REEL FANS:A’s for football flick

EDITOR’S NOTE: A Daily Pilot staffer went to Edwards Island 7 to get moviegoers’ opinions of “We Are Marshall,” starring Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox and David Strathairn.

“We Are Marshall” is the true story of the small West Virginia town of Huntington, where college football at Marshall University is an all-consuming passion. Players, coaches and families come together to support and cheer on the young men who carry on their traditions and make up Marshall’s Thundering Herd.

When all 75 members of the team, plus the coaching staff were killed in a plane crash in November 1970, the town struggled to overcome its grief while the university president attempted to rebuild the football program.

Under the strong leadership — both professional and inspirational — of new head coach Jack Lengyel, played by Matthew McConaughey, the players, coaches and the town learned what it means to be part of a team and move forward in spite of tragedy and loss.

“I liked it very, very much. I thought, well first off, it was refreshing — no animated, no sci-fi, no special effects — it was just a story, and I liked that about it. I knew this was a true story. I had friends, when we lived in Michigan, who went to Marshall University, so I was especially interested in it. The acting was interesting — Matthew McConaughey was a little strange in it, and I liked him sometimes. Sometimes I thought it was very odd. I don’t know the actor’s name who played the president of the university [David Strathairn], but he was fantastic, and the young man who played Nate Ruffin [Anthony Mackie] was incredible. I think this would be a fine movie for anyone.”

Karen

Sikorsky

Las Vegas,

formerly

Corona del Mar

“I thought the movie was fabulous…. They took a very emotionally sensitive subject, and they handled it with compassion and tact. I knew it was a true story, and I thought the performances of the actors were fabulous. I thought Matthew Fox was wonderful: He handled it with such sensitivity — he was great. I don’t know the name of the actor who played the president [David Strathairn], but he was awesome — he was absolutely terrific. I would recommend it to anybody. I thought it was wonderful.”

Karen

Tucker

Newport

Beach

“I thought that it honored players in a way that I think just really showed how much they worked to honor the ones that passed away in the airplane crash. I did know it was a true story because I had read in the paper and I saw it [the trailers] on TV commercials. I thought the actors really honored the players by doing a really good job and showing the true emotions that they would have shown. I thought they [the actors] did a really good job on that, and I do like football, so it was a good story to watch. I would recommend it to my friends.”

Dan

Steele

Newport

Beach

“It was a good movie, and I liked it because it was based on a true story. I like football a lot — it was really fun to watch. I thought it was a good idea to bring it [the program] back together because I think they needed to bring football to that college again because football is a good sport to play in college. I thought the head coach did a good job.

He wasn’t too mean of a coach; he was kind of nice to the players, supporting them and stuff. I’d definitely recommend showing it to my friends.”

Justin

Tucker

Newport

Beach

“I enjoyed the movie. I thought it taught kids about teamwork and working together. It talked about perseverance, and it was an inspiring story. I knew it was a true story. I thought that the players were very good performers in the story, and I also thought the coaches did a fantastic job in recreating how they were. I thought it [bringing the program back] was great because it tells everybody that life goes on, and it’s just a good story to describe that.”

Scott

Tucker

Newport

Beach

“I thought it was really good how they portrayed everyone from Marshall in the ‘70s to now — modern kind of, the reenactment of it. I thought parts of the story were true, but I didn’t know it was all true. I thought all the actors were really well chosen. I thought Matthew McConaughey played a really good role in it, and he really portrayed the coach well. I think it was a good idea [bringing the program back] to help the memory of them [the players who died] because they chose to kind of help them out. It was a really good idea, I think — they won games in their name and it just really was a good thing to do to honor them. The movie was really that good. I would tell other people to go see it.”

Bryce

Bastien

Corona

del Mar