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Friday, November 1, 2013
MOVIE REVIEW Underdogs
The Davids Of Fourth Down Ohio, On And Off The Field
D.B. Sweeney as Coach Vince DeAntonio rallying his Aquinas Knights players in
Doug Darth's drama "Underdogs". Freestyle Releasing
by
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
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Friday,
November 1,
2013
Doug Darth's likable but formulaic drama "Underdogs" never
pretends to be anything other than it is: an adequate, tidy chronicle of Davids
and a Goliath in an Ohio town. Based on a true events, the Canton, Ohio
high school football rivalry between the Herbert Hoover Vikings, a division I
school, and the St. Thomas Aquinas Knights, a division IV that hasn't been to
the playoffs since forever.
Woven into this mild and lighthearted story written by Dave Latham are a "forbidden" romance between
Aquinas's hot-shot quarterback Bobby Burkett (Logan Huffman) and a Hoover
cheerleader (Maddie Hasson), and a plodding sub-plot about Bobby's dad Bill (William Mapother) whose machine invention endangers his standing at his job.
"Underdogs" puts on its football pads as its central component, including a
cameo by Broadway Joe Namath, fresh off his drunken exploits years ago on the
Monday Night Football sidelines with reporter Suzy Kolber, to rally and inspire
the Aquinas players as they aim to win a title. It would be easy to say
"Underdogs" isn't "Friday Night Lights" material, and it isn't. Yet it
isn't a bad film.
The film's women though, stand on ceremony in a metaphorical way, like angels
ready to swoop in and rescue or comfort their troubled or beleaguered men at a
moment's notice. "I believe in you," says Nancy Smith-Burkett (Melora
Walters) of her husband Bill, whose invention is facing pressure from an
unscrupulous local business man (Richard Portnow) whose profit motives are the
bottom line. (The businessman's son is, surprise, surprise, Hoover's rival
quarterback.) Nancy is the rock of the Burkett family of course, and in
"Underdogs" Ms. Walters ("Boogie Nights", "Magnolia") has little more to do than
comfort or marvel at her family's changes in fortune. The Burketts also go
to church, as does most of Canton, but the divine intervention that St. Thomas
Aquinas might offer hasn't historically blessed the football team.
"Underdogs" is admittedly clichéd but it is a film that is always easy on the
eyes. The actors serve their roles well enough, including D.B. Sweeney,
who plays Aquinas coach Vince DeAntonio, a man committed to winning, and perhaps
winning the heart of a bartender along the way. That sounds as cliché as
it gets but surprisingly, watching "Underdogs", which arrived in several select
theaters today and on demand on November 5th, isn't the worst thing you can do
with two hours of your weekend.
Also with: Natalie Imbruglia, Jay Thomas, Charlie Carver, Keith Loneker Sr.
"Underdogs" is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association Of America
for some language. The
film's running time is one hour and 43 minutes.
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