IMDb calls Rudy a biography, a drama, and a sports film, and by combining these three different methods the film is able to draw in all types of viewers that are able to relate. The viewer is able to grasp onto a completely new idea- that through hard work and determination one can become awesome- and that is an idea that can be taken and used in the viewer's everyday life after watching. My life long exposure to sports films helped me make connections in my own struggle as an athlete, and movies like Rudy drove me deeper into the wonderful game of football. But what is especially inspiring is that Rudy is a true story: Daniel Ruettiger, commonly known as "Rudy" (Shawn Astin), pursued his dream to play football for the University of Notre Dame, a dream that almost seems impossible to any young man that lacks the size, stature and the necessary athletic ability to perform such a task. Knowing that there is no possible chance of earning a starting position, Rudy wants to get on the field of a regular season game just once. Almost every person that comes to contact with Rudy in the film bombard him with doubt. You would think having parents giving constant reinforcement that he lacks the proper knowledge to be accepted into such a high class school would cause any man to quit. Rudy uses that negativity as a sort of fuel to keep his dreams alive. This film is determined to motivate any viewer through the heart and determination shown by Rudy. This is a perfect example of an underdog film.

This is a 10 hankie movie. Every part of the movie is made to make you cry. If you look for underdog in the dictionary, you'll see the face of Rudy. Sure the movie is manipulating us. For that I'll subtract a point. But it's something I'll mostly overlook because the manipulations work so well. The fact is Rudy has become bigger than a simple movie. It is the standard for underdog sports movies. It has become a synonym to inspirational.Daniel 'Rudy' Ruettiger (Sean Astin) is a poor student and a small physical specimen. Only he has the heart of a lion. He dreams of nothing else other than to play for Notre Dame football. Nobody believes in him other than maybe his best friend Pete. His father's (Ned Beatty) tale of how his grandfather abandoned his family for a dream is heartbreaking. The father's advise is gut wrenching. His fire is almost extinguished when Pete dies in an industrial accident. This drives him to pursue his dreams which borders on delusional.The story piles on the obstacles facing Rudy. It is overkill and works beautifully. It is heartbreaking every time it happens. The music pulls at the emotional strings. They pile on more obstacles. Even though I know there are manipulations, it doesn't matter. It gets me every time.

I guess it is just assumed that every Notre Dame fan likes the movie Rudy. I don't, so I guess that makes me an anomaly. Now that I've got that out of the way, this movie does a good job with playing the underdog card. The acting is good, and it does not detract in almost any of the scenes. An exception may be some of the football player actors. Slightly clunky lines and delivery there, but nothing that derails the narrative. Also, the cinematography is great; this is a very beautiful looking film. I also think the movie did a good job of capturing the feeling of the University of Notre Dame on football Saturday. So why do I not like this movie? The based on a true story claim. Look, I get that Hollywood needs to take certain liberties with the facts to make it a better product, but this movie is an instance where it just goes too far. I don't actually know much about Rudy's personal life, I am referring more to the actual finale of the movie. There are plenty of accounts of the inaccuracies of the ending game and buildup, so I won't go into it. And while I don't like some of the liberties taken with facts, I HATE the depiction of Dan Devine in this movie. This movie didn't need to have an antagonist. It is incredibly lazy how they wrote him to be a stereotypical jerk who won't let the protagonist succeed at any cost. Devine was nice guy in real life who became a convenient scapegoat for this smaltzy movie. That is absolutely TERRIBLE writing.

OK, a few scenes I liked: the scene with the walk-on tryouts where the assistant coach tells them they can expect to get pounded on by the first teamers, and nobody cares whether they get hurt or not. Also during Rudy's senior year, the background music and late autumn scenes were both breathtaking, yet with the realization that time was running out on Rudy's last season and his last chance to play. Finally, it was neat to see how the other players gradually came to appreciate Rudy for his stick-to-itiveness, to the point where each of the starters asked Coach Divine to let Rudy dress in their place. Only problem with that: in real life it never happened that way. Coach Divine had every intention to let Rudy play and was rather angry that the movie portrayed him otherwise. Still though, it added to the drama. My favorite scene of all is when Fortune (Charles Dutton)encourages Rudy to go to his final practice because if he doesn't, he'll regret it for the rest of his life, "letting them get the best of you".My only criticism is with the excessive profanity coming from Rudy's friend at Holy Cross. I try not to let a few bad words bother me, but when it's excessive and really adds nothing whatsoever to the story. I mean, really, how would this movie have been any worse without the friend's repeated use of "G..D.."? Without those scenes, this movie is a 10.Overall, very inspiring, even if you're not a football fan.