The Glory Road reviews are coming in… and they’re not as sparkling as the studio had hoped for.
I’m a sucker for sports movies… especially underdog sports movies (aren’t they all?). I’ve also been evolving into a Josh Lucas fan. No, he hasn’t appeared in any “blow my socks off” projects yet (uggg… Stealth), but he always delivers his role with a great amount of charm that leaves me looking forward to seeing him again.
But even underdog sports movies (yes even ones with Josh Lucas) have to be GOOD. Sadly… it looks like Glory Road may be coming up a bit short in that department. Here’s what some of the critics are saying in their reviews about Glory Road:
“Remember the Titans? Forget about them! Here’s a new Jerry Bruckheimer production that places its secular faith in an almighty audience appetite for underdogs, sports, and dramas in which wrongs are righted by good-looking Americans.”
Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY“This Jerry Bruckheimer production, directed by commercial director James Gartner in a solid feature debut, should please male fans as well as those who don’t mind a dose of social commentary with their sports heroics.”
Kirk Honeycutt, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER“At 106 minutes, the slicing off of a slew of choppily interspersed subplots could have made Glory Road a leaner, meaner, message-delivery machine.”
Laura Kelly, SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL“a tepid, artificial, and cliché-ridden carbon copy of Coach Carter, Friday Night Lights, and Remember the Titans.”
Sean O’Connell, FILMCRITIC.COM
As of this moment, Glory Road is carrying a 50% rating on Rotten tomatoes. Not what they were hoping for at all. But honestly folks… just by watching the trailer… doesn’t it seem like we’ve seen this move 10 times just in the last 3 or 4 years? I’ll let you know my thoughts on it on Monday’s Audio Edition.
I’m not sure if I’s lump ‘Raging Bull”, or “Hoosiers” in the same league as Brian, since these films were 80’s films. Also, I have no problem with biopics or formula films if done well, such as Remember The Titans or Prefontaine.
But it is getting old: the dramatic pep talk to pull the team together, winning the Big Game, the other team set up as bad people and/or they play dirty, contreversy over the coach and/or coaching methods, the players on the drinking binge…the disgruntled player who didn’t make the cut, and did I miss anything? Oh, yeah. The fat kid and the abusive/neglectful parent.
I went to a screening of this last Wednesday. It’s so-so. If you go just looking to have a decent movie experience, it’s fairly enjoyable. Just don’t expect anything you haven’t already seen – there are situations taken from Remeber the Titans, Coach Carter, Finding Forrester…it’s not terrible, but it’s not excellent. It’s mediocre.
My full review here: http://www.technicianonline.com/media/paper848/news/2006/01/13/Features/glory.Road.Well.Traveled-1369331.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.technicianonline.com
I highly doubt I’ll make it the theater to this flick, but it will be a good movie to rent in a few months. Like many I’m a sucker for underdog sports movies and this one revolves around Basketball of which I’m a huge fan.
Yes, we have seen movies like this a trillion times. Hollywood keeps making movies over and over from historic sports stories. Pretty much, they pick a segment off of Sportscenter and say, “hey, what a good idea. let’s do that!” Rudy, hoosiers, cinderella man, friday night lights, coach carter, miracle,Raging bull, remember the titans, hundreds of ’em. The reviews will probably get worse and worse, this genre is gettin’ old.