Now Playing
Critics & Publications
Archives: A-Z Index
Advanced Search

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

sort by name

sort by score

38 12 Rounds
48 17 Again
76 Adventureland
48 Angels & Demons
54 Battle for Terra
xx Bruno
80 Coraline
40 Dance Flick
83 Drag Me to Hell
72 Earth
45 Fast & Furious
61 Fighting
34 Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
72 Gran Torino
73 Hangover, The
47 Hannah Montana: The Movie
51 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
54 Imagine That
41 Knowing
32 Land of the Lost
56 Monsters vs. Aliens
34 My Life in Ruins
51 My Sister's Keeper
46 Next Day Air
42 Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian
54 Observe and Report
25 Obsessed
48 Proposal, The
70 Public Enemies
61 Soloist, The
83 Star Trek
64 State of Play
55 Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, The
52 Terminator Salvation
35 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
77 Under the Sea 3D
88 Up
43 X-Men Origins: Wolverine
34 Year One

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

sort by name

sort by score

67 $9.99
75 24 City
66 Adoration
74 Afghan Star
48 Alien Trespass
56 American Violet
82 Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57 Away We Go
81 Beaches of Agnes, The
62 Big Man Japan
28 Big Shot-Caller, The
78 Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55 Brothers Bloom, The
82 Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx Call of the Wild
63 Cheri
62 Cherry Blossoms
63 Dead Snow
65 Departures
18 Downloading Nancy
58 Easy Virtue
70 End of the Line, The
77 Every Little Step
64 Examined Life
80 Food, Inc.
38 Gigantic
56 Girl from Monaco, The
67 Girlfriend Experience, The
87 Gomorrah
89 Goodbye Solo
63 Great Buck Howard, The
79 Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx Home
82 Hunger
91 Hurt Locker, The
16 I Hate Valentine's Day
81 Il Divo
54 Is Anybody There?
71 Jerichow
58 Julia
74 Lemon Tree
36 Life is Hot in Cracktown
40 Limits of Control, The
42 Little Ashes
64 Lymelife
50 Management
57 Merry Gentleman, The
66 Moon
35 New York
62 Not Forgotten
xx Offshore
78 O'Horten
64 Outrage
40 Paris 36
54 Pontypool
71 Pressure Cooker
52 Quiet Chaos
83 Revanche
67 Rudo y Cursi
86 Seraphine
65 Sex Positive
70 Shall We Kiss?
77 Sin Nombre
59 Sleep Dealer
74 Song of Sparrows, The
54 Stoning of Soraya M., The
82 Sugar
84 Summer Hours
61 Sunshine Cleaning
28 Surveillance
42 Tennessee
63 Tetro
64 Throw Down Your Heart
80 Tokyo Sonata
63 Tokyo!
70 Tony Manero
74 Treeless Mountain
88 Tulpan
74 Two Lovers
83 Tyson
83 U2 3D
60 Under Our Skin
69 Unmistaken Child
69 Valentino: The Last Emperor
22 What Goes Up
45 Whatever Works
57 Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

Express, The
Universal Pictures


8.3

based on 27 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

FILM:

MPAA RATING: PG for thematic content, violence and language involving racism, and for brief sensuality

Starring Dennis Quaid, Rob Brown, Omar Benson Miller, Clancy Brown, and Charles S. Dutton

Based on a true story, "The Express" follows the extraordinary life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. His fight for equality and respect forever changed the face of American sports, and his story continues to inspire new generations. (Universal Pictures)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Robert Gallagher (book) Charles Leavitt
DIRECTED BY:	Gary Fleder
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 20, 2009 Theatrical: October 10, 2008
RUNNING TIME:	129 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Chicago Reader Andrea Gronvall

Rob Brown (Stop-Loss) gives a graceful, understated performance as Ernie Davis.

Film Threat Stina Chyn

Even if you already knew the facts, you won’' be able to help but reflect in awe at how much progress in the fight against discrimination has been made on a societal level.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

While Ernie's on-field accomplishments were extraordinary, it was the environment in which he struggled to achieve them that makes him the worthy subject of a motion picture.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Involving and inspiring in the way a good movie about sports almost always is.

USA Today Mike Clark

Despite appealing performances and kinetic football scenes, the storytelling is mostly conventional.

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub

Deserves plenty of credit for exploring racial issues story in more realistic terms.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

If a movie of this kind didn't traffic in overstatement, it wouldn't be doing its job, which is to provide a strong dose of simple, rousing emotion.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

The Express finesses a cinematic hat trick: It's entertaining, deeply moving and genuinely important.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

Thanks to a rock-solid performance by Dennis Quaid, nice historical touches and energetic direction by Gary Fleder, the tried-and-true formula is given a welcome shot of adrenaline.

Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling

Has Dennis Quaid really never played a college football coach before? With his handsome, craggy face and likable intensity, he was born for the job, and he's the main attraction in The Express.

Austin Chronicle Josh Rosenblatt

Though The Express may stretch the limits of probability, holding up Davis as an athletic superman incapable of losing, it's also that rare sports film that isn't afraid to dabble in personal and social ambiguity.

New York Post Kyle Smith

A decent football movie, just about good enough to be the 40th best episode of "Friday Night Lights" . . . which has aired 39 episodes.

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

Many inspirational sports movies provide only junk food for thought; this one contains some authentic reflections of sport in the civil rights era.

TV Guide Perry Seibert

Davis led an unquestionably inspirational life, but The Express, however heartfelt, is uninspired.

Empire William Thomas

While never as trailblazing as its subject, The Express is a worthy addition to the lengthy canon of sports biopics

New York Daily News Joe Neumaier

Sports biodramas generally take one of two tacks: gauzily sentimental or scrappy tale of struggle. The Express runs the thin line between the two and, to its benefit, more often than not hits the first mark.

Variety John Anderson

Crowdpleasing and oh-so-predictable.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

It's a fine moral and an admirable statement, but it's the portrait of an icon rather than the story of the person thrust into that position.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Maybe the real Ernie Davis really was this perfect, but the movie plays as if the filmmakers didn't want to offend his family.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

This movie is especially egregious since it bundles the civil rights era, garden-variety bigotry, and the achievements of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

Any one of these narrative components might have made for a worthy picture. But that would have taken a more imaginative writer than Charles Leavitt and a more sensitive director than Gary Fleder.

Los Angeles Times Mark Olsen

If one will pardon the obvious analogy, The Express ends up feeling like a fumble at the goal line, coming across as simple-minded and melodramatic.

Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips

Too often The Express sidelines its own main character in favor of the lemon-sucking, jaw-jutting glower patented by Quaid.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

The Express eventually reaches its triumph-of-the-human-spirit climax, but it yanks too hard on the heart strings during the long journey there.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Long on inspiration, short on specifics.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

The Express may prove valuable to movie historians since it's a compendium of virtually every sports movie cliché ever contrived.

Village Voice Robert Wilonsky

Like all formulaic biopics, The Express sacrifices the details for the Big Picture--hagiography without the humanity.

The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

m smitty gave it a9:
A very entertaining movie that is well worth the money. Theres a little bit of everything in the movie with very good football attributes.

Jay H. gave it a3:
Endless and boring, a good hour could have cut and it wouldn't matter. I have seen all this SO many times before. It is so cliche ridden it is ridiculous. The acting and the story are way too melodramatic.Totally predictable.

Steve Tripp gave it a7:
Good film overall. Didn't have the fluidity that most good piopics have but I still recommend it.

Chuck D. gave it a9:
Excellent flick

B K. gave it a7:
Inspiring story told strictly by0the-book. The lead nails the part! Quaid has done this part many times before.

Sharon C. gave it a10:
I truly do not understand why this movie is given such a low rating by the critics. The film portrays our countries attitude towards African Americans at that time with great insight and accuracy. The acting is superb by both Dennis Quaid and Rob Brown. Plus, the supporting cast ain't to bad either. One feature of the film that I really liked was the editing...slicing actually scenes into the story. During the 50's, and 60's I watched Jim Brown play for the Cleveland Browns from the stands.

Jerry V. gave it a9:
Very good sports movie probably one of the best.

Express, The Universal Pictures

Express, The
Universal Pictures