Everybody's All-American (1988)

What makes it different from others?

the audience applauded

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

After about 25 years of reading about this movie shot in my long-time hometown of Baton Rouge, I finally watched Everybody's All-American with my mom on Netflix disc. From the parade at the State Capitol to shots at Airline Highway near the end, I recognized many of the landmarks that were depicted in the film. Oh, and the shots at LSU Tiger Stadium (otherwise known as Death Valley) were glorious! It follows Dennis Quaid and Jessica Lange as football hero and homecoming queen as they go through the trails and tribulations of falling in love, getting married, making a family, and the ups-and-downs-of career and marriage. There's also nice supporting turns by John Goodman-as a fellow player who has some personal problems, Timothy Hutton-as Quaid's cousin who becomes a writer, and Carl Lumbly-another former football star who thrives when the civil rights era passes. If there's some disappointment concerning the narrative, it's near the end when there seems to be some scenes missing which was confirmed when I looked at the deleted scenes section of the DVD and found a whole sequence concerning Quaid's affair with another woman in it. With that, it might have been a much better movie. Still, I enjoyed what I saw and was glad to watch this. So on that note, I recommend Everybody's All-American. P.S. I recognized singer (and New Orleans native) Aaron Neville as the man with a track pistol in the Spanish Town sequence and Patricia Clarkson (fellow N.O. native) as Hutton's fiancée. I also loved seeing Mike the Tiger when he was shown!

I read Walter Shaw's rather scathing review of the film. As an expatriated American, I have a different take on it. Don't get me wrong, I gave it a 6 (ie nothing special). What got my attention is the way this film draws a caricature of our culture.It contains the following elements of American culture: football and the heroism bestowed on great athletes, a homecoming queen who lived only for her man saving herself for marriage(it was Louisana in the 60s), capitalism, the empowerment of blacks from the 60s through the 80s, the career woman becoming the head of the family (not typical of every American family, but a trend that was taking off in the 80s). Furthermore, it contains elements typical of American film: mass appeal and a plot which is rather simple, a happy cheesy ending, rekindled love, athlete's friendship/loyalty to one another, nauseating predictability, persevering the trials of marriage (marriages everywhere have trials and athletes have loyal friends everywhere, they are just the subject of American films a lot more often). In short, even its shortcomings are typically American.I don't really know if the creative team that realized "Everybody's All-American" (even the title is Americana to an extreme) intended to make an intelligent film that takes elements unique to our culture to a near absurd extreme, or if I interpret the film this way because I pay closer attention to everything "American" than I used to. The beginning of the film is so cliché I can't help wonder if it is intentional: the homecoming game, the hero, his beautiful blonde girlfriend, his nerdy relative who has a crush on the girlfriend. There are two possibilities: either the creators of this film intended the film to be a reflection of American culture to be studied critically, or they produced a film that would have mass appeal because it contained all the elements that would attract an American audience.The US is the single-most talked about/written about nation in the world. For me this film declares itself to be the quintessence of American culture in its title, and the storyline is right out of Norman Rockwell. I recommend this film not for its entertainment value, but for food for thought and analysis.

Dennis Quaid and Jessica Lange are the college football star and cheerleader sweethearts who marry and join the world of the NFL. They experience the ups and downs of football world and the high expectations expected.A very well done drama that depicts the other side of football and how injury and the passing of time have their affect. On a scale of one to ten.. 8

The saga of a football player is the basis of this film based on a Frank Deford novel. The story covers twenty-five years as the lead character played well by Dennis Quaid goes from absolute Mr. Touchdown USA in college to the pro ranks with a last place team. The game of football is now a business and his profession. Jessica Lange is his sweetheart who marries her gridiron hero and quickly learns being the homecoming queen means little after the magical college days are gone. Although the central part of the film concerns Football this film is much more as it highlights various events of the late 50's into the 60's always keeping tabs on Quaids gridiron exploits. Good support from John Goodman as Quaids devoted college teammate and eventual business partner. Carl Lumbly as Blue a Football player as talented as Quaids character who could have gone for the brass ring in the pro game but opted instead to make things better for his race and achieve something more for himself than scoring touchdowns and hearing cheering crowds. Timothy Hutton is cast as Quaids cousin. An individual who possesses academic skills equal to that of Quaids athletic skills. In the end who has achieved the greater success? A great character study set during a time when the game produced heroes people really believed in even though their idols private lives were not always perfect like they may have imagined.