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20
American Carol, An Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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All of Us Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
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We Are Marshall
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MPAA RATING: PG for emotional thematic material, a crash scene, and mild language
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie, David Strathairn, Ian McShane, Kate Mara, January Jones, and Kimberly Williams
For the team at Marshall University and the small West Virginia community around it, Marshall football is more than just a sport, it's a way of life. So, on a fateful night in 1970, when 75 members of the football team and coaching staff were killed in a plane crash, those left behind struggled to cope with the devastating loss. The grieving families found hope and strength in the leadership of Jack Lengyel (McConaughey), a young coach who was determined to rebuild Marshall's football program and, in the process, helped to heal a community. (Warner Bros.)
| GENRE(S): | Drama |
| WRITTEN BY: |
Jamie Linden (also story)
Cory Helms (story) |
| DIRECTED BY: | McG |
| RELEASE DATE: |
DVD: September 18, 2007 Theatrical: December 22, 2006 |
| RUNNING TIME: | 127 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...
The average user rating for this movie is 8.3 (out of 10) based on 92 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Becky K. gave it an8:
The movie was enjoyable and moving. I am grateful they did not show the plane actually crashing. While the speeches by Matthew were well given by him, it was a little bit too Hollywood.
Chad S. gave it a7:
Although "We are Marshall" has its share of bombastic scenes, and you can't possibly get more bombastic than the scene in which the student body chants the film's namesake in unison; this plucky paean to the human spirit also displays a surprising amount of restraint, too. A great example is the plane crash; it's over in an eyeblink, because the filmmaker knows "We are Marshall" isn't about the victims of that fateful flight, it's about those people who are left behind. Another nice touch is how the football player who doesn't want to rejoin the team, never does, which negates the cliche of an athlete's dramatic return to his team, replete with rhythmic clapping and name-chanting. This character nimbly represents those people who thinks that people should stop confusing sports with family, religion, or any other slice of Americana deemed important to the country's persistence of identity. The football games are anti-climactic because it's beside the point if Marshall wins or loses. "We are Marshall" is about all the blood, sweat, and tears that went into the football program's revival. The victory is in the first kickoff.
Don W. gave it a6:
It moves very slow and Matthew McConaughey plays it really strange but the story is uplifting and very sentimental. Very much a downer movie and very sad. Not a date movie.
Stevin Z. gave it a7:
The human spirit is alive and can not be broken. Even in the face of tragedy we can rise from dust and back to greatness. That is the thesis of the move and in the true life events that inspired it. I found it to be good entertainment and uplifting. The characters were very good at bringing out the range of emotions that the story entails.
Mark B. gave it a6:
Learning that McG, the dude who brought you the glitzy and trashy Charlie's Angels and the glitzier and trashier Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle has been entrusted with this factual account of how the town of Huntington WV coped with and triumphed in the aftermath of a plane crash that wiped out most of their beloved Marshall College football team is like finding out that your father's funeral is going to be filmed by the guy who does the Girls Gone Wild videos. Surprisingly, McG does a mostly respectable, inoffensive job with the material (and this goes beyond his avoidance of all but a minimum of gratuitous cheerleader shots); his treatment is watchable, occasionally moving, and wonderfully acted by its two male leads. Matthew McConaughey, as Coach Jack Lengyel, who brings himself in to restore the team's and town's morale if not their statistics, rebounds nicely from Failure to Launch with a warm, charismatic portrayal that provides this potentially unbearable material with many tasteful and extremely welcome comic touches. (Gotta love the fact that he treats us to helpful quotes that aren't from Sports Illustrated or The Sporting News, but from...well, I won't spoil it for you.) David Straithairn's less flashy depiction of University President Donald Dedmon certainly isn't a "career role" the way that his unforgettable Edward R. Murrow was in Good Night, and Good Luck, but Straithairn's willingness to play the yin to McConaughey's scene-stealing yang reflects well on the actor's total integrity, lack of ego, and willingness to live up to the oft-quoted philosophy of "loving art in yourself, not yourself in art"; Straithairn once again proves himself a character actor of the highest order. The subplot involving a town waitress who was engaged to one of the ill-fated players is touching, whether or not it actually happened, and there's certainly something to be said for any movie that attempts to explore (if not question outright) Vince Lombardi's noxious-if-taken-the-wrong-way sports-as-life philosophy of "winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". Nevertheless, We Are Marshall ultimately fails to score because of a very basic structural fumble: the fatal plane crash occurs scant minutes into the film, and we never get to know any of the original Marshall team (except, briefly, the coach). Beyond the obvious problem that, as far as air disaster movies go, this makes We Are Marshall look less like United 93 than the original Final Destination, it limits our ability to empathize or identify with the surviving townspeople's relationships with folks that are so obviously and schematically written as ciphers intentionally devoid of any identity other than as symbols. I must regrettably agree to disagree with the brilliant Chad S., who thought that the movie's 99% focus on those left behind is what made it successful; for me, the Vera Petersen/ Maris Crane approach is highly unsatisfactory, and causes We Are Marshall, however well intentioned it obviously is, to fall short of being the tribute to the team, the school and the town that it so sincerely sets out to be.
Andy J. gave it a10:
The 1970's realism is missed by most "professional" critics here. From the plaid jackets and pants to the difficult processing of grief within proud people, We Are Marshall connects to real people of the time who had to live their lives sans therapists, psychotherapists and polpular self help books. Their struggle rings true to most movie viewers but not to most movie critics because the viewers don't need to be impressed by subtleties that only art slaves and fashion clones would demand to get from film. The 1970's was a unique time and Huntington, WV a different region in that time than metropolitan areas like L. A., Chicago and New York City. We Are Marshall is a tribute and triumph that most folks get without the a background in literary and film criticism.
Billy B. gave it an8:
Even though some parts of the movie were a bit over the top, I thought this movie was fantastic in the way the characters were portrayed. I also think they showed the impact of the plane crash in a good way.
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