Rudy: Entertaining, inspiring, and fictionalized

Rating: 8/10 (2 April 2001)

Yes, I cry watching this movie, too. The first audio CD I ever bought was the Jerry Goldsmith score, and I play it when I need a lift. The value here, lost on some, is NOT that if you persist, you'll achieve your most cherished dreams. One has to know his limitations, as Harry Callahan once said. No, the real value of this film is that there are men and women who are part of a collective undertaking -- a sports team, a military unit, a business, a musical ensemble -- who do their jobs in an unspectacular way, who are never stars, never celebrated, and yet are all-important to the functioning and success of that group. Rudy was lucky to receive (or, perhaps, ambitious enough to seek out) the recognition denied to so many who serve well but without special distinction, who never gain notoriety. In our celebrity-mad culture, where everyone wants to be a star, it's valuable to recognize that the grunts really make everything work. The stars can't succeed alone. They are beautiful only because of the Rudys and the rest of us who make it possible for them to make the most of their talent. The film's a hokey cliche because it's so true. CHANGING THE SUBJECT: Can anyone point us to some factual info about Rudy Ruettiger? His own website perpetrates some of the myth seen in the film, but surely there must be some articles out there that give a factual background against which the film can be compared? For example, I believe I read somewhere that Ruettiger served in the Navy before entering college, and that the death of his "best friend" never occurred. Or, for example, Dan Devine has said it was HIS idea to let Rudy dress out in the Georgia Tech game, but that he permitted himself to be portrayed as a "villain" to heighten the screen drama. What other departures from the facts are depicted in the film? I don't mind a fictionalized film, but it would be nice to have some hard facts to compare it with. Any suggestions?