Predictable yet poignant

Rating: Null/10 (20 August 2000)

It's a familiar tale - the underdog rising through sheer determination to overcome adversity and achieve success in sports, or in the case of Rudy, play one down for the fabled Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. Modern film-goers are thought to be either too sophisticated and/or cynical to fall for such fare as "Rudy." Nevertheless, this is a film that can be enjoyed by both sporting neophyte and armchair quarterback alike (speaking from personal experience, even football fans who spend autumn Saturdays rooting for the real-life Irish to lose will tear up by the final scene), due to a slew of excellent dramatic performances. Sean Astin is superb at conveying Rudy's undying optimism, while the rest of the cast gives superb performances. Ned Beatty is excellent as Rudy's well-meaning father, who tries to temper his son's delusions, telling him, "Notre Dame is for rich kids, smart kids, great athletes. You're a Reuttiger." While the film dallies somewhat in emotional pandering, it hits harder than some of the first-stringers whose abuse Rudy willingly absorbs in practice with its core message that there is more Rudy than Joe Montana (a freshman QB on the 1975 Notre Dame team that the real-life Reuttiger "played" for) in all of us.