We Are Marshall (2006)

Incredible story of the tragic Marshall plane crash and the struggle to recover
WE ARE MARSHALL, directed by McG (what kind of name is that?) is a great movie that captures the incredible tragedy of the plain that, in 1970, killed so many members of the Marshall football community. The movie then attempts to capture the struggle of the decision to resume the football program and of the difficulty in putting the past behind and pushing forward with life. People affected directly by the tragedy will have a different opinion about the movie that the rest of America that only knows of the Marshall plane crash in passing.

You can really divide the movie into two parts. First, the plane crash, the victims, and those left behind to cope with the loss. Second, standared sports movie where team overcomes obstacles to prevail. I truly believe the creators of this movie tried their best to create a factual yet entertaining movie about the Marshall tragedy. The film can't follow all of the sad stories, so it chooses a few characters to focus on and has them be representative of the entire town. The film opens as Marshall loses a tough road game. We see the hurt by another loss yet proud of his team. We see the star running back kissing his fiance (played by Kate Mara, who is also the narrator of the movie) goodbye as he catches the plane and she gets in a car to return home. There is Nate Ruffin, team captain, who didn't make the trip because of the injury. Coach Red Dawson (played by Lost's Matthew Shepard) tells another coach to take his seat on the plane so he can get home to see his daughter's piano recital. Dawson takes a car home, and thus misses out on the crash only by chance. The film sets up a group of characters quickly and they all connect with the audience.

Then the plane crashes right before arrival. The crash is close enough that people in the town can see the site. The President Dedmon of Marshall (played by David Straitharn) is a timid man forced to take a leadership position. He is ready to cancel the football team but a show of support from the student body forces him to change his mind. He has a horrible time finding a coach until one man, Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) shows interest in the job.

The movie shifts here to focus on Lengyel trying to form a football team while facing so many obstacles. The team doesn't have enough players so the school finally gets the NCAA to allow freshmen to play (this wasn't allowed at the time). The coaches fight many recruiting battles and win a few. They finally make it to the season and the movie concludes with the team's first home game.

I think it would be almost impossible to capture what the town went through during these tragic times. But WE ARE MARSHALL does a great job of portraying the sadness of the entire community and the incredible spirit that it took to embrace the new football team and honor those who lost their lives. The acting in this movie is solid, especially Fox and McConaughey. I recommend this movie to all sports fans and those interested in the history of the tragedy at Marshall. This movie honors the victims as well is the spirit of the school.

We are Marshall
Great Great Movie well worth owning. It is one of my all time favorites now.

Marshall Football
True Sports movies are our favorites. This movie was fantastically done. Really lets the viewers know the passion behind Marshall Football. Amazon delivered another awesome product.