Great Movie

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2007)

A FORMER STUDENT'S REVIEW OF "WE ARE . . . MARSHALL" By Michael K. McCracken M.A., 1975 My wife and I recently saw "We Are Marshall"  or, as it's known around our house, "THE Movie"  for a second time. We both liked it better the second time; we both picked up on some things in the second viewing, that we missed in the first. We both cried again.
Having attended graduate school at Marshall University shortly after the crash (1973-1975), I watched first-hand as the football team continued its rebuilding process under Coach Lengyel. In fact, the Herd won four games in 1973  as many as in the previous two seasons combined. That 1973 record gave us hope. What we didn't realize was that Reggie Oliver and the others left over from the 1970 team were leaving in 1974. We didn't realize what that loss of experienced players portended for the 1974 season. The Herd won just one game in that year.
I also watched as the student body (myself included), local fans, and local media fried the Coach unmercifully for not yet having a winning program. In looking back at that period, I'm embarrassed by our lack of faith, our lack of conviction, our lack of compassion and understanding for Coach Lengyel. I'm embarrassed by the way a good and decent man was treated.
And on a very personal note: I'm ashamed that I never once asked a friend, a classmate, or a teacher, if they knew anyone on the plane; if they lost anyone to whom they were close. That regret stays with me to this day.
Some people out there are decrying its lack of originality and the director's attempt to break free from the movies he had made in the past. My question to those people is: so what? What's wrong with trying to do something new and different? In business, we call that "innovation." But also remember what this movie was not. It was not a music video; it was not "Charlie's Angels." What "THE Movie" does very well is that it tells a moving, deeply human, and, ultimately, uplifting story in an honest and forthright manner.
Some people have criticized Matthew McConaughey for his characterization of the Coach. Some have said that he was "over the top" in his mannerisms and his huckster ism. As a student-contemporary of mine  sports columnist Frank Giardiana  has said, the real Coach Lengyel was more polished, more sophisticated than the McConaughey character.
I remember him that way, as well. But I also remember him as being always positive, always ready to look on the bright side. Coach Lengyel always viewed the glass as "half full," not "half empty." As mentioned, in looking back on the situation, I couldn't understand his view. All that I  and many others saw  was a losing team. We never put things into the proper perspective. Coach Lengyel had to view the glass as "half full." If he had looked at it any other way, it would have driven him to an early grave. In looking at the Coach's success since leaving Marshall, I'm pleased to see that his view of the world has served him well.
But the McConaughey character works  on several levels. As a coach in an impossible position; as a coach faced with a task that had never been done before, Jack Lengyel brought good will, a sense of humor, humanity, and a deep love of the game to Marshall. He also brought a single-mindedness to the task that only an outsider could have.
At the press conference where Jack Lengyel was introduced to the community, Ernie Salvatore asked the coach how he would respond to criticism that bringing the team back was not a good idea; that it was too soon; that it would just remind people of what they had lost. The Coach's response: "I'm a football coach." Right on, Jack! The rest of the cast was also superb. Matthew Fox deserves an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Red Dawson. Although Red was gone by the time I got to Marshall, I certainly heard many stories about him. I often thought that if he had stayed with Coach Lengyel longer than one year, the team's won-loss record would have been better.
Donald Dedmon was also gone by the time I got to Marshall. But again, everything I heard about him was positive. Yes, he was a true academic. And, no, he didn't understand much about football. But he saw his role as University President  as President of the entire University  as one where he could help the school and the community dig themselves out of the hole they were in.
Dr. Dedmon was a true academic. But he also understood the importance of a football program to the school and the community. He knew that football was an important part of the life of a university and he was bound and determined to put that life back into Marshall. The success of the Herd in the 1990's speaks to Dr. Dedmon's vision. David Strathairn's quiet, understated performance captured Don Dedmon perfectly.
And, finally, on a personal note: the two years I spent at Marshall were the two best years of my single life. My M.A. was in Speech, but I learned far more about life and the true purpose of a college education. Those things have stuck with me far longer than my memories of "the theory of cognitive dissonance." There have been a few people in my life whom I've truly respected and looked up to  four of them were Marshall professors: Dottie Johnson, Bill Denman, Ace Kellner, and Jerry Huang.
(Mike McCracken lives in suburban Cincinnati, with Pat, his wife of 27 years. They have two adult children: Adam, 22 and Emily, 19. He may be reached via e-mail at: mailto:mike-mccracken@cinci.rr.com).