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
Rudy is a 1993 film directed by David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger who harbored dreams of playing football at the University of Notre Dame despite significant obstacles. 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 also ranked the 54th most inspiring film of all time in the AFI 100 Years… series.[2] The film was released on October 13, 1993 by TriStar Pictures. This film stars Sean Astin as the title character. Also in the cast are Ned Beatty, Charles S. Dutton, and Vince Vaughn in his film debut.
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger grew up dreaming of playing football at the University of Notre Dame. While achieving some success with his local high school football team, Ruettiger lacks the grades and money to attend Notre Dame, and talent and physical size (the real Ruettiger was only 5'6" and the film suggests that the fictional Rudy was even smaller than that) to play football for the Fighting Irish. Instead, he takes a job at the local steel mill where his father Daniel Ruettiger Sr. (a huge Notre Dame fan) works, and he prepares to settle down.
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, and leaves for Notre Dame, against his father's warning that "Ruettigers don't belong at college." Ruettiger fails to get admitted to Notre Dame, and instead goes to a small junior college, Holy Cross College, hoping to qualify for a transfer to the university. Holy Cross College is now a four-year liberal arts college.[3]
During his final semester of transfer eligibility, he is granted admission to Notre Dame. After "walking on" (a term used to designate the process by which non-scholarship players join a college football team) for the football team, Ruettiger convinces coach Ara Parseghian to give him a spot on the football practice or scout team, where Rudy exhibits more drive and desire than some of his big-name varsity teammates.
Upon Dan Devine's installation as head coach, Ruettiger fears he will lose the chance to dress for a home game (and thereby establish himself on the official team roster for that year), an arrangement to which Parseghian had agreed in recognition of Ruettiger's drive and his dedication to the football program. Late in the season of 1975, his teammates, led by team captain and All-American Roland Steele, rise to his defense, pressuring Devine to allow Rudy to suit up for the final game of the season in their place by putting their jerseys, one at a time, on top of Devine's desk .
The final game of the season comes, against Georgia Tech. And while Rudy is suited up, his teammates feel this is not enough. One of the varsity players starts a chant that soon goes stadium wide. 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. The final scene depicts him being carried off the field by his teammates.
Father Theodore Hesburgh, President of the University of Notre Dame 1952–1987 and Father Edmund Joyce, Vice President of the University of Notre Dame 1952–1987. Fathers Hesburgh and Joyce play unnamed priests walking in the Basilica. They are seen talking to one of Rudy's mentors, Father John J Cavanaugh (played by Robert Prosky, who died on December 8, 2008), who was also Father Hesburgh's predecessor as president of the university.
The crowd scenes during Rudy's final game were filmed during halftime at a real game between Notre Dame and Boston College during 1992.
Rudy runs his fingers down the list in a close-up two times. The first time he starts on one name, the second time he starts on another name. The two names he starts his finger on are the actual names of the two players who picked him up and carried him off the field.[citation needed]
Many of the Priests and miscellaneous Notre Dame employees in the movie are actual Notre Dame employees.
The Georgia Tech quarterback in the film wore the number "19." This was an intentional technical inaccuracy because the producers did not wish to depict any living people in the film without permission. [4] No Georgia Tech player is allowed to wear the number "19" or has since 1942. The number was last worn by Georgia Tech All-America (freshman) Clint Castleberry who played but one year, joined the United States Army Air Forces and was shot down off the coast of Africa during WWII. His body was never recovered. The number is the only Georgia Tech jersey number permanently retired. [5] The Georgia Tech quarterback during the actual game was Rudy Allen, who wore number"9".
During the scout practices when Rudy finally makes it on the team, he is shown wearing the number "46" twice and the number "45" the rest of the time, at one point in two different frames depicting the same play.
Rudy's brother "Frank" was a dramatic invention to heighten the sense of opposition to his dream. In reality, Ruetigger's two older siblings are both sisters.[6]
Georgia Tech was not the last game of Notre Dame's 1975 season - only the last home game. The Fighting Irish had two more away games that followed it.
Coach Devine 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.[7]
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,[8] saying "The jersey scene is unforgivable. It's a lie and untrue."[9]
Notre Dame did not play against Penn State in either 1974 or 1975, despite a scene showing Rudy watching from the stands.
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 salesperson at an appliance store. When the other salespersons cause Earl to fail, the store's dockworkers lay their store credit cards on the manager's desk in support of Earl. Sean Astin, Charles S. Dutton, and Chelcie Ross guest starred in the episode.
