. That takes away some of the fun, although Langella at 74 is still all sorts of creepy and cool.

As things continue to unravel, I was hoping the big twist, the huge revelation would at least partially save the movie. Eh, not so much. When it comes along, it works in the moment, but that's all. Once you start to think about it, the whole story goes to hell. It's the type of twist that relies on far too much coincidence. At any number of given points, all it would take is one character saying one sentence to Neeson's Harris, and everything is settled. The problem? Then we have a 45-minute long movie. Movies held together like that -- because a scene NEEDS to happen -- come across as lazy to me. Steer clear, even if Liam Neeson is cooler than you.

Unknown <---trailer (2011): * 1/2 /****