Rudy Review

        One month done and we’re in February. And as is tradition in this country, we got a big game coming up. And it only makes sense to talk about one football movie to celebrate such an occasion. Now this is my first-time watching Rudy so take this review as a genuine first impression. I’ve heard from everywhere that it’s considered the best football movie all around. After viewing it, I can see why. 

1. Daniel Eugene Ruettiger 

        If you’ve ever heard of the movie or you’re a big enough fan of the university, you’d probably heard of this guy. His story has been a source of inspiration where nowadays would seem impossible for any kid to try out for a legendary football program. The fact that he did it as a walk-on says a lot and how much he had to sacrifice is impressive.

        With all that, how does the movie represent his life? For the most part, I’m a sucker for underdog stories and this one is up there in that sports sub-genre. You see there’s a spectrum of sports movies where you can differentiate which is which. The most famous ones are the historical since they focus on a specific team or a player. Rudy is on that category. While the others are mostly fiction but retains that rugged individualism with mixed results. 

        What makes Rudy work is that he goes through so much just to play with his favorite team. We see that drive in the very beginning when he’s playing football with his brothers. Right down to reciting Notre Dame’s head coach Knute Rockne’s famous locker room speech. He loves the school and is willing to go through any lengths to be in the team. 

        While it takes a moment in the film to have him be a Fighting Irish. We see just how much Rudy deals with in terms of doubt, and the many obstacles. It’s ones of those films where that doubt is justified given how Rudy has everything going against him. His brothers don’t believe he’ll make it since they attribute his want to just being fanatical. Especially when his own girlfriend doesn’t go with him to South Bend.

        Sean Astin’s performance really sells just how much he can take it as far as pain and disappointment is concerned. Like, in anyone’s shoes when they get a letter of rejection. One would just walk and quit. For Rudy that’s not the case at all. He’s one to ride out the community college and try again in the application. Persistence is the theme of the movie. Like it’s not so much of him going in for the touchdown, but being in the team and contributing in any way is the main idea. 

        Lastly, I do love the supporting characters. I think my favorite out of all of them is Fortune who’s the groundskeeper for the stadium. He lets the idealistic man volunteer in the groundskeeping crew, but he sees through the façade that he wants to be a player. He’s a no nonsense guy that gives him the tough love when Rudy goes through the motion of everything not going his way. 

        The other is his best friend, Pete. That’s a guy who you want to be your friend since he’s the only one that sticks with Rudy. Going so far as to buying him a jacket to keep his motivation high. For as much as I like him as a character, he’s only in the beginning moments of the film. Not to give away what happens but it’s unfortunate that he had to bite the dust. On the flipside, becoming the motivation for Rudy go for his dream. 

2. Mystic of Notre Dame

        This isn’t the first time that Notre Dame was the subject of a feature film. Specifically, it’s in the background but the people associated with the university gives it the mystique of it. For instance, two films were made in the 1931 and 1940. The Spirit of Notre Dame and Knute Rockne, All American focus on the coach and the player in question. With that exposure, it’s unheard of to have a university get that level of awareness to the general audience. Now, there are other sports movies that have other universities, but they can’t quite match the uniqueness like Notre Dame. 

        In the context of the movie, how I see it is that it’s sort of like a tease to Rudy. In one scene for instance has the guy join a booster club, but is told to leave since he’s not an official student. Another is when he’s trying to get some tickets, all the while the camera zooms out and we see the game on his left side. It all works to have that underdog motif in the film. No matter how much far he goes, where he wants to be is right there. 

3. Legacy

        The film was a modest success and has gotten into the hearts of the sports film aficionados. I was surprised that there was two actors who actually got their start, as far as I’m aware. Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn appear in the film before they were house hold names. We’ve seen Jon’s work with his Iron Man film and in the Star Wars show The Mandalorian. In fact, Favreau wrote the screenplay for the film Swingers and had Vaughn show up. From there, he became one of the many faces of comedy in the early 2000s.

4. Overall

        Rudy is a football gem and another classic of the underdog films. It’s tough to rank it among the best football movies, but it’s certainly up there.