A story of people healing from tragic events and a very good one at that.

Rating: 9/10 (22 November 2014)

'We Are, Marshall!' - any film that can make me want to chant a slogan for a school I have never heard of before, connected to a sport I have no real interest in and make me want to buy a jacket for football team that isn't even in my country when I do wear baseball Jackets anymore has to be doing something right.
Its 1970 and Marshall Football Team are on a high, they lost a game sure, but they're looking good and the coaching staff, the team and several people from the town and parents of many members are returning home from the game on a private jet when moments from landing disaster strikes. Can the surviving players who were left behind rebuild the team for the 1971 season, can the University find new coaching staff and will the morale of the town ever recover?
Such is the true story of the Marshall University Football Team of 1971, as the characters try to pull together, the re-building of the football team comes to illustrate the dilemma everyone is feeling in attempting to rebuild their own lives.
We Are Marshall is a simple story but as a well written script where brevity is key its a bit of an unsung masterclass in my opinion. Watch it a second time and you will see in this film every piece of dialogue in every scene serves a moment for either story or character, while not especially original and close to being in danger of 'true story of the week' WRM is much more than that because of the power and sincerity that is evident here in the film making, you can tell everyone wants to be involved and knows their making something that is a bit special, and they'd be right. It's a strong piece of moving writing that is well performed and I would suggest an extremely honourable way of portraying the suffering of a community that was hit by such a large wave of grief in one go that it does not know how to cope.
'How many children lost both parents?' cries a bereaved father. You cannot help but get caught up in the story. The film is entirely not about football, this is a film about grief and how we deal with it, both individually, collectively and to each other. Matthew McConaughey is at his best here as Jack Lenyel the new football coach and pivot for the story as the stranger who comes into town with boundless energy because he just wants to help 'What if it had been my children' - But look around the cast, this is an ensemble piece where many great actors are starting out early on in their careers. Anthony Mackie powerfully plays Nate Ruffin, who missed out on the game because of an injury, his team mate, conflicted Tom (Brian Geraghty showing his great talent early on) wants to help him re build but has survivors guilt because he overslept and should have been on the plane. But the three stand outs for me were Ian McShane as the grieving father who just wants the football programme to die along with his lost son, Kate Mara who is the bereaved girlfriend of that son, and David Strathairn as the University President who is out of his depth trying to please everyone in a situation he never thought he would have to face. All give solid and believable performances. Special mention must also be made of a young Arlen Escarpeta, the scene where he comes back to his empty room with a case of beer is really moving.
There are so many good scenes in this film its hard to name them all - We Are Marshall really goes for the heart strings, but it should, its a moving story about a group of conflicted people unsure of which direction to take to move on - Do they embrace the football programme and try and move forward or scrap it and try and leave everything behind?
While some time is dedicated to the new team training and the film even manages a few moments of comedy this is above all not a sports movie, sports just happens to be the historical background under which the events take place. Winning seems out of the teams grasp, but is healing? This is the real question the film asks you.
Its well worth your time.