Absolutely Fantastic

it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

There seems to be a pattern among the greatest of the ABC Movies of the Week, movies such as Don't Be Afraid of the Dark, Trilogy of Terror, Duel, among others. While the style of the TV movie looks much the same as others (due to TV-sized budgets), the story is so involving that it transcends its style. "Brian's Song" is a perfect example of this.The story emotionally connects us with Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers almost immediately. We care about what happens to the characters, and the chemistry Billy Dee Williams and James Caan have together totally sells the viewer on their friendship. As the plot thickens, our connection with the characters carries us through. Even though the style of the movie is a bit shoddy and carries a bit of '70s cheesiness, it adds to the charm of the movie and doesn't really matter as one watches it.Personally, I loved this movie and I did tear up. I don't think it's possible to watch this movie without doing so. The remake doesn't hold a candle to this.

Yeah, this movie's pretty good. However, it is kind of limited by the conventions and budgets of the television movie. While some of the introductory scenes are quite good and engrossing, the second act flirts all too closely with melodrama. Yes, it's melodrama that's written, directed and acted well, but it's still melodrama.The film, as is to be expected of a television movie, pales in comparison with a very similar feature film released around the same time, "Bang the Drum Slowly", which tells a similar story, albeit without a racial element, but also without the slightest hint of melodrama."Brian's Song" is somewhat better known, but "Bang the Drum Slowly" is the true masterpiece. Still, "Brian's Song" is a solid film, especially of interest to football fans.

When this film began production,Brian Piccolo had only been gone for six months.As a result,most of the film takes on the atmosphere of being rushed to production.It has an obvious look that they were given a very small time frame to get this film made.They rushed it.Also,you have real,honest to goodness football players trying to act.They are trying to come across as though they are not reading their lines as they speak,but it's obvious that they are.All of that being said,Brian's Song is still an enjoyable film because of it's story.You are watching a friendship develop,evolve,and flourish into a brotherly love.This is the hook that keeps you watching,and ultimately brings you back to see it again.

It seems unfeeling not to love this movie. I do love the relationship it portrayed. BUT who on earth picked James Caan to play Brian Piccolo? He is Jewish, definitely not twenty six, and not a football player. Who cast this film? Caan would have been better as the guy who owned the Bears. Yes, there was no such part, but he would have played it more believably.Billy Dee Williams is wonderful. The story is wonderful, very tragic, but the warning at the beginning of the movie (Hemmingway's quote that "all good stories end in death") was helpful. I knew the outcome, of course, but I like the upfront approach.I also like the fact this film did not try to make a statement about black/white relations, but kept the story about two men who loved and supported one another. An excellent film, but I would have cast someone like Sylvester Stallone as Brian. He has the ethnicity, the correct age at the time, and the aura of a football player.