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User Reviews for: American Underdog

JPV852
/10  2 years ago
Well made sports romance-drama with Zachary Levi taking advantage of his Shazam physicality to be a believable football player (and he bares enough of a resemblance to the real Kurt Warner as well). But the chemistry between him and Anna Paquin was wonderful. Just an all around nice movie that isn't overly sappy. **4.0/5**
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nutmac
5/10  2 years ago
_**American Underdog**_ is a biopic fashioned in the same thread as _**Rudy**_ (1993), a **Sean Astin** vehicle with an iconic score by **Jerry Goldsmith**. _**Rudy**_ is undeniable sentimental but an arousing film about the underdog that reduced many grown men to cry. _**American Underdog**_ aims in the same direction, but swerves by distractions and weaker focus.

On the surface, the film has recipes for a good film -- high production value and two Hollywood leads, **Zachary Levi** and Holly Hu... I mean **Anna Paquin**. But the story is just too watered down and spends much of its svelte 112 minutes running time on the relationship. It helps that Levi and Paquin embody their roles with precision, but they are not given much to work with.

Made by Christian filmmakers, **Andrew Erwin** and **Jon Erwin**, the film looks very competent. Football scenes are well choreographed and everything looks authentic. Their screenplay is aided by a veteran sports screenplay writer **David Aaron Cohen** of _**Friday Night Lights**_ TV series. But it plays too safe, as to avoid offending non-Christians and Christians audiences alike. _**American Underdog**_ is as Christian as **Amy Grant**'s _**Heart in Motion**_.

Despite the tagline, "life made him an underdog", the story doesn't convincingly paint his struggles, beyond to-be-expected insurmountable odds that every athletes face. And in regards to the second tag line "faith made him a champion", I recall only one or two very quickie scenes.

After wrapping up the story of Kurt and Brenda, _**American Underdog**_ never quite returns to its initial trajectory. The last 30 minutes of the film speeds up with recreation of Kurt's first year as an NFL player. But that never quite adds up to anything substantial. In the end, this film is a romance film at heart that showcases how nice of a guy Kurt Warner is.
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Snowy_CapHaddock
CONTAINS SPOILERS6/10  2 years ago
- Ser'Darius is a great name
- Seeing Casey and Chuck high 5 in the first couple of minutes is bringing back early '10s memories
- Now I know it's a movie. An "american dream tropes" movie, furthermore. But at this point I would just like to see - not even experience, just see - for once in real life the Love-At-First-Sight-In-A-Bar. Has it ever happened? Does it happen only in Iowa? Who knows
- Was the "wrong drinks" on purpose or just left in the final cut?
- Man, that speech about football gotta be the most stereotypical sport movie sum of sentences I've ever heard. Even Anna Paquin couldn't fake a "oh, that's insightful" face haha
- Zachary going "Zach" "That's a good name", nice touch there
- Nice house scene, good chemistry
- 1.65m vs 1.91m
- "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do, until you can do what you want to do"
- "Life's not about what you can achieve, it's about what you can become"
- Dennis Quaid's in the house, and "The Rookie" memories with him
- [1.22.00]
DV: "How long for you in the wilderness, son?"
KW: [puzzled]
DV: [chuckles] "How long out of college"
KW: "Right. Well, yeah, I mean, it's, uh.. It's been a few years. But sir, that doesn't mean that I don't know how to play-"
DV: "Fourteen. For me. Fourteen years out of coaching. I burnt out. I'm not embarassed to say it. Took a year off, turned out to be a decade and a half. And when I did come back, they said I was a retread, has-been, too old. Game had passed me by, all that stuff. All that same stuff that they're gonna say about you. What they didn't know... was [that] all that experience that I had in those years - made me who I am. Made me ready for this moment. Gave me something others didn't have. And I see that in you, Kurt"
- Soundtrack gives a nice vibe, holds well

Nice sport movie, simple, straight, inspirational
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