Themes: In Training, Obsessive Quests, Football Players
Main Cast: Sean Astin, Ned Beatty, Charles S. Dutton, Lili Taylor, Jason Miller, Robert Prosky
Release Year: 1994
Country: US
Run Time: 114 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
Plot
A young man learns to let nothing stop him from realizing his ambitions in this drama, based on a true story. Ever since he was a little boy, Rudy Ruettiger (Sean Astin) has dreamed of attending Notre Dame University, and playing on the Fighting Irish football team. However, Rudy's dream doesn't seem very practical; Daniel (Ned Beatty), his father, works in a steel mill and can ill afford to send his son to Notre Dame, while Rudy's grades are not especially impressive, and standing a shade over five feet tall and weighing a little over 100 pounds, Rudy is hardly built for the gridiron. However, with the help of Father Cavanaugh (Robert Prosky), a sympathetic priest, Rudy is admitted to nearby Holy Cross, and in his junior year manages to squeak into Notre Dame as a transfer student. Rudy works as an assistant to the football stadium's groundskeeper, Fortune (Charles S. Dutton), to pay his tuition (often sleeping in Fortune's office since he can't afford a room), studies diligently, and appears at tryouts for the football team. Rudy is made a member of the practice team, which means he's little more than a human tackling dummy, but Coach Ara Parseghian (Jason Miller) is impressed with Rudy's devotion and determination, and pledges that he'll allow him to dress for one game before he graduates, so his name can be recorded as an official member of the team. However, the arrival of a new coach and a tough season that allows for few unnecessary players may put a stop to Rudy's dreams within sight of the finish line. Rudy also stars Jon Favreau, Lili Taylor, and Scott Benjaminson. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Review
A tale of the utmost dogged determination, Rudy has come to be considered one of the more resonant guilty pleasures in the pantheon of sports movies -- the kind that brings a tear to the eye of the gruffest of jocks. There's an almost nerdy earnestness about both the film and its main character, played with unblinking intensity by Sean Astin. A hero who wears his love of Notre Dame football proudly on his sleeve, with zero sense of irony, would be almost unthinkable in a 21st century sports movie -- it already seems quaint by 1994. But perhaps that's key to the film's charm. Rudy Ruettiger couldn't accomplish anything if he let people's perceptions of him dictate his choices in life. And since it's based on a true story, there's no cause to blame Rudy's roller coaster of travails and triumphs on screenwriting contrivances. Because the film has a reputation as kind of a B-sports classic -- in the same category as Major League -- it's probably not possible to go in without knowing it has a happy ending. Still, viewers will be pleasantly surprised if they think they know the shape of that ending -- it's much more life-sized than a writer of fiction would conjure. Hoosiers director David Anspaugh presides over the package without being flashy or syrupy, though the sentiment creeps through anyway. Angelo Pizzo is also back from Hoosiers with a sturdy script. Rudy is so much the focus of this script that the other characters tend to get short-changed, particularly Lili Taylor's Sherry. But Ned Beatty and Charles S. Dutton make the most of key supporting roles, and Astin carries the picture home. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
Jon Favreau - D-Bob; Scott Benjaminson - Frank; Ron Dean - Coach Yonto; Chelcie Ross - Dan Devine; John Beasley - Coach Warren; Gerry Becker - Father Ted; Lorenzo Clemons - High School Assistant Coach; Ron de Roxtra - Pressman; John Duda - Frank--Age 15; Diana James - Pick-up Girl; Chris Olson - Dan Dorman; Chris Reed - Pete; Robert J. Steinmiller - Pete-Age 13; Mary Ann Thebus - Betty; Kevin Thomas - Player From Sidelines; Terri Zarodnick - Mrs. Connally; Sean Grennan - High School Assistant Coach; Michael Sassone - Guard; Bob Swan - Father Zajak; Johanna Ray; Richard Pagano; Debi Manwiller; Sharon Bialy
Credit
Martin Price - Art Director, Angelo Pizzo - Co-producer, Jane Anderson - Costume Designer, Michael Waxman - First Assistant Director, David Anspaugh - Director, David Rosenbloom - Editor, Lee R. Mayes - Executive Producer, Jerry Goldsmith - Composer (Music Score), Curt Frisk - Musical Direction/Supervision, Angela Nogaro - Makeup, Billy Higgins - Production Designer, Robb Wilson King - Production Designer, Oliver Wood - Cinematographer, Cary Woods - Producer, Robert N. Fried - Producer, Martin Price - Set Designer, Joe di Gaetano III - Special Effects, Angelo Pizzo - Screenwriter
It was the first movie the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since Knute Rockne, All American in 1940. In 2005, Rudy was named one of the best 20 sports movies of the previous 25 years in two polls by ESPN (#24 by a panel of sports experts, and #4 by espn.com users).[1] It was ranked the 54th most inspiring film of all time in the "AFI 100 Years" series.[2]
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger grows up in Joliet, Illinois, dreaming of playing college football at the University of Notre Dame. While achieving some success with his local high school football team (Joliet Catholic), Ruettiger lacks the grades and money to attend Notre Dame, not to mention talent and physical size. (The real Ruettiger was only 5'6" (1.67 m) and the film's fictional Rudy appears to be even smaller.)
Rudy takes a job at a local steel mill where his father Daniel Ruettiger, Sr. (a huge Notre Dame fan) works and he prepares to settle down. But when his best friend Pete is killed in an explosion at the mill, Rudy decides to follow his dream of attending Notre Dame and playing college football for the Fighting Irish.
He leaves for the Notre Dame campus in South Bend, Indiana against his blue collar father's warning that "Ruettigers don't belong at college." Rudy fails to get admitted to Notre Dame, but on the advice of a priest, Father Cavanaugh, he goes to a small junior college nearby, Holy Cross College, hoping to qualify for a transfer to the university. He also manages to get a part-time job on Notre Dame's groundskeeping staff to help pay his tuition.
During his final semester of transfer eligibility, Rudy is granted admission to Notre Dame. After "walking on" as a non-scholarship player for the football team, Ruettiger convinces coach Ara Parseghian to give him a spot on the practice (or "scout") squad. Rudy soon exhibits more drive and desire than some of his scholarship teammates.
Parseghian agrees to Rudy's request to suit up for just one game in his senior year so his family and friends can see him as a genuine member of the team. But to the student's dismay, Parseghian steps down as coach following the 1974 season.
After Dan Devine's arrival as head coach in 1975, Ruettiger is not given a chance to dress for a home game and quits the team briefly in anger. Other players, led by team captain and All-American Roland Steele, rise to his defense, pressuring Devine to allow Rudy to suit up for the final home game of the season by stacking their jerseys, one at a time, atop Devine's desk.
The final home game comes against Georgia Tech on November 8. Rudy is suited up, but his teammates feel this is not enough. One invites Rudy to lead the entire team out of the tunnel onto the field. Another starts a "Rudy!" chant that soon goes stadium wide. Rudy's parents are in the stands and can hardly believe their ears and eyes.
Coach Devine eventually gives in and lets Rudy play on the final kickoff. Rudy then stays in for the final play of the game and sacks the opposing quarterback. He is carried off on the shoulders of his teammates. An epilogue states that since that day, no other Notre Dame player has ever been carried off the field this way.
In reality, Coach Devine had announced that Rudy would dress for the Georgia Tech game during practice a few days before. The dramatic scene where his teammates each lay their jerseys on Coach Devine's desk in protest never happened, though according to Ruettiger, Devine was persuaded to allow him to dress only after a number of senior players requested that he do so.[3] Also, Coach Devine had agreed to be depicted as the "heavy" in the film for dramatic effect but was chagrined to find out the extent to which he was vilified,[4] saying "The jersey scene is unforgivable. It's a lie and untrue."[5]
Rudy was parodied on the television show My Name is Earl. In the episode "Get a Real Job," main character Earl Hickey tries to become a salesman at an appliance store. When the other salesclerks cause Earl to fail, the store's dockworkers lay their store credit cards on the manager's desk in support of Earl. Fortune's famous lecture to Rudy is even parodied in a scene between Earl and Reggie (played by Charles S. Dutton). Sean Astin, Charles S. Dutton, and Chelcie Ross guest starred in the episode.
