Not as accomplished as an underdog should be

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2012)

Rudy is a story of the underdog who rises from modest beginnings into a brave, admirable character. Its goal is to most likely motivate young teens in our character, Rudy's, position, or just serve as cleverly gift-wrapped optimism. It is what many of its kind are; light, cheery, and comprised of great, capable actors.
Sean Astin plays Rudy Ruettiger, a teenager attending a heavily Catholic high school, with ambition to go to Notre Dame for college. Rudy is a great football player, despite his lack of physical proportions, but his grades are far from average, which serves as the reason for him not being able to get accepted.
Nonetheless, he is determined, and vows to study hard at a junior college called Holy Cross. He also manages to score a part-time job working the groundskepper at Notre Dame for the football team, the Fighting Irish. There, he is guided by Fortune (Dutton), who serves as his motivation to keep the field clean but also to not give up on his dreams. All Rudy's life he has wanted to make a tackle or even just be on the field of a football game during gametime. The film shows how far he will go to obtain that dream.
In terms of performances, the film is rather engaging. Sean Astin, once more, gives a wonderful performance, making this, again, another film I have seen by him where he is splendid and convincing. I have yet to see a bad film with him. Jon Favrea also does some fine work as Rudy's friend who agrees to help him with school if he can secure him a date for the school dance.
The soundtrack, composed by legendary Jerry Goldsmith, is entrancing, especially during some of the climatic sequences. Goldsmith has composed roughly one-hundred film scores and still knows how to dodge cloying sentimentality, yet is aware on how to capitalize on a big moment.
Director David Anspaugh and screenwriter Angelo Pizzo collaborated on the set of Hoosiers in their own positions, respectably, and seem to have found a way to make the genre of sports dramas function as best they can even though clichés monitor the area.
So why is Rudy a "good" film and not a great one? My main point of complaint is the ending. It feels naked and left me a tad underwhelmed. Mainly because the suspense and urgency was traded in to put emphasis on Rudy's actual dream. The nail-biting ending many sports films tend to have is that the game is on the line during the final minutes of the film. Not in Rudy's case. Its focus is something greater, but because so much was made about accomplishing Rudy's dream, I felt happy for him, but not extremely satisfied during the credits. Also, it is never truly explained how Rudy went on to pay for a college as expensive as Notre Dame's with a modest income from his family and himself.
I felt more could've been done, suspense could've been created, and more emotion could've been erected. This is an inspiring film, but greatly inferior to a sports drama like Remember the Titans. One is greatly ambitious, willing to tackle many different fields in its genre. The other is a textbook drama, with poignantly satisfying moments, yet a lot of empty ones.
Starring: Sean Astin, Jon Favrea, Ned Beatty, and Charles S. Dutton. Directed by: David Anspaugh.