Paint by numbers underdog story
Image Courtesy of IMPawards.com
Director: Gary Fleder
Notable Cast: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Charles S. Dutton, Clancy Brown
Plenty of football players never make it into the NFL. Some don’t have the talent, some don’t have the desire and some are in the wrong era. Ernie Davis is one of them, but he died of cancer before he could step into the same backfield as Jim Brown with the Cleveland Browns. Now his story, the one of the first African-American Heisman Trophy winner, comes to the big screen in The Express
The film’s main focus on Davis (Rob Brown) is during his formative years at Syracuse. The successor to Jim Brown at halfback for Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), Davis finds himself in his formative years at the beginnings of the civil rights movement. Following his trials and successes, Davis finds himself just trying to be a good football player in a world which notates him purely on his skin color. And for a film that could do so much more, The Express ends up being a film that takes delicate material and takes a sledgehammer to it. Much like Miracle at St. Anna took what could’ve been a terrific war film, The Express does the same to the football underdog story.
The film’s main point is how Davis overcame a society that still was trying to evolve, but in Gary Fleder’s 1960s nearly every white person is racist and those who aren’t are trying too hard to show that they aren’t. It’s sad, really, as this is delicate material that requires a much more skillful touch than Fleder has. A lot of it has to do with the script, as the film’s dialogue and story aren’t nearly as refined as the issues and era require, but it also requires a director with a soft touch for issues like this that Fleder doesn’t have.
In terms of the football, the film’s other focus, is done perfectly. This is definitely one of the better looking films when it concerns the football scenes, rivaling Friday Night Lights in terms of intensity. The film really moves and kicks into high gear; the football keeps the film in check and keeps it enjoyable. Once the off the field issues are handled it gets nearly laughable at times, but on it the film sizzles. Fleder knows what he’s doing in this aspect, which is a bit of a shocker since his filmography is centered on more dialogue heavy films.
If Spike Lee can prove that the war film can be made into an overture on race, Fleder proves that the football underdog story isn’t immune from it either. In an era where race relations have changed radically, it’s disappointing that an era where attitudes were changing is painted without a discriminating touch that it requires.
