Based on the incredible true story, The Express follows the inspirational life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.
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Reviews
A waste of 90 minutes of my life
A Masterpiece!
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
Enjoyed the movie but for purist there were many factual inaccuracies. Syracuse did not play Boston College in 1959. The West Virginia game in which WV and their fans are portrayed as very racist was played in Syracuse not Morganton. In the Texas game of that year the score was never 15-14. There are others but that suffices. When a description is "based" on a true story it means not everything is necessarily true. Remember that as one videographer told me, "we are artists and entertainers and not historians!"
I enjoyed this. Its well made, well acted and inspirational but I'll admit I have seen better sports movies and at times it did feel a little clichéd and rah, rah even though its based on a true story.The Express is based on the life story of Ernie Davis; a Syracuse university running back who became the first African American to win the Heisman trophy in 1961. This biopic covers his entire life and there were some sections that went on a bit too long (THAT game in Texas for example -which for a non football person seemed to take forever) and the ending also seemed abrupt, just a post-note as to what happened to him. *Sigh* Rob Brown does a great job portraying Davis though and Dennis Quaid is fine, as the coach although he ain't no Billy Bob Thornton ala 'Friday Night Lights'. There were some decent sub roles here too; Nelson Ellis (True Blood) Charles S. Dutton, and Omar Benson Miller who was very likable.This takes place just as the civil rights movement was gaining steam and Davis faced a ton of prejudice and just full on racism which always makes me uncomfortable, how he handles himself and challenges his coach to stand up for the players is what really makes him a hero. 11/6/14
"The Express" is the Ernie Davis story, a fine young man who also happened to be the first black college football player to win the Heisman Trophy signifying the best college player for that year. In many ways Davis's story parallels that of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player, represented in 2013's movie "42".The movie is very good, and a fair depiction of difficulties that racial tensions in the 1950s and 1960s created. But even though the movie is based primarily on real people and real events, it also contains many fictional elements. For example, the Syracuse football player who we see in some race-baiting scenes never existed, as recalled by Syracuse players of that time. In fact many of them were upset at what they see as very inaccurate depictions of their team and their coach.Another example was the racially-charged game at West Virginia, that never happened and in fact the game that year was played at Syracuse. And the 1960 Cotton Bowl victory by #1 Syracuse (10-0) over #4 Texas (9- 1) was depicted a bit differently than how it played out. So the script writer created a number of fictional events or details to create additional dramatic tension.I searched out this movie because I wanted to see Rob Brown in this movie, after enjoying him so much in "Finding Forrester." Even though he is built quite differently from Ernie Davis, he does a worthy portrayal of the talented young man who also was simply a great athlete and a nice human being.I enjoyed Dennis Quaid as the coach, Ben Schwartzwalder, although according to his former players was not a very accurate depiction. Darrin Dewitt Henson is good as Jim Brown, former Syracuse star and then hall of fame running back for the Cleveland Browns, who was instrumental in getting Ernie Davis to Syracuse instead of his initial leaning, Notre Dame.Ernie Davis was drafted by the Browns, and signed to a $15,000 bonus, but he never played a down, suffering from leukemia. He was introduced, in uniform with number 45, at the first game of the season, and his number was retired. He lived only to 23.
Before I saw this movie I only knew that its about American football. So I did not expect much except nice moves, plays...etcBut this movie is much more than that. It shows how was it for African American person in America back then. However, it doesn't succeddes to transfer experience from those times to viewers as much as director wanted, but it certainly shows that football was mostly much more than a game.Acting was good, Dennis Quaid made great performance as head coach. Plot had no major errors, although it may seem that it was moving too fast at the end. On the other hand, more than 2 hours are enough, so its acceptable.All in all...I give it a 8...great effort, good movie, certainly worth watching.