Impossible Not To Like

Rating: Null/10 (13 November 1999)

In short: cliched as all get-out but it works.
Little or no explanation as to why Rudy's only goal in life is to play for Notre Dame. The initial love interest goes "poof" early on. So does Rudy's quasi-love interest when he first hits campus. We have to take plenty on faith, and it doesn't quite work on that level. > But then there's the football story, and *that* works to perfection! It's impossible not to like a kid who takes on an offensive tackle twice his size and then has the nerve (not to mention naivete) to lecture the guy about not doing his best. The football practice sequences ring true, and the music is powerful. The movie is painfully predictable, yet it nonetheless draws you in.
This is the role of a lifetime for Sean Astin, though Charles Dutton almost steals the show.
Bring a hankie. No, bring two. And be prepared to stomp, jump, clap, cheer.