In We Are Marshall, the dubious tandem of director McG (Charlie’s Angels) and actor Matthew McConaughey team up to relive the story of the 1970 Marshall University football team that was lost in a plane crash coming home from a game against Eastern Carolina. The deaths of 75 players, coaches and boosters was a devastating blow to the university and the surrounding community, leaving many to wonder whether there would ever be football again at Marshall. The resulting film is a poorly managed, severely miscast, walking sports cliché.
Enter McConaughey as coach Jack Lengyel, a man who sought out the opportunity to help Marshall get back on the field and teach an entire community to keep on living. Full of inspiration and annoying quirks, Lengyel reassembles the program with the help of Red Dawson (Matthew Fox), the lone coach left after the tragic crash.
Seeing as this has been built up as one of those standard inspirational football movies, it is easy to expect and to forgive plenty of sports movie clichés. From the eccentricity of the head coach, played awkwardly by McConaughey, to the rising score that precedes a very calculated dramatic moment, the filmmaker does not shy away from these clichés, but rather embraces them – all to the displeasure of the viewer.
Matthew McConaughey provides a jittery eccentricity to Coach Lengyel which is meant to show energy and enthusiasm, but more or less resembles someone who is walking around with their pants on too tight. As much as this may excite female viewers, it does nothing to help the film along. His accent is also a bit suspect – Lengyel was from Ohio, but McConaughey delivers a dialect somewhere between Knute Rockne and George W. Bush.
Article comments
1 - jt
I loved this movie! It was very inspirational and the people of Huntington also like the movie, and to me, that's all that matters, that the movie did them proud. I wore my We Are Marshall shirt to the movie also.
2 - RJ Elliott
Marshall could probably beat the Lions...
3 - RJ Elliott
...even without live players.
4 - RJ Elliott
Is what I'm saying...
5 - MOM from VA.
As a Mom of five athletic children, I would definately suggest all parents of athletes view this movie. Whether or not Matthew or Matthew were excellent for the role they played, the ideal aspect of the movie, was that adversity CAN be overcome. Great movie! Thanks for taking me back to a time in my life that was long forgotten.
6 - Parker Tyler
I thought the film was inspirational, although some scenes like the President begging in the rain were questionable. The end of the movie history of the program's record was something of a shock. They hadn't had a winning season for six years and didn't have another one until 1984.
7 - J.Kilgore
The doctor who delivered me was Dr.Chambers,the Marshall football team doctor who died in this plane crash.I believe he is proud of how this community pulled together after the tragety and built the winningest college football team in the USA from 1990 to 2000.The adversity that was overcome after this tragety was portrayed in this movie exactly the way the town of Huntington and anyone affected by the crash wanted it.That's why it has taken so long to be told.(GO HERD)
8 - Brian
Winningest football team from 1990-2000? Yorue talking about the Seminoles right?