more of a tribute

Rating: 6/10 (25 January 2015)

It's 1970. After a tough lose, the Marshall University football team is returning home to Huntington, W.V. The plane crashes killing everyone on board. Injured Nate Ruffin (Anthony Mackie) didn't play and Red Dawson (Matthew Fox) takes a last-minute recruiting trip. Both misses the plane ride and survives. Cheerleader Annie Cantrell (Kate Mara) loses her boyfriend. The next spring, the town is struggling and football is about to be suspended. Ruffin rallies the students. President Don Dedman (David Strathairn) struggles to find anyone to coach and Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey) applies out of the nowhere.
Director McG is more restraint visually than normal although he isn't pulling anything back with the sentimental melodrama. This is all played with every heart string at the highest note filled with every cliché. Considering the subject, there is probably no other way to make this. My one main complaint is that the movie needs one lead character to focus on. However, I also do understand the need to spread the commiseration around. The acting is solid and flamboyant McConaughey injects a bit of energy. The film has that sepia tone to heighten the 70s look and McG fills it with era music. The movie is a fully formed tribute but not necessarily a great movie.