Review: The Express (2008)

Director: Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury)

Cast: Rob Brown (Finding Forrester, Coach Carter), Dennis Quaid (The Rookie, Any Given Sunday), Darrin Dewitt Henson (Soul Food), Omar Benson Miller (8 Mile, American Pie Presents Band Camp), Charles S. Dutton (Gothika, Roc)

The Deal: Ernie Davis (Brown) had to overcome many obstacles on his road to Syracuse University's football team. Under the guidance of Coach Schwartzwalder (Quaid) and the encouragement of legendary All-American running back Jim Brown (Henson), Ernie fights racial prejudice on and off the field to surpass Brown's school achievements and become the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, which honors college football's best player. Though things seem to be going quite well, and his dream of playing alongside Brown in Cleveland is about to be realized, life throws one last obstacle for him to overcome.

Thoughts: Though the facts are always altered to varying degrees, it's hard to ever dislike films based on true stories. The tale of Ernie Davis really is a heartwarming story, and the film works very hard to push the viewer's emotional buttons. It's another good film that depicts one of the many true sports heroes in history, but it's not perfect. While Davis is shattering the football records, he's doing this on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement, which is a very serious and violent time in the country. The film brings up this movement, but then only shows things that happened on the football field. It takes away from the seriousness of the time, providing a friendlier PG version. It's not a bad thing, but I feel it would have been better to really lay it on the audience.

Dennis Quaid has been pretty hit or miss for me in the past, but I thought he did a pretty good job here. He plays a hard-ass and very serious coach, which is something he can do well. Rob Brown is solid as Ernie Banks, but I though he lacked emotion when it was most called for, especially when he was trying to make his points to the coach.

One of the things I liked is that they included the recruiting in the film. Having Jim Brown help bring Davis to Syracuse, and then later having Davis help Syracuse land Floyd Little really shows the devotion and school loyalty. It's great publicity for the school and its past football stars. It was nice seeing them reflect on everything the program and Schwartzwalder did for them, and also having Davis reflect on what playing football is really about.

Verdict: Though not perfect, the story of Ernie Davis transitions well to screen. True life stories tend to pull at emotions, and you can't help but feel overjoyed as Davis accomplishes his dreams and shatters barriers at the same time. ☆☆☆1/2

Liked It? Try These: Friday Night Lights (2004), Remember the Titans (2000), Coach Carter (2005), The Rookie (2002), Miracle (2004), Glory Road (2006), Invincible (2006), Rudy (1993), Brian's Song (1971)