In honor of football season…

Posted by Movie_Maven

October 1, 2008 |

Movie_Maven_Jr is studying personal achievement in her Life Skills class and the teacher was discussing the film Rudy (1993), the true story of Daniel “Rudy” Ruettiger whose dream was to play football for Notre Dame in the mid 1970s. Being considerably smaller than his teammates, and not as athletically-inclined, he beat the odds. Starring Sean Astin, Ned Beatty, Jon Favreau, Charles S. Dutton, and a very young, very thin Vince Vaughn, and directed by David Anspaugh (of “Hoosiers” fame), this film is a must see, particularly for the moving score by Jerry Goldsmith who should have gotten at least an Oscar nod for this one.

Since I am a football fanatic and own the movie, I sat her down for what I hoped would be a life-affirming event. Being a LOTR fanatic, she kept calling Rudy “Sam-wise” throughout the film, much to my chagrin. When I finally threatened to take away her LOTR extended-release DVDs if she didn’t watch and enjoy the film, she settled down. That is, until I whipped out the kleenex box in preparation for the tear-fest I knew was coming.

Now Movie_Maven_Jr is a sap off the old block, often reduced to tears in numerous films, so I figured she would be in need of some kleenex as well. Since I had seen the film, oh, like, 40 times already, I knew when I was going to cry, and shed a few tears in preparation for the big downpours. Of course, she was more entertained by my precursor crying than the movie, and, as a result, failed to grasp the big picture (pun intended) and cry herself.

At any rate, I still love it and highly recommend it to everyone, even non-football fans.