The Junction Boys

Tom Berenger does a nice, understated turn as a young Bear Bryant trimming the deadwood from his first Texas A&M squad. Bear's method - take the team to Junction, Texas, work the team to death and see who's left. I suspect the story's been somewhat "Hollywoodized". Just the same, it presents a fair picture of the positives and negatives of driving a team to the edge. Worth a view.

Just saw The Junction Boys, a must see movie if you ever get the chance. Tom Beringer portrays Bear Bryant perfectly, and everyone of the supporting actors were wonderfully cast. ESPN entertainment is getting better with every project they produce.

I saw this film last night and was really impressed. The story line was good and Tom Berringer I thought was a great Bear Bryant.I learned about the man through his portrayal of him. I am not going to get into what it is about because we already know but I will say at the end I got a little emotional and that is a hard thing for a film to make me do. Out of a 10 I give it a 7.

My main complaint is the use of made up names, in the manner of North Dallas Forty. I can not imagine the real "Junction Boys" having any trouble with their real names having been used. I also have a minor complaint about the players hugging each other. They did not do that, not in 1954. They just didn't. Otherwise, it is an outstanding diversion. As near as I can tell, not a whole lot of

other liberties have been taken with the truth. It is worth watching...

We've all seen the "Win One for the Gipper Format". Junction Boys appears to show what would have happened if the Hitler Youth were coached by Jozef Mengele. Bryant's sadism and complete disregard for player safety and health isn't good coaching, it is ego run mad. The intimidation of players and insistence they play with broken vertebrae, and complications from heatstroke doesn't show dedication it shows the power of a cruel leader to abuse his relationship with exploited working class kids. I don't know the later health problems experienced by the Junction Boys but I am voting for "diverse and serious" If this was some attempt to tap into the "Duty Honor Country" vein since 9-11 it missed the mark. Maybe next month ESPN can try a more sweeping epic "The Caligula Boys"