The 1st and Ten Blogathon – The Express (2008)

This is my second of 6 submissions for the The 1st and Ten Blogathon being run by J-Dub over at Dubism and Quiggy of The Midnite Drive-In

Tnx for letting me take part!

–

“21 straight lines five yards apart. That is a football field. But there are other lines you don’T see that run deeper and wider. All the way through the country, and aren’t part of any game.” – Ernie Davis

Number of Times Seen – Twice (27 Mar 2009 and 4 Sep 2019)

Brief Synopsis – Biography of the first Black college football player to win the prestigious Heisman Award in 1961.

My Take on it – This is a really enjoyable football biopic that I recall seeing on airplane more than a decade ago.

They manage to find a way to set the story and tone of the era really well while at the same time we can see much about the character’s family and friends that affect them even more in the quest to succeed both on and off the field.

This film deals heavily on the issue of racial tension both in the North and South and we can see that during that era, that was (unfortunately) the norm.

The cast is superb with Rob Brown and Dennis Quaid both doing great jobs with their roles.

The story of Ernie Davis is a fascinating one and works on numerous levels

Charles S. Dutton is great here too and despite having a small role, he succeeds in making his character feel so impactful on those around him.

The story is told from a very realistic perspective and they succeed in making it feel even more relevant to today’s world.

The fact that this is based on a true story helps raise the level of impact even higher especially within the context of how accurate some the scenes seem to be and work really well.

The football scenes are choreographed really well and are presented realistically to the extent that we can now get a better understanding of things and make it all very enjoyable to watch as the story moves forward in order to show us how momentous these characters and events have become in the history of the sport.

Bottom Line – Great biopic that is able to capture the story and tone of the time quite well. They deal with issues of racial tension extremely well and we get to see that it wasn’t only coming from places in the South. The cast is great and both Brown and Quaid are superb in this movie. Loved seeing Dutton in a small yet very impactful role. The premise is told really well and they manage to make the story feel impactful especially within the context of how much has changed in the days since this event truly happened. The football scenes are thrilling to watch and we get a clear picture about how momentous these events truly were. Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – The scene where Ernie Davis is introduced on the field during a Cleveland Brown’s home pre-season game was filmed at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The uniquely styled rooftop lights and press box are visible behind Rob Brown. (From IMDB)

Rating – Globe Worthy (8/10)

_______________________________________