On Nov. 14, 1970, an airplane carrying Marshall University football players, coaches and fans crashed. Seventy-five people died, as did a very large part of the heart of Huntington, W.Va.
The university considered suspending football the next season or abandoning it altogether, but a groundswell of support led the program to regroup the following season. Few were interested in taking the coaching job, but small-school Ohio coach Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) took the unenviable job.
"We Are Marshall" solemnly follows the resurrection of the team and the town's spirit. More than a simple football movie, the theme is not about winning or losing, but finding the strength to move on in spite of tragedy. The screen courses with 1970s detail, with sideburns, bad hair, garish clothing and those horribly underprotective football helmet facemasks from the era.
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McConaughey, usually sappy date-movie fodder, slips effortlessly into the role of a fist-pumping, brawny coach, proving he can match his doppelgänger, Josh Lucas ("Glory Road"), beat for beat.
Former music-video director McG, born Joseph McGinty Nichol, shows the first sign of maturity with this film after starting off with two substance-free "Charlie's Angels" flicks.
For the first time, McG finally tosses aside the crutch of rapid, MTV-style editing and finds his storytelling chops. "We Are Marshall" is as straightforward, leisurely and old-fashioned as the "Charlie's Angels" films are postmodern and frantic.
"We Are Marshall" excels in paying tribute to Lengyel's passion to beat the odds and disprove the naysayers. McG effectively taps the pulse of the few returning players and coaches, as well as the fresh recruits who nervously fill the jersey numbers of ghosts. The film falters only when it tries to spread its game plan too wide, to encapsulate side stories about the father and fiancee of a player who died in the crash.
The on-field action is brutally realistic, with accurate choreography and well-trained athletes. McG avoids the temptation to make the hits seem like seismic eruptions, as they did in "Friday Night Lights," "Gridiron Gang" and "Invincible." The tackles in "We Are Marshall" are believably dirty and improvised rather than video-gamelike missile launches.
McG sticks to the standard sports-movie formula of a rag-tag squad that rallies behind a charismatic coach and suffers early on-field embarrassment, only to rally for an all-important Big Game. The most memorable moments take place off the field: Players console one another, shedding their shells of masculinity for raw emotional support. Lengyel breaks down asking a rival coach for help in reconstructing his offense. A school administrator stands in the rain outside an NCAA bigwig's home, begging to allow the team to play freshmen.
The title comes from the team's pep chant, which the film effectively makes ring true for you even if you've never cared about the Marshall Thundering Herd. For 127 minutes, these actors are Marshall, and so are you.
Phil's review
We Are Marshall
***
Rated: PG for emotional thematic material, a crash scene and mild language.
Cast: Matthew McConaughey, David Strathairn, Ian McShane, January Jones.
Director: McG.
Family call: A fine family film.
Running time: 127 minutes.
