The Program (1993) User Reviews (42)

Better than I expected

[oldsaurora · 7/10 · 19 September 2003]

The Program is a mostly solid movie that takes us into the world of college football, and more specifically into the world of one particular team as it tries to overcome obstacle after obstacle on it's way to a bowl game after a few disappointing seasons.

First off I thought the football aspects were done very well. The action looked realistic and that is the least (and most) that I expect in a sports movie. And playing "Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses during a football practice is surely worthy of some credit. All in all the game footage was pretty short, a few minutes at a time. What was more interesting, and what the film focuses on most, was what happened to the players between games as they dealt with their personal lives and game preparation.

I'm guessing the movie was trying to shock us with this part. Steroid abuse by one player; alcohol abuse, a bar fight, and suicidal tendencies by another; cheating on an exam by yet another and his subsequent expulsion then reinstatement; girl problems with a couple players; etc. The movie has a lot to say and it's a good message, but I didn't find this shocking. Rather this sort of things is really common knowledge among sports fans, although how rampant these issues actually are in real life I can only guess. Having said that, this part of the film is done well for the most part. The one exception is the relationship stuff, which I just didn't find very believable due to a lack of chemistry between the participants.

Addressing two of the criticisms that I have read others say about this film. Yes, it does tend to follow a lot of players and their respective issues, but I didn't feel that it spread itself too thin. I thought that despite this fact it did feel like we followed each player enough to get to know the issues he faced. The movie seemed to take a snapshot of one player and what he was dealing with, then quickly moved on to the next, and I thought in the context of this film it worked quite well.

The second criticism I have read is that everything ends up working out well for everyone in the end and everyone comes out a better person. This just isn't true at all.

**SPOILER ALERT**

The defensive end (Alvin Mack I believe) busted up his knee and at the end of the movie it appeared that he would never play again. This was surely the most poignant moment in the film. Lattimer, the one with the steroid problem, was back on the juice and you get the feeling he won't ever lick this problem. Even Joe Kane will likely struggle with booze indefinitely. So I actually give this film a lot credit for not choosing the cliched ending where everyone ends up happy.

**END OF SPOILER ALERT**

7/10 - for an overall solid effort

Put the women and children to bed...

[VCRanger · 7/10 · 15 April 1999]

The Program is an extremely pumped up look at college football and at individual players on a college team. Speaking from experience as a college player, most of the things in this movie are grossly exaggerrated (no teammates I played with ever wanted me to spit in their mouth). However, there are a few revealing moments in this movie that capture life on a college football program. Standard performances, directing and screenplay are adequate in this film, but its true enjoyment will be by those who have participated in organized football, especially college. A rating of 7 out of 10 was given.

Pigskin's

[peterpants66 · 7/10 · 21 November 2009]

OK ladies this movie, is about football. No its about the Program, yeah the program. I was scratching my head recently trying to remember this movie which i thought may have had Cuba Gooding JR in it about football. These two scenes kept playing out in my head, one was of a bunch of guys on the yellow line in the middle of a two lane street lying down head to foot while cars rushed by. The other was of this guy head-butting car windows. Well thats all i had to go on and after much scouring i found the movie the same place i always do. In a thrift store for a dollar! So i run home and toss it in waiting to see this part with the team on the ground in the street, and its not there. Apparently life imitates art and people who saw the original screening took to the streets and lay down in traffic. Some people died and plenty were hurt in a scarring prospect that left filmmakers to delete, and destroy the negative. I actually thought the movie was pretty good sides that and the head-butting scene is totally in tact. I wonder how many people head-butted cars after this? Or did steroids, this movie has an odd charm. I only played pop warner so i don't know if this is an accurate portrayal of college football, but really does it matter? were not exactly talking about portraying Jesus Christ here, its football and despite the name feet are mostly used just for running. Bunch of up and comers and well established actors and actresses in this one. Done well, it was worth the dollar, but in all honesty it was good. Seven thumbs.

I liked it.

[lizard_k1ng · 24 June 2000]

During the course of high school and college, we always come across numerous stereotypes. The 'jock' stereotype is possibly the most recognized. This movie transcended that and only focused on the brotherhood and comradery that arises from playing an organised sport. Not only did I enjoy this movie to a great extent I thought it to be both hilarious and dramatic. I believed the quality of acting in this film to have been superb, as well as the football scenes.

greatest hits of college football problems

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 2 February 2016]

Eastern State University football coach Sam Winters (James Caan) is under pressure after a second year unable to get into a bowl game. His quarterback Joe Kane (Craig Sheffer) is dealing with an alcoholic father and a Heisman campaign. He falls for tennis player Camille Shafer (Kristy Swanson). The big recruiting effort is tailback Darnell Jefferson (Omar Epps) and they use female student Autumn Haley (Halle Berry) as the lure. Once in school, he finds that she already has a boyfriend who is the starting tailback. Alvin Mack promises to buy his mother a house counting on signing an NFL contract. Andrew Bryniarski is the muscle-bound lineman found using steroids and attacking a girl.

This seems like a greatest hit of college football scandals. The scattered approach leaves this problematic. I don't have a big problem with any of the stories but none of them really takes the lead. Sheffer isn't compelling enough to be the star. Omar Epps comes close to be star material and it would be interesting to have him as the lead character. There are just too many main story material.

Football at a major university

[Wuchakk · 7/10 · 16 September 2014]

That's the best way to describe 1993's "The Program" in as few words as possible. It's a realistic drama/sports film focusing on a handful of players and their stories as individuals and members of the ESU Timberwolves.

I was well into the second half of the film when it dawned on me that I was into the characters' stories and had forgotten I was watching a movie, which is always a good sign. The characters include the quarterback (Craig Sheffer) who has to deal with the incredible pressure of his position and the fact that his Dad's an aloof drunkard who's given up on life; the linebacker who takes steroids to compete and starts to become a rage-oholic; the black dude from the ghetto who memorizes big words to appear smart; and more. For most of them, their lives and futures hinge on the game and so getting seriously injured can wipe out their very reason for existence. James Caan is notable as the coach.

As for women, there's Halle Berry in her prime and Kristy Swanson, but their roles are too limited and there are essentially no other women to be found, except cheerleaders & students in the background.

People who have played university football have pointed out that "The Program" is realistic in its depiction. It's a really good sports film for sure, but 1999's "Varsity Blues," which focuses on Texas high school football, edges it out. In fact, "Varsity Blues" ranks with my all-time favorite movies; it's got a more compelling story & characters, a funner vibe and better women. But both of them are must-see sports flicks.

The film runs 112 minutes and was shot at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, and the University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC.

GRADE: B+

The side of college football that universities don't want you to see!

[mcotto8 · 7/10 · 13 March 2013]

This movie was nothing short of shocking when it came out in 1993. The average person had a hard time believing the things depicted were based on actual accounts in colleges across the country. It wasn't until 20/20 reminded people of various scandals in college football (the 77-87 SMU mustangs are the perfect example of this movie) that the American public saw just how far players and schools will go to win.

I still look at this movie with some sadness. You see how a player is treated with kid gloves when they are All-Americans, and when they are injured permanently and are of no use to the team, they are chewed up and spit out and quickly forgotten. Some ask for it, while others fall victims to their universities demands to push it to the limit and beyond!

All in all, this is a very entertaining movie.

The Cost of Winning

[view_and_review · 6/10 · 1 September 2018]

In 1993 I was starting my junior year, it was football season, and The Program was the talk of the team. All I could do was listen because I hadn't seen it and probably wasn't going to see it because going to the movies was one of those rare treats normally reserved for the summer.

25 years later I had the time the the opportunity and the desire to watch this 90's flick. It was a sports movie not unlike many other sports movies except they went a little deeper into the inner workings of a traditional university football program. That means recruiting, boosters, NCAA violations of all kinds, and the pressure on the kids in the program.

There were a couple of love stories mixed in the movie, one of which followed a familiar trope: good girl with intelligent, wealthy stiff boyfriend falls for boy from the other side of the tracks.

As a fan of sports and sports movies I liked the sports aspects of it. As an ardent opponent of movie romance I was looking for that to be filtered out.

Underrated, Accurate Football Movie Starring the Godfather's James Caan

[TheOliveBranch · 8/10 · 20 October 2005]

Trips Bunch. The Power I. The Cover 2. If you know what these terms mean, and understand their uses in football strategy, then you'll really enjoy watching David S. Ward's the Program. Ward also wrote and directed Major League, a great movie; however, with The Program, it is obvious how much his sports writing style has evolved.

The movie traces one season of college football for a once dominant, but now struggling Division 1 powerhouse, the fictional ESU Timeberwolves. James Caan is hilarious and well-cast as the Head Coach on the hot seat, and it's really great watching him deal with serious issues both on and off the field. Craig Shaeffer does a solid job at both his role and the QB position. His character is like a young, much more tortured Steve Young: he can throw the long ball, he can buy time with his feet, and he can do it all while battling inner demons. Omar Epps (the Wood) is simply perfectly cast as Darnell Jefferson, the prototype freshman Tailback fighting for his spot on the 1st team (plus the beautiful Halle Berry plays his love interest).

The movie is filled with hilariously awesome lines and performances, and is a classic among people who actually play football. While the editing work could be scrutinized among movie Nazis (the editing job when Kane and his girl are riding his motorcycle is questionable at times), the good far outweighs the bad. Namely, the in-helmet camera work really puts you on the field with them. Overall, David S. Ward does an excellent job of jumping from perspective to perspective, and it quickly builds into this chaotic, early 90s mosaic of Division 1 college football. And surprisingly, the issues explored in the film really resonate with the issues going on in today's sports (i.e. Steroids, Motorcycle death wishes).

Listen, if you haven't seen this movie, and you love football, and are of mild intelligence, then you are either really young or really lucky that you missed it because I wish i could watch it again for the first time. However, if you have no appreciation for the game of football, you're better off going elsewhere. Football idealists, be warned as well. This movie is the anti-Rudy. It's the story of one school's fight for a bowl bid, and fighting for that bid at all costs.

PS- My vote is very biased. I love to quote this movie with friends. I love to watch football on both Saturday and Sunday. I play fantasy football. I play Madden. I played Division 3 football in college. You have been warned.

i didn't like it as much as Friday Night Lights...,but

[disdressed12 · 7/10 · 7 April 2008]

i still liked it.i just felt that ...Nights had a stronger story,and i was more emotionally involved.i also found the characters mote compelling.for me the program dragged at times,when there were scenes not involving football.fortunately these scenes weren't very long,and there weren't a lot of them.of all the actors in the movie,i was most impressed with Kristy Swanson and Halle Berry,though bad had fairly small roles.the program was entertaining enough to keep watching,i just didn't think it was spectacular.is it worth buying?hard to say.but i do think it's certainly worth catching on premium cable or as rental.these are just my thoughts.my vote for the program:7/10

What has become of my friend, James Caan

[johnnynazareth · 4/10 · 7 April 2003]

If I had to sum up this picture in one line I guess I would say, "Nice try." The major problem that I see is that David Ward tries to throw as many football cliches into an hour and a half movie as he can and, for the most part, the actors fail to rise above the mediocre script.

The cast is a talented one and this film helped to propel the careers of some semi-stars and one super star, but in the end the cliches are too much to overcome. We have Caan (who I have, do, and always will love no matter what roles he chooses) playing the long-time head coach whose job seems to be in jeopardy. And there's Craig Sheffer playing Heisman hopeful Joe Kane. Sheffer was wonderful in Robert Redford's adaptation of Norm MacLean's "A River Runs through It," but here he can't escape the cliche of the out-of-control star quarterback with father-son issues and a need to live life dangerously.

We also catch glimpses of the pumped up steroid user, the illiterate student athlete, the promising young freshman (Omar Epps), and the incumbent whose position he is trying to win.

Halle Berry, Kristy Swanson, and Joey Lauren Adams add some sex appeal to the film, but those early '90s wardrobes are hideous.

In my opinion this movie tries to show too much of everything, and in doing so, fails to show enough of anything. More of the plot should have been dedicated to the characters of Caan, Sheffer, or Epps in order to establish a better connection with the audience.

The football sequences are well done--I don't think any football movie has anything on this film here--but the characters aren't given enough time to develop.

Some things that annoy me about this movie: --Omar Epp's taunting as he is returning punts. It's so cheesy. --The terribly dated musical score. It's absolutely dreadful to listen to and almost ruins the entire movie.

4/10

What makes this movie a classic...

[walters-21 · 8/10 · 16 August 2004]

OK, so this movie isn't a big Academy Award winner. OK, so it doesn't rank up there with Brian's Song or is as flashy and symbolic as Any Given Sunday.

Maybe it doesn't have the attitude of The Last Boy Scout or North Dallas Forty; it lacks the comic appeal of Necessary Roughness. But you know what it does have that all of those above-mentioned films lack, a connection to any person that has ever stepped out on that field and experienced the pressures and bliss that comes with the nitty gritty game of football. I remember seeing this movie in the sixth grade and having never been into football that much, I didn't expect a lot. Yet,I walked away in awe at the sheer excitement experienced from this movie. This was an instant classic and even years later in my high school football days, the players were still talking about it. It is one of the best and most realistic football movies made. It puts you in the mindset of a big play maker like Jefferson or a back-breaking linebacker like Alvin Mack. It also has its human side displaying the pressures of trying to live up to expectations and coping anyway you know how. In Joe's case it's through a bottle. Lattimer sees enhancement drugs as the only way out...the film just takes you down to their level. Better yet, it's a college experience that you haven't experienced yet, or are trying to remember (it goes so fast!). After viewing this movie so many times every year when the college ball season starts, or even back in the day before two-a-days began; I can't help but to get excited and giddy from viewing it. My tape has worn out and I now own the DVD, I just wish they would add the deleted scenes. The Program will always be on my top ten list and that's why I give it a great rating.

Warts and all...

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 20 July 2022]

"The Program" is a movie about a ficitonal university and its football program. The coach, as you'd expect, is under extreme pressure to produce a winner and, as you'd also expect with such a program, this means to win at most any cost. Through the course of this soap opera-like story, again and again, you see the ways that many of these players behave in self-destructive and selfish ways...which is odd since the film ALSO seems to want you to root for the team at the same time!

I appreciate how the story is pretty much a warts and all production...with drinking, sexual assaults and the like...things you sadly hear about various college teams on the news. But at the same time, it makes for a story that you feel disconnected from as well because in most cases you don't want to root for the guys. An unusual story in this regard....and something that makes this a film mostly for football fans OR folks who hate football...but no one in between.

My eyes hurt from constantly rolling them

[katzthumper · 1/10 · 7 September 2021]

I certainly remember during my four years playing running back on the collegiate level our pregame ritual of spitting in one another's mouths. The long trash talking conversations I had with middle linebackers before the snap. I wasn't to be bothered with listening for audibles, the snap count, or assessing defensive formations. Furthermore, no self respecting MLB would concern himself calling audibles as he read the offensive formation. He was too bothered with figuring out how I was to hear his long mind numbing threats over the crowd noise. Of course this continued somehow during the play as we trash talked one another running full speed while I attempted to break tackles and he shedding blocks. No wait...I don't remember any of that. Damned concussions.

what college football is really like

[merigold_josh · 8/10 · 11 October 2000]

This is a great football movie. Being a former college footballo player I can speak from experience of the pressures of the field and the perks you get off it. Craig Sheffer was outstanding as Joe Kane the star Quarterback dealing with demons, his demon was a big one alcohol. Kristy Swanson was great as Camile Joe's love interest. These two have excellent chemistry. Andrew Bryhanski roll as Lattimer was dead on. He played a steroid abuser perfectly. The best part of the movie is the last game when Latts makes the goal line play and The coach(played by James Caan) grabs him looks at him and they both know latts is back on the juice. All in all this is a outstanding movie and I would recommend it to anyone.

Best football movie ever made

[badgerboy97 · 15 October 2007]

This is the best football movie ever made. It doesn't have all the clichés that normal football movies have where the starting quarterback gets the beautiful cheerleader and any certain game is won at the buzzer on some totally bizarre play. It's about the truth of what goes on in the college game. Sure, this stuff doesn't happen everywhere, but it certain frickin' happens. I'm talking about the steroids, the football players being allowed a free pass when it comes to academics, the fact that some people cannot even read but are able to go to college just to play a damn game.

This movie shows it all. James Caan does a perfect job of playing the coach trying to keep it all together. Although he is corrupted just as much as his players, he had his own problems to worry about with losing his job so he had a big balancing act to perform. This movie was NOT about triumph, it's about tragedy and sacrifice that young men make just to be a top player in a sport which in the long run normally doesn't amount to anything.

Great watch for you people who don't know much about the "behind the scenes" stuff and if you haven't seen this movie and are interested in college football, check it out. It's not necessarily a greatly acted movie, but it's a very telling movie which more people should pay attention to. 7 out of 10 in my book for what it's worth.

Bad action + bad acting = really cheesy football movie

[Agent10 · 4/10 · 24 June 2002]

What were the producers thinking? One of the lamest films about college football proved to be one of the most poorly acted ones. Sure, Omar Epps and James Caan were solid, but the list of no-names dotting the cast list was too much to overcome in this rather lame effort. Fortunately, Oliver Stone made a better, more lucent film in Any Given Sunday. Sadly, football films will prove to be the most difficult of all the sports to turn into a movie.

Getting With The Program

[bkoganbing · 9/10 · 17 July 2007]

The Program may very well be the best film on college football ever done in that it shows its not quite the way it was when Pat O'Brien was playing Knute Rockne or even when Knute Rockne himself was coaching at Notre Dame.

During the Nineties another classic film about professional football was done, Any Given Sunday. The main theme about Any Given Sunday was that sports was now more business than anything else. But pro football has always been a business. What The Program shows is just how much a business college football is, yet it maintains the fiction that this is amateur athletics.

As is so eloquently put, no one is going to pay for a ticket to see a chemistry exam. Football with its ticket revenue, its alumni contributions, it's TV and radio rights, it's memorabilia rights is a very big business. It brings in money for the colleges, hence the colleges have a vested interest in a winning team. And some will do quite a bit more than others.

James Caan does a fine job as the coach of mythical ESU who is a decent man caught up in the system. He operates his program straining the bounds of ethics. He knows full well that some of his kids are being greased right through college without an education, but football is his life and living and Caan operates the best he can.

His players are a cross section of young America. Craig Sheffer is the very talented quarterback from a white trash background trying hard to rise above it. Omar Epps is the inner city ghetto kid who sees football as his ticket out. Andrew Bryniarski is the defensive player that steroids gave us, something Caan pretends not to notice until it really smacks him in the face. By the way Bryniarski was also in Any Given Sunday.

My favorite in the entire film is Duane Davis who is another kid from the ghetto who both really loves the game, can barely read and write, and who also sees it as a way of rising from poverty. He's a nice kid, but a bad influence on Epps who he constantly tells that The Program will grease him through. Davis just lives for that National Football League contract.

I do love the way Davis psyches himself before a scrimmage. You have to see the film to appreciate. Sad to say his is the saddest of all the stories here. You have to be made of stone to not be moved by seeing him at home, leg in a cast, listening to the final championship game with his mother, knowing the future he foresaw for himself is blasted to smithereens.

Halle Berry and Kristy Swanson are there as love interests to both Epps and Sheffer respectively. There characters are quite a bit more than the usual air-headed cheerleaders cast in these parts.

Another good performance is John Maynard Pennell as Sheffer's second string backup. He romances and talks Caan's daughter into taking an exam for him. When she's caught both are expelled. Caan personally kicks him out of the university and then has to swallow his pride and a good deal more to bring Pennell back when Sheffer has to go into rehab. That's also a classic scene.

The Program is one of the finest, if not the finest film on college football ever done. I think more than sports fans will appreciate this finely crafted piece of cinema.

Really awful movie

[dixiedoggg · 1/10 · 4 August 2017]

Most of the reviews are 10 and tell of a 'true' telling of life in a college football school, the ups and downs and twists and turns etc etc....

What a waste of time this movie was, the whole point is to try to portray the players as 'poor little men' trying their gosh darn dangest to succeed on the field of battle in football. What a joke. All the players are portrayed as the most ignorant, stupidest ape mentality with a full blown paid scholarship, that they seem to misuse to their advantage at every detail. Watching the woman in the film swoon over these neanderthals is comical, why on earth would any human want any contact with these insensitive, crude, drunk boors is beyond me.

The acting itself is pretty low, the script poor and the plot can figured out in about a minute into the film.

Now mind you, if this is what 'true' college athletes are like, please write your congressmen and other representatives to fully remove all sports from the college level because they appear be the worst scum of society ever....

Loved This Movie They Should Make An Updated Version... But...

[HarvardLawSchoolsFinest · 9/10 · 11 March 2015]

Man, first off let me say, what a well acted and fantastic movie in general. The young guys playing the football stars were believable and well prepped. I also loved James Caan character. He seemed like a genuine college coach who had flaws, and issues along with that something that makes him who he is!.

Also this was one of the very first movies I saw about college life for an inner city youth and college football shown from a darker perspective. Omar Epps character is so well thought out and that I wish we could have seen more of him, more of his highlights, a better background story. I loved the fact the kid came from the city and was big time. But at the same time, i barely felt like i was part of his big time life in high school like i think a Boobie Miles may have felt back in the same time. I understand thats Texas but you get my drift.

I really liked how the kids had their own issues and families and problems displayed throughout the movie as well. It made it so much more believable, i wish they would make a revamped version where we can actually feel that Heisman race in full effect.

Overall I think this is one of the best college football movies ever made, The movie should be longer to add small details, i wouldn't mind one bit. I loved it and have to give it 9 out of 10 baby! --Only because when you look at the genre of College Football/ Football movies in general, this one actually ranks very high among the best ever in my opinion.

Rudy being a 10/10 and North Dallas 40 being a 10/10 Any Given Sunday 10/10

• because they all have great on field action just like THE PROGRAM. great movie when you really break it down!!!!!!

Clichéd but still an OK genre film

[bob the moo · 16 May 2004]

The college football team of the Timberwolves is made up of students from all over America and of all sorts of background. Joe Kane is the team's poster boy and is tipped to go all the way to the NFL; Darnell is a rookie from the tough streets looking for a break with the team and his tutor Autumn and the rest of the team are made up of steroid takers, trash takers and course flunkers. With all this raw aggressions and raw ability, Coach Winters must try and hold it all together despite his own problems.

It has been so many years since it came out that many viewers will have forgotten the fuss that made this film better known than it really deserved to be at the time. I won't go into it but I really fail to see (aside from the one impersonation) why a scene involving chicken with cars was cut yet a scene involving chicken with trains was left in – surely if one was unsuitable then the other should be so too? Now, over 10 years later the film remains more famous that it deserves on the back of some fortunate casting – it was the cast list that attracted to this film. The actual story is a fairly ho-hum sports movie with all the usual clichés about college sports as well as the usual semi-drama stories around the characters – overcoming bad backgrounds, party excesses, girl troubles and so on. As a basic sports movie it is enjoyable enough but it doesn't really do anything that makes it stand out from the genre.

The cast is the ongoing selling point of the film and the performances are OK considering that the material doesn't give them a great deal to do other than go through the genre motions. Caan plays a grizzly old coach who has to cover the player's indiscretions and he does it well enough. Berry looks OK but has little to do in a very male dominated film. Sheffer is supposed to be the lead role but he doesn't really have the ability and he is easily swallowed up by his support cast. Epps is good and minor female roles are also given to Swanson and Adams. Bryniarski overplays his steroid addict but still works and I thought Davis showed a gentle touch when he was given the chance to in minor scenes during the final game.

Overall, aside from the controversy that helped it getting a bigger audience at the time of release and the good list of names in the cast, this is actually just a competent film rather than a really good one. It has all the usual clichés that you expect from college sports films and it doesn't do anything special with them but it doesn't do them badly either. Entertaining as along as you know what to expect.

Apt title, no message

[rnys22 · 4/10 · 6 August 2020]

I'm sure this is a pseudo-realistic look into how our cult-like worship of our favorite schools drives some ethically questionable behind the scenes maneuvers (James Caan is so close to showing he has a conscience), but that just makes it more disappointing given the results. We like to believe that the good guys who do it right eventually pull through and outlast the scandal ridden.

More interesting than most fictional football movies, but the ending was so hard to support/cheer on. I enjoyed watching the scandals unfold, but by the end of it, I don't feel sympathy for any of them and wish they would get what they deserve instead of being rewarded. What's the theme that makes it a film to watch? That life's not fair? That we need to stop this sport in it's tracks? Even the QB who you can sort of defend in the bar fight (and even the DWI in the context of 30-40 years ago, especially given his roots) doesn't seem to have any true leadership that makes him an admirable figure, and he doesn't learn anything. Should've lost the fumble on the final drive. The disappointment of not going bowling and a coach going three years and out after losing control of his program would be a more compelling finish and probably more realistic to the sadness of careers ending as most of them do - losing and churning through coaches.

Great Football Film.

[callahannicole21 · 9/10 · 25 September 2007]

Great college football film. The cast clicked and the direction was outstanding. This film takes you behind the scenes as to what goes on in College Football. The politics, the drugs, the drinking, the pressure involved, and just the work ethic and what it takes to be a good Football team. Great value as far as the locations, the football games seemed so real, with the crowds, very convincing movie. I loved it all the way around. If people dislike this movie, it is probably due to wishing their doing better things with their lives. I agree with a comment, this is one of the best football films of the 90's. Without a doubt. Check it out. You will not be disappointed.

Great performances by Caan, Berry, Epps, and most of the others.

The Program

[illharmonics00 · 4/10 · 30 September 2002]

About as well as you can address the fleeting world of sports. Like most sports film it tries to reveal a stoic creed of fraternity amongst the players, but comes off looking like a bad "join the army/mom&pop/apple pie" americana promotion. the male/female connections in the film are barely believable and exhibit almost no chemistry. the only redeeming facet is the performance of the steroid-abusing lineman who approaches each game with some sort of indian-death battle mentality.

Excellent Football Film

[TedMichaelMor · 9/10 · 20 September 2012]

You do not have to be a great fan of college football to appreciate this film but I suspect watching it might offer you a change to become a fan. Visually, the movie is quite lovely. It has a lush warm tone that is unaffected but effective.

I like this film. I like the story. I like the way the film is executed. I find the story and characters credible and interesting. The contrast of themes or counterpoint of themes works well. The then young actors seem realistic. They are multidimensional. In fact, this is one of the best football movies.

Dialogue is playful intelligent, and perceptive. The film uses multiple points-of-view and varies them in interesting ways. There are subjective reaction shots and asides that give the narrative great interest. I love the helmet camera images.