Everybody's All-American

A very watchable impression of Frank DeFord's novel. The bigger they come the harder they fall. This story follows most of the life of Louisiana football legend Gavin Grey(Dennis Quaid). The "Grey Ghost" lived big with a life sustained by adoring football fans for his exploits on and off the football field. He married his number one fan and cheerleader Babs(Jessica Lange)who shared his glory, heartaches and tragedies. His brother Donnie(Timothy Hutton)and best friend Lawrence(John Goodman)tried to keep Grey grounded and at the same time kept him high on admiration. Carl Lumbly plays Narvel Blue who's competitive nature like Grey's built a strong friendship. As years passed, so did the glory wane...the football hero just had trouble realizing it. Like Elvis Presley once said "The image is one thing and the man is another. It's often hard for the man to live up to the image."

I've always liked Dennis Quaid and thought his cockiness made the role of a self-centered football player come easy. Impressing is the fact he did some of his own stunts and separated a collar bone taking a solid hit on the field. He looked like a natural. For the stunning Lange, she seemed flawless as the cheerleader with only one thing on her mind...her idol the "Grey Ghost". Marriage matured her, but at fault lived sharing the glory surrounding a Louisiana favorite son. Goodman deserves more credit than he usually gets. How can you not like his bosom buddy character? Retired pro, semi-pro and top college athletes provided the realism on the playing field. You don't have to be a football fan to enjoy EVERYBODY'S ALL-American.

Even though I do not watch sports anymore, I used to watch them quite a lot and will still watch this movie whenever it's on TV. Definitely one of the best sports films of all time, realistic and superbly acted, this film follows a quarterback hero and his "trophy" wife from college to well beyond retirement. Topics of love, friendship, fidelity, aging and loyalty are all dealt with in profound ways. Dennis Quaid and Jessica Lange give probably their best performances ever and the supporting cast does not disappoint. It is melodramatic, but it comes from a place of integrity instilled in the writing and direction of the film. If you're a guy and in the mood to watch something both you and your girl can enjoy, I would highly recommend renting this. It's too bad that so many below average sports movies get more praise than they deserve and lesser known films like this one fall by the wayside. 9/10

I started to watch this movie on HBO non commitedly but soon found myself engrossed. Nothing else was on so I kept watching. I was struck by the brilliant performance of Dennis Quaid and my heart broke for his character Gavin. I have rarely felt this kind of emotion when viewing a film and was overwhelmed with it. I had never before thought of Dennis Quaid as anything other than the funny guy from Undercover Blues and I was taken aback at his acting. I wept at the end and I felt every kind of emotion it is possible to feel. I cannot even express in words how I was blown away by this superb film and all of the actors involved in it.

Superbly acted film about a rocky relationship between a Sugar Bowl all-american (Quaid) and the Magnolia Queen (Lange). The story takes us through over 25 years of triumph and tragedy with great support from Hutton and an especially good performance from John Goodman. Look for "Seinfeld's" Wayne Knight here.

My favorite line in the movie is a colloquy towards the end between Cake's (the academic)girlfriend and Gavin. She offhandedly, and almost sarcastically, remarks to Gavin that he can't "let the old team down". With profound seriousness he responds "Honey,I never did". For those of us who have starred on the athletic field, this sentiment often drove us. For me, this movie realistically captured the experience of being an athletic hero. As I tell my young atheletes who I now coach, no matter what tribulations and setbacks may befall you; no one can ever take away from them what they have achieved on the field. I recommend the movie.