It’s time again for the final game of the football season. As always, I’ve reviewed football films of the past in anticipation of the Super Bowl. For a while, I wanted to tackle this movie, but I could never find the right moment. Having finally watched the film and digested it, I can honestly say that this is probably the best representation of the sport itself. Granted, it’s approximately 50 years old. As well as not seeing a lot of talk about this one, I at least want to get the ball rolling on that.
1. Life of a Player
This isn’t the first Nick Nolte film that I’ve seen. When everybody thinks about him, they can only picture a very haggard look that is like something from a police mugshot. Of course, my first exposure to him was in Ang Lee’s Hulk. Although I haven’t seen any of his other films to get a better idea of him as an actor. With that, I have to say that he plays this jaded player so well. In the film, we follow football player Phil as he navigates between his playing career and the bureaucracy he’s experiencing.
I was surprised that the whole film is based on the book by the same name. Additionally, the author was a football player named Peter Gent. Gent detailed the book by reminiscing on what he experienced when he was playing for the Dallas Cowboys. It was one of the first instances of allowing the reader or any casual fan of the sport to have a look into a player’s life. Revolutionary at the time, when you take into consideration that the NFL likes to have a clean image in a rough sport.
I’m getting ahead of myself with that statement. I just love how raw and gritty the whole film is. Watching the trailer it’s almost like a deceiving one since it gives you an impression that the whole film is like a comedy. When you really get down to it, it’s about a player who doesn’t know it’s his last hurrah still under the belief that he’s a great player. To me, it’s more interesting when the movie doesn’t show a season but is more of an intimate profile of one player within a season.
The characterization of Phil Elliot makes him intriguing character-wise. For one thing, he’s not a bombastic guy by any means. When he’s outside the football field, he’s a lonely guy that keeps to himself. The scene when the whole team is partying illustrates that further. We see the team party hard and Phil just roams around as he’s weighing his options on who to talk to. It makes him a sort of sad character in a sense that this isn’t a movie where he’s making a comeback or given a shot. The movie has him wrestling with the idea of how long can he play. And it’s apparent that he's a rebel of the team and is the jaded one.
It would’ve been a by-the-number sports film to show the player from the start of the season to the end. And have the final moments center on the championship or a superior team facing off against an underdog. This film is none of that, I love the realism that is in display of the film. The way it opens just shows us an aftermath of the sport, seeing Phil in bed uncomfortable from the game. Topping it off is the beer and assortment of pills on the nightstand. Showing us that even though they’re athletes to the highest degree, it takes a lot to overcome an injury.
2. What the NFL Doesn’t Want To Show You
I think what separates this film from most of its contemporaries, even including the other sports is that it’s brutal. The amount of abuse and wear that the player goes through, especially in that time granted is just unfathomable. I know I’m typing about something that I haven’t experienced, but I will say that I’m surprised that this film so to speak has been swept under the rug when it comes to talking about football films.
Not to say that there’s a conspiracy involving the league to push the film into obscurity, but I will say that the film has that punk edge to it. In my opinion, it takes a very liberal approach in the way of showing what a player went through at that time. It’s not glamorized in the least bit, but shows the nature of the sport when you really think about it. For one thing, it’s a business. The one moment where it’s apparent is when Phil is in the building to meet with the coach, he sees a diagram of the company that owns the team.
One can think that the film is pretty dated with it’s portrayal of the football players and their life outside of the field. I think that the film offers a tiny glimpse through the veil sort of say as to show that there’s just athletes getting put through the ringer. To me, it’s about as blue collar as you can get with the camaraderie that it’s in display and the overall casualness when they’re going over the opposing team. To me, it’s necessary to show something since we can’t assume that the NFL is everything that any potential player can dream of.
Lastly, I wouldn’t say that the film has a anti-football lean to it. Not even in the moments when we see Phil encounter the bureaucracy of the team. It’s an intriguing character study of a player who is conflicted with what he wants to do. As I mentioned earlier, it’s not an underdog movie. More so that it’s a film that showcases when a player is jaded enough where he has to decide whether he is really good as he thinks he is. Introspective in a sense where we see the grit to it in the film’s favor.
3. Overall
North Dallas Forty is one of the most underrated football films and a hidden gem in 70s cinema.
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