Leigh Ann Rassler
Release Date: November 13, 2015
Running Time: 1 hour and 58 minutes
Rated PG
Grade: A
Directed By: Angelo Pizzo
Starring:
Aaron Eckhart as Darrell Royal
Finn Wittrock as Freddie Steinmark
Sarah Bolger as Linda Wheeler
Robin Tunney as Gloria Steinmark
Michael Riley Burke as Fred Steinmark
Juston Street as James Street
Rett Terrell as Bobby Mitchell
Football doesn’t build character, it eliminates the weak.
When Coach Darrell Royal is asked to provide an interview about his most memorable player, he responds that he’d like to talk about Freddie Steinmark. The interviewer questions his choice since Freddie Steinmark was not one of Royal’s thirty ‘All American’ players. Coach Royal proceeds to share his story. He also thanks all of the coaches that worked with Freddie to get him to the training camp at University of Texas in 1968.
Freddie was smaller than the average football player, yet he was captain of his team at Wheat Ridge High School. What Freddie lacked in height and weight, he more than made up for in courage, heart, passion, and optimism. He was raised by a tight-knit family, had a 4.0 GPA, and attended mass daily. After several rejections by college football teams, Freddie was elated when his high school football coach recommended him for a scholarship to play for University of Texas.
Not only did Freddie secure a spot on the team, but he was Coach Royal’s first sophomore to start in a season and lead his team to success in 1969. Most notably he recalls the ‘Game of the Century’ against the Arkansas Razorbacks where Freddie was injured and pushed through the pain to assist in securing a victory. Unfortunately, Freddie was not able to play in the Cotton Bowl against Notre Dame due to the treatment of his injury. Even though Freddie was not an ‘All American’, he was Coach Royal’s ‘All American’.
There’s nothing that my boy can’t do.
My All American is a biographical sports drama written and directed by Angelo Pizzo who is known for Rudy and Hoosiers. The story is inspired by true events like other sports dramas, but I think that Pizzo differentiates this one with the emotional emphasis on the pure spirit of of a human who made a mark on the lives of anyone who knew him. Pizzo’s attention to detail also honors the pride and tradition of UT’s football program over the years through excellent story telling and impressive cinematography. Current and past team members have shared their own connections with the film, how it inspired them, and the most notably their satisfaction with the Cotton Bowl scene. Aaron Eckhart and Finn Whifilmtrock studied the real people that they characterize to fully immerse themselves in their roles and it shows. Overall, this is not exactly your typical sports drama so I hope that I have inspired you to experience it for yourself.
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