Product Description

A small-town loser determines to have one more shot at the big time by winning a football game.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9854 in DVD
• Brand: Team Marketing
• Released on: 1999-02-02
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 104 minutes

Amazon.com
This shaggy-dog fable barely drew fleas when it arrived in the winter of 1986. Now critics refer to it as a winning, offbeat classic. What took 'em so long? Probably the fact that director Roger Spottiswoode (Tomorrow Never Dies) and screenwriter Ron Shelton (Bull Durham) were chasing something very elusive: a cockeyed, scatological look at delayed glory. Robin Williams plays Jack Dundee, a meek bank VP in Taft, California, who daily relives the humiliation of a bobbled pass in the game against Bakersfield. Not content to live out his days as "Butterfingers" Dundee, Jack hits on a plan to "rewrite history" by restaging the Big Game. Taft's now-over-the-hill quarterback, Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell), reluctantly goes along with the harebrained scheme to redeem his buddy. The guys' wives (Holly Palance and Pamela Reed) shake their heads and play along. At once zany, sweet, and nostalgic, this small-town chronicle strives for, and achieves, folk-legend status. "Casey at the Bat" in shoulder pads, anyone? --Glenn Lovell

Customer Reviews

Every Fall, this is a must see for me since 1987
I guess I first caught this movie on Cinemax or some other cable channel back in '87 or '88(?) while still in High School. I've watched it at least once a year (around September usually) ever since. A "Sleeper" I suppose, but a sleeper at it's finest. In my opinion one of Williams' best, up there with "World according to Garp" and "Moscow on the Hudson". Kurt is perfectly cast as a former high school GOD turned beerbellied, blown out kneed "Van Specialist" desperately trying not to bathe in past glory. It has that "quirky and delightful" feel, not unlike Bill Forsyth's films like "Local Hero" and "Gregory's Girl". Now that I think of it, "Mystery Alaska" wouldn't be a bad comparison either. It goes way beyond simply a football/sports movie (my Wife likes it too but probably just because of Kurt Russell) but hey, I love football anyway so it it works for me on multiple levels. Of course, the idea of going back and correcting one's biggest screw up/regret would appeal to anyone. I always feel good after I watch this one, it hasn't let me down yet.

A underated classic
I first saw this movie when it was out on VHS. Yes, it is that old of a movie. From the start, I thought this movie was a classic. Jack Dundee (played by Robin Williams) is living in a state of agony because of a dropped pass in a highschool football game. Reno Hightower (played by Kurt Russel) was the quaterback, the only good quaterback the town ever had, who threw him that pass. The town in the movie is a typical small town where highschool football is big. Unfortunately for Robin Williams, that was the one chance the town had for a championship season. Robin Williams gets the idea to replay the game with the same players on both sides. Without giving away the plot, this is one movie that is worth getting. It will keep you amused and rooting for Williams throughout the whole movie.

Cute
Nice mild but funny film, with Robin Williams not acting in his usual annoying hyperactive manner, but giving a rare subdued performance. Kurt Russel is great as always, as are the rest of the cast. The Script is well written, and the direction good. Kind of like an old Disney film, in the best sense of that term.