Many movies have been based on real events. I have seen several of those movies in the last few years, some better than others. We Are Marshall shared the story of a horrible tragedy and how a community recovered.
In November of 1970, the Marshall University football team, along with coaches and some boosters, was returning to Huntington West Virginia after an away game. They were close to home when something went wrong and the plane crashed, killing everyone on board. The community was devastated and struggled to deal with what had happened. Red, a coach that hadn’t been on the plane and four players that hadn’t gone to the game because of injuries really struggled with guilt over surviving. One of the players, Nate, fought to save the football program when he heard that the college was going to suspend it.
Much of the community supported keeping the football program, so Donald Dedmon, the president of the university, started looking for a new head coach. Jack Lengyel was a football coach for a college in Wooster Ohio when he heard about the crash. Jack decided that he was interested in being the new head coach for Marshall and Donald decided to hire him. Jack managed to convince Red to return as a coach and they, along with other new coaches, started to put together a new team. They did have some trouble finding players. Jack and the team also faced some opposition from some people in town who felt it was just too painful to keep the program going.
Before seeing the trailers for We Are Marshall, I hadn’t known about the plane crash or even heard about Marshall University before. I didn’t know anything about the real people involved in what happened and I didn’t know how accurate the movie would be. After seeing the movie, I did do a little bit of research online and it did seem like the movie stayed very close to the actual events. I did wonder if all of the characters in the movie were actual people or if maybe some of them were based on a combination of the real people or just fictionalized for whatever reason. I’m still not sure on a few of the characters. Near the end of the movie, a voice over did provide a little bit of information about the lives of some of the people after the events shown in the movie. A few characters weren’t mentioned in that section, which made me wonder if they were fictional. At a few different times in the movie, some pictures and even what looked like news footage where included. I don’t know for sure if those things were created for the movie or if they were actual pictures and footage from that time. I do think the movie did a good job of honoring the people who died in that crash.
Some time was taken at the beginning of We Are Marshall to introduce some characters and show events leading up to the crash. That did help to give the scenes dealing with the crash and how people dealt with it more impact. The actual crash wasn’t shown, though the wreckage was. The explanation for the crash wasn’t shared in the movie. After the crash, the movie really focused on showing how the people of Hamilton and Marshall University dealt with what happened. Some of the scenes were very emotional and sad, which I did expect before seeing the movie. This wasn’t a happy movie, though I didn’t really think it was depressing either. This was not a happy movie, so anyone wanting to watch a happy, feel good movie should pick something else. A few things that were said were a little funny which did help to lighten the mood without turning the movie into a comedy.
Football was important to We Are Marshall without being the main focus of the movie. It did start out by showing some of the football game the team was at before the crash. Keeping the football program was very important to the surviving members of the team, especially Nate. Some of what he did to organize supports for the team was shown. After Jack arrived in Hamilton, a bit more attention was given to showing how he and his coaching staff were trying to rebuild a football team. Jack even got President Dedmon more involved in getting the team back. Jack and the coaches were shown trying to recruit new players, sometimes even going to the other university sports teams. The planning and preparation for the new season was shown as well as some practices and part of two games. There really wasn’t as much football shown as I had thought there would be.
Jack decided that he wanted to work to save the football program at Marshall even though he had no prior connection to the university. He had a different way of looking at some things, so some people weren’t sure what to think of him. He came up with some new ideas for the team and was willing to listen to ideas from the other coaches. This was one of the more serious parts that Matthew McConaughey has played and I did think he handled the part well. Jack’s wife Sandy and their three children were around in a few scenes. Kimberly Williams-Paisley didn’t have that much to do.
Red Dawson was the only member of the coaching staff not on the plane when it crashed. He was going on a recruiting trip on the way back home instead. He had a lot of guilt to deal with because of that. Matthew Fox was fine in the part. He’s probably best known for being on the television shows Lost and Party of Five. January Jones was in a few scenes as Red’s wife Carol. The president of Marshall University, Donald, didn’t know much about football. He was trying to do what he thought would be best after the crash. He was willing to try to keep the program going once the community expressed their support. Donald did end up doing a lot more than he expected to help the program. I really liked David Strathairn in the part.
Annie Cantrell was a student at the university and she was engaged to one of the football players on the plane. Kate Mara was all right in the part. Ian McShane played Paul Griffen, the father of the football player Annie had been engaged to. Paul had connections with the university’s board and he let his grief influence some decisions he made. Robert Patrick was in a few scenes at the beginning of the movie as Rick Tolley, the head coach killed in the crash. Nate hadn’t been on the plane because of a shoulder injury. He felt very strongly about keeping the football program alive and worked hard to make that happen. Anthony Mackie was really good in the part.
Main Cast
Matthew Fox - Red Dawson
January Jones - Carol Dawson
Matthew McConaughey - Jack Lengyel
Ian McShane - Paul Griffen
Anthony Mackie - Nate Ruffin
Kate Mara - Annie Cantrell
Robert Patrick - Coach Rick Tolley
David Strathairn - President Donald Dedmon
Kimberly Williams-Paisley - Sandy Lengyel
McG - Director
We Are Marshall was a very good movie and definitely worth seeing even though it was sad at times. It did a good job of paying tribute to people killed in a horrible accident.
A true story, based on devastating events, set in Huntington, West Virginia, about a small town steeped in the rich tradition of college football.More at eCOST.com
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