My All-American (2015)

'My All American (Courage)' brings nothing more to the table than an article you can read online. The screenplay constantly stays safe and the writing never takes a chance to create more depth to portray Freddie Steinmark in a realistic way. This is a glossed over family film, with the strong hint of bland Christian morals. There is no room for character building and change, as everyone remains flat and stale.

Any attempt of trying to add a backstory away from his football career is quickly drowned out by, well, more football. Every conversation, whether its with his family, girlfriend, or friends, is quickly shifted to football, which portrays Freddie as a robot bowing down to the game; nothing more is on his mind. His early life struggles are quickly resolved and move on to the next football task; nothing more.

Sure, we can understand that he loved football, but Angelo Pizzo does not show the effort in film-making as the real Freddie Steinmark showed for the game. Pizzo's script and direction can be equally fulfilled by reading only a single article, or skimming the SparkNotes from 'Courage Beyond the Game: The Freddie Steinmark Story' written by, Jim Dent. What we are watching in this film is the first adaptation of a screenplay, as Pizzo forgot that screen writing takes a few more drafts.

Fmovies: Next to the zombie genre, sports dramas are usually pretty unoriginal. They have nowhere to grow and they at times follows the same formula piece by piece. With it being America game, you see so many of these football films and really only a handful work. My All American is more of the same.

Freddie Steinmark (Finn Wittrock) is a high school football star who eventually goes on to play college football at Texas University. This is a story of Freddie's efforts and setbacks while at Texas that changes his life forever.

As someone who walked into the theater knowing nothing about this story, the plot is based off a real story of Freddie Steinmark's life. Frankly, I don't think this movie will have an audience outside of Texas. Freddie is sure a likable character even if he is single-minded about football but more times then not I asked the question "why". Why should we care so much about this guy? Why so much into his life story? He sure has a lovely girlfriend in character Linda Wheeler (Sarah Bolger) but there's no room for her to grow. Even a big name like Aaron Eckhart playing Texas coach Darrell Royal doesn't work because there is nothing is to the character and nowhere to go with it. Don't get wrong, it's a nice story but a 30 for 30 feature makes more sense for the story.

My All American evens get more cliché really once you get into the depth of the football aspect. We see football scenes that have been done so many times before. So many of the game highlights just drag. The ending really wants to really grip you even though it doesn't come close and is so cheesy. If one of the purposes of the story was to get me interested in Texas Longhorns football, then it was very far off.

This movie is easily watchable but it feels so much like a one-time watch. Really what's the point of it if you already know the story the most dramatic happening in the plot is in the third act; a third act that drags badly. My All American is one of the many sports stories we can just skip.

As an Australian who knows absolutely nothing about American football (rugby union, rugby league and Australian football are our three types of football) this was a wonderful tearjerker of a movie. Beautifully paced and very well acted. I've never seen Eckhardt give such a well-rounded performance. This could have been just another soppy, cliched sports movie but instead it's an inspiring movie with a lot of heart. If you're not American, don't be put off. I strongly recommend it.

My All-American fmovies. I thoroughly enjoyed this inspirational and uplifting film. Altho I don't quite understand the game of football and abhor the violence of some of the plays, I still enjoyed this film. The acting was superb in almost all of the actors. The cinematography was very good. I didn't realize it was a true story till the end but feel real good to have gotten to know the main characters. It is a wonderful example of the true team spirit that can be found if we try and the keep on trying attitude of those who succeed in life. I highly recommend this film for all young men and women, especially high-schoolers. Altho I consider it a faith-based film, it was not preachy or overbearing in its message.

The Freddie Steinmark Story adapted into a movie. Freddie seems like a underdog as his body does not measure up to his heart, but Freddie proves that sometimes heart is all you need, and when the world tossed him a bad pass, he still stood up tall. It is the type of movie that makes you wish you had someone like Freddie Steinmark on your team. It was beautifully done.

Aaron Eckhart was great as the head coach leading his team to victory, but the actor they got to play Freddie was perfect in capturing what an amazing guy he was. The whole movie just inspires you like a good sports movie should. It's like Rudy for a new generation.

And the football was great too. I seen the gridiron thing done in many movies. Nothing out of the ordinary is going on here, but the sound effects accompanying the visuals definitely makes you feel the hit from every play.

A fair warning, this is the type of movie that makes grown men get all misty eyed. My All American is about the type of heroes America loves, who against all odds, raised to the occasion to produced victory, and made so much of himself in so little time that people are still talking about it.

The is based upon a true story

University of Texas Coach Darrell Royal (Aaron Eckhart) tells the story of one of the best football players he ever had: Freddie Steinmark (Finn Wittrock). A reporter asks Coach Royal of all the All Americans he coached which one had the greatest impact on him. Coach Royal replies, " Freddie. Freddie Steinmark." The reporter states that Freddie Steinmark was never an All American. To which Coach Royal replies, "No, but he was MY ALL American."

The first 3-quarters of this movie will remind you when you were in High School or early years of college as we follow Freddie Steinmark in his football days. It is delightful, funny, faith-based and honest. When Freddie meets Linda (Sarah Bolger) - the love of his life - in HS, we are off to the races.

We see that Freddie Steinmark is truly an exceptional football player, who played Safety later on for Coach Royal. This movie shows us more football practices than we see from other football movies, and those action scenes are somewhat brutal too. (it's only a movie, Bob) When we see the actual games the hitting doesn't let up and we think about checking into the ER just to be safe. (still a movie)

Aaron Eckhart probably plays the best role of his life as Coach Royal. Kudos. Newcomer Finn Wittrock as Freddie is a breath of fresh air and you wished you knew Freddie and further you wished everyone else was like him. He is the perfect friend as well as a better than exceptional football player.

The last quarter of this movie is sad - extremely so - and you may need that Kleenex box. Everything caught me by surprise as I had never heard of Freddie Steinmark. Football movies come and go and we rarely or barely remember what they were about (except maybe for WE ARE MARSHALL) but this movie is much different as I don't think I will ever forget Freddie Steinmark or Coach Royal, who saw things in Freddie no one else saw. I am glad this movie was made so we know what an exceptional Human Being Freddie Steinmark was.

Go to Wikipedia to learn more about Freddie Steinmark and Coach Darrell Royal. (9/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.