On R List of Movie Reviews
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Rudy (1993)
Rate:
9
Viewed:
10/03, 9/06, 12/22
9/06:
Rudy is a feel-good picture that's abysmally corny.
So, what is Rudy Ruettiger doing at Notre Dame University besides football? Does he have any other hobbies?
Friends? What's his major? Please don't tell me he's studying Notre Dame University football history.
Yeah, the ending is an all-time great only that it never happened. Rudy's "famous play" is just a half-sack
through pressure or perhaps a finishing tackle after his teammate made the primary sack. You can check out
the play on YouTube to see if I'm wrong. His number is 45.
The jersey-throwing scene is fake as well. There was no older brother named Frank (Rudy was the oldest of
fourteen children in his family), and there was most certainly no black greenskeeper. What's not known is Rudy
served in the Navy which meant his tuition was covered by the G.I. Bill.
The famous speech by Knute Rockne? That was just for show in the newsreels. The 1975 Notre Dame-Georgia Tech
game? It wasn't the last one as there were still two games left in the season. Fans chanting Rudy's name to
entice the coach to let him play? Nah, it happened after he made the game-ending "sack," and the chant was
mostly confined to a small section of the crowd.
All in all, Rudy Ruettiger might be the worst person to get drunk with because all he'll do is talk about
the boring glory days of Notre Dame football.
12/22:
As extremely corny as Rudy is, it's a fine movie with all the elements of classic filmmaking.
Let's not kid ourselves: the story is mostly fake. A lot of the events as shown in the film never happened.
A quiet, modest man by nature, Joe Montana went so far to debunk many myths which surprised me. He played for
Notre Dame from 1975 to 1978 although he missed the '76 season due to shoulder separation and he couldn't
dress for the '75 season, when Rudy was a senior, because freshmen weren't allowed to play.
There was no such person named Fortune. Nobody gave up his jersey to let Rudy in the final game. When I say it,
I mean the final home game of the season as there were still two more away games left. It wouldn't have mattered
anyway because Coach Dan Devine had allowed him to play. He also said, "Anybody who knows me knows that if any
kid came in and put his jersey on my desk, he'd never see it again." There were no fans chanting for him for
the final play or two, either. Rudy did get a sack, although it looked questionable, and got carried by some
players off the field, but that was more of a joke.
The movie also left out a pertinent fact: Rudy served time in the Navy which meant the G.I. Bill covered his
tuition afterwards at both schools: Holy Cross and Notre Dame. Subsequently, it meant he had plenty of free time
to focus on his studies as well as football and—surprise—boxing. Rudy was the oldest in his family of
fourteen children; hence, there's no brother named Frank. His real father did support Rudy's ambitions right
from the start.
Back to Joe Montana, he went further by saying, "That guy was a joke. The movie was NOTHING like what really
went on at that time. I was the quarterback then, and I wouldn't let them use my name for that movie." It's
indeed strong words because you'll never hear him talk that way. Even Sean Astin had to concede. By using his
story and reputation to sell a fraudulent sports drink bearing his name, Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger eventually
became a pump-and-dump scammer. He got charged by the SEC and was forced to pay a huge fine. Some sport "hero"
he is.
All in all, despite the heavy liberties taken with the truth, Rudy is a fine, inspiring movie.