Rudy: Average 90s Sports Film with Non-Message?

This question has been haunting me for the past 5 minutes. Why does anyone like Rudy at all? In particular, how do they find it inspiring?

Rudy doesn't actually achieve anything by the end of the film. He gets dealt a sympathy card and isn't allowed to go to university, but instead just to train with Notre Dame's team. He spends two years getting pummelled and then at the end of the movie, he's let onto the field after the team has clearly won and scores a sack. And he gets applauded for it. It's the equivalent of fans cheering louder than when the game was actually close once their favourite team starts running up the score against a weaker opponent. (He also plays during the defensive kickoff before this sack. Still not a real, "hey kid, you actually are worth putting on the field, get out there" moment.)

The problem with this movie isn't necessarily "he deserves a bigger award for his efforts, it's too small compared to most hollywood stories", it's that I don't see his "reward" as a reward at all. They've taken a "Shaggy Dog" Story and dressed it up to make it more appealing. So, again - what's so inspiring about this movie?

edited 23rd Apr '11 8:59:14 AM by Barcode711

Worshipper of Ahura Mazda, as proclaimed by Zoroadster http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr

Maybe the book has more of a message? It was based on a real life account.

^I don't think the book would have more of a message unless he picked up in some other areas outside of playing football during this period that the movie didn't address.

edited 23rd Apr '11 8:58:14 AM by Barcode711

Worshipper of Ahura Mazda, as proclaimed by Zoroadster http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr

I don't know the exact details or what the real life Rudy has done since the events of the movie, but I believe there has only been a handful of players carried off the Notre Dame field after the game and that "five foot nothing, one hundred and nothing" kid is one of them. The fact that it was a runaway victory anyway and it was Rudy's only few seconds on the field is meant to show the great respect the team had for him. In truth because it doesn't follow the typical Down to the Last Play and Miracle Rally that other sports films use is what makes the movie stand out.

I know that's why it stands out. What I'm debating is the effectiveness of this standing-out. (It would be like saying an action movie stands out for having no villains, only protagonists - and the protagonists themselves don't fight each other. Yes, it's unique, but there's no longer a plot. Some things are tropes for a reason.)

It's a tribute to effort given to him from the team, which is something of an achievement - but it's not the achievement he was looking for, and it's got debatable worth. (He still didn't accomplish his goal - playing for the team - unless you follow Exact Wording.)

To me, a much better example of the "team loses at sport but still achieves something" aversion was Coach Carter. Yes, the players didn't end up being the best and being good students. But they did become good students.

edited 23rd Apr '11 10:43:47 AM by Barcode711

Worshipper of Ahura Mazda, as proclaimed by Zoroadster http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr

So people who save up for years to go on a trip to say China or Jerusalem, because it was a one time thing and they never do anything like it again is it a complete waste?

The message is one of the more realistic ones, as it can pertain to anyone without exceptional skills. Hard work doesn't always trump talent and just being dedicated doesn't mean that things will go the way you want, but those attributes will earn the respect of others and give you opportunities nonetheless.

Well, given how movies tend to pare down anything, I can't imagine how the book(s) on the guy wouldn't have more details, which could possibly answer your questions better.

Four good reasons why people like Rudy:

1. It's from the people who did Hoosiers.

2. Sean Astin is cool.

3. Charles S. Dutton is also cool.

4. Jerry Goldsmith's score.

More Buscemi at http://forum.reelsociety.com/

It's not the "one-time-ness" of the whole thing, it's the fact that to play for a team kind of implies to be a measurable, component to the team's success during a matchup. My achievement dissonance stems from the fact that sacking the QB in a game that was over to begin with isn't really a valid "I was on the team!" experience.

Experiencing stuff only once of course still results in a valid experience. But this is the equivalent of saving up to go to China, then just momentarily seeing China out of your plane window after your flight gets denied from entering Chinese airspace. (Wow, that's depressing.)

edited 23rd Apr '11 6:49:27 PM by Barcode711

Worshipper of Ahura Mazda, as proclaimed by Zoroadster http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr

He was on the team practicing with them and everything, he was just only allowed to suit up for one game. He can't claim to be a football star or anything, but he was on the field and was involved in one play. That's more than most college football dreams and certainly a lot more than "never entering China airspace."

Except there are a whole bunch of people who not only get a fleeting glimpse of China but go there for long periods of time.

This is more like someone whose dream was to be an astronaut, but only got to participate in one shuttle flight whose sole mission was "go up into space, achieve orbit, then come back down." It may not be spending months on a space station doing important work, but it's more time in space than the vast, vast majority of people will ever experience.

Good point by Wilder.

I do think Rudy and Hoosiers are just decent entertainment, certainly not the pinnacle of sports movies like they are made out to be, mostly because they are so incredibly predictable even the first time you see them.

Watch out where you step, or we'll be afoot.

Granted, that might just be Seinfeld Is Unfunny due to how played out the whole Sports Movie formula is.

Though I do admit, I kinda miss movies that use that formula XD

EDIT: Wait, we don't have a "Sports Movie" trope? What is this crap?!??

EDITEDIT: Oh. Wouldn't have thought this was the name of the page.

edited 20th Aug '12 6:59:19 AM by 0dd1

Insert witty and clever quip here. My page, as the database hates my handle.

http://www.cracked.com/article_16478_7-movies-based-true-story-that-are-complete-bullshit.html

Skewers Rudy very effectively.

See, I always thought Rudy seemed kind of pathetic and obsessive about it anyway in the movie. Expending one's effort into something that you clearly are not and will never be good at is a waste of time, and it's more worth it to try to find something you ARE good at to become passionate about.

EDIT: I wouldn't exactly call that skewering. More like, "This one guy in the movie wasn't really a prick and also Rudy was the only one who really cared about his own story."

edited 20th Aug '12 9:35:16 AM by 0dd1

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Yeah, Cracked is a fun read but the quality of research and verification can be on a much lower par than even TV Tropes. How does the fact that the real Rudy was actively campaigning for the movie have anything to do with the "Not so truthful" angle of the article? I can kind of see the whole "villainize the coach" but even then the article says the coach was okay with it.

So much this.

Rudy makes a good contrast to the implied Hard Work Hardly Works message in most sport films. The "only" thing that rudy really has to offer is hard work and effort which is admirable but really isn't enough.

This is an important message. At the risk of sounding idealistic I dont believe that there is a inate talent or 'it' one need has to have to succeed. With enough training and effort practically anybody can out box Muhammad Ali or compose a song to rival Mozart. But there are certain advantages and disadvantages one needs to weight up. With shear dedication rudy succeeded in his goal of playing for his team. He wanted to prove he could do it and he was right. This shouldn't be down played, but was it really worth dedicating his entire life towards so he could play an insignificant role in one-game?

I think we all know the answer to that...

hashtagsarestupid

His entire plan from the beginning was to have a movie made about his life, but he had to do something interesting in order to get it made first.

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okay just pointing out how fucking creepy it is this thread pops up just after we watched this film today in Sociology

Oh, I'd say talent definitely exists. The existence of talent should not in any way discourage hard work, if for no other reason than the very practical one that most of us are NOT particularly talented and hard work is all we've got. Hard work and dedication can take you very, very far. If you've every actually encountered a VERY talented individual in a field of endeavor that you're engaged in, you know that it can seem highly unfair that such a person can seemingly become so skilled, so quickly, with so (apparently) little effort (this is not to say the talented don't work hard, because the best of them do, and frequently get seriously annoyed when people imply that they don't work hard). It IS unfair. The universe is an unfair place. It eventually boils down to why you want to do something. If you do something because you love it, then all you should care about is being able to do it. If you do it primarily to dominate others an prove your innate superiority and exceptionalism, then regardless of how hard you work or how good you are, you will eventually be seriously disabused.

Well, since real life doesn't come with actual morals more often than not, and it doesn't obey any laws of narrative or storytelling...

Well, it's not like we're stalking you or anything. (By the way, can you move your head a little to the left? We can't see what's on your screen right now.)

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