 |
Web Hosting by Netfirms | Free Domain Names by Netfirms |
|
|
|
 |
Premieres on TNT Wednesday, December 18th at 8PM P/C. |
 Sport is drama played out on a field instead of a screen. In 2002, society is conditioned to the idea that sports on TV is the same as witnessing it live. As someone who attended one of those magical World Series games in 2001, being in the stadium for the event is better than sitting at home or at a bar with friends watching the game on the TV. The networks seem think that having a lot of close up shots of the athletes or giving us personal information about how a particular player loves the morning dew on Tuesdays will bring us into the game. They could not be more wrong. You see, what they're attempting to do is create your favorite sports movie in a live arena. I say leave that up to the Hollywood machine. That said, even when you do leave the Hollywood machine to make a sports film, there is no guarantee that it will be any good. Second String is a fine example of this. I will admit that the concept is good, but the rest just falls short. Now, before those of you who are tried and true football fans click the back button on your browser...you will probably like this film. It is a football film, after all. Just don't expect "Shakespeare of the Gridiron."
Cut to Gil Bellows, former co-star of Ally McBeal. Bellows plays a 'washed-up' quarterback, Dan Heller, who's been reduced to selling life insurance after his promising college career amounts to little more than a disappointment in the NFL. We first see Heller trying to peddle his insurance door to door to one couple. This scene is actually one of the more humorous of the whole picture. The wife is more aware of who Heller than is the husband and she excitedly allows him to come in the door saying something that amounts to 'Dan Heller from Notre Dame is welcome in this house anytime.' When he shows his inabilities to sell insurance, the husband assumes that Heller's only cache is his reputation as a pseudo football star. At this, Heller goes into a mild tongue lashing about how the husband is only speaking to him like this because he feels insecure about his wife admiring a former pro athlete. After this scene, we are shown Heller's wife Connie, played by Teri Polo. She is most known for
Andre Archimbaud is a freelance writer, producer and broadcast and music engineer who lives in New York City. You may reach Andre direct at djaaa@ureach.com. Got a problem? Email us at filmmonthly@hotmail.com |
Second String (2002)
The movie starts off on the sidelines of The Buffalo Bills, as they clinch a playoff spot. In an effort to celebrate this berth, the quarterback, played by the real Doug Flutie (I guess those long distance service ads were his training ground), takes his entire starting offense out for an opulent meal. Included in this meal are oysters. The oysters are bad - so bad that the entire offense ends up in the hospital for what amounts to a month. 
her role in Meet The Parents. We see her packing up suitcases for she and her husband, as he's gotten 'The Call' - again. He is to be the new quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. I won't bore you with the inanities that occur between them of how he says he doesn't have 'it' anymore or how he doesn't want to be made a fool of again by his own evident shortcomings. What is most crucial at this point in the story is how Heller's coach used to be the Buffalo Bills current Coach Dichter and how he does not want to play for him again. Heller doesn't feel as if the coach, played by Jon Voight, uses him to the best of his abilities. This is the ultimate emotion in this film. As I do not want to reveal too much of the film, it basically boils down to Coach Dichter and Heller going back and forth. Each one challenging the other for the right to play their game the way they know how.
There are no real surprises in this picture and sadly, there are no outstanding performances. The best is that of Ms. Polo. Bellows turns in his usual mildly bland performance. It is as if his various characters - from Ally McBeal to other supporting stints - could be interposed from piece to piece. He does turn his comedic lines out nicely. But in those situations where he is asked to motivate his underachieving team or teammates - and in turn us as an audience - he falls short. His 'sportsman's-prerequisite-in-2002-goatee' turns in a better performance than he does in some of the more emotional scenes. Mr. Voight's role is performed well enough, but nothing stellar. The biggest transgression of the film is making Coach Dichter look a bit like Dallas Cowboys coaching legend Tom Landry with the felt fedora and all. Most of the other supporting roles are overdone or underdone, none is just right. There are some fun appearances from some football luminaries like Mike Ditka and the aforementioned Flutie and a few others.
The football scenes themselves are handled well enough, since this film was produced in cooperation with the NFL. I will say I am always amazed when I see a made for TV movie that seems to have enough of a budget that allows them to shoot at sold out stadiums. That kind of thing costs a lot of money and surely takes an awful lot of time to coordinate a stadium filled with people who are on their way to getting inebriated, if they aren't already. It's just a shame they didn't spend some of that money on casting, better writing and character development or other production values. In the end, they don't do the story justice. If you're looking for an uplifting sports film, try The Natural or Brian's Song, with James Caan and Billy Dee Williams. Even the mildly corny Knute Rockne: All American is a better alternative.