"The Express" is the Ernie Davis story, a fine young man who also happened to be the first black college football player to win the Heisman Trophy signifying the best college player for that year. In many ways Davis's story parallels that of Jackie Robinson, the first black major league baseball player, represented in 2013's movie "42".The movie is very good, and a fair depiction of difficulties that racial tensions in the 1950s and 1960s created. But even though the movie is based primarily on real people and real events, it also contains many fictional elements. For example, the Syracuse football player who we see in some race-baiting scenes never existed, as recalled by Syracuse players of that time. In fact many of them were upset at what they see as very inaccurate depictions of their team and their coach.Another example was the racially-charged game at West Virginia, that never happened and in fact the game that year was played at Syracuse. And the 1960 Cotton Bowl victory by #1 Syracuse (10-0) over #4 Texas (9- 1) was depicted a bit differently than how it played out. So the script writer created a number of fictional events or details to create additional dramatic tension.I searched out this movie because I wanted to see Rob Brown in this movie, after enjoying him so much in "Finding Forrester." Even though he is built quite differently from Ernie Davis, he does a worthy portrayal of the talented young man who also was simply a great athlete and a nice human being.I enjoyed Dennis Quaid as the coach, Ben Schwartzwalder, although according to his former players was not a very accurate depiction. Darrin Dewitt Henson is good as Jim Brown, former Syracuse star and then hall of fame running back for the Cleveland Browns, who was instrumental in getting Ernie Davis to Syracuse instead of his initial leaning, Notre Dame.Ernie Davis was drafted by the Browns, and signed to a $15,000 bonus, but he never played a down, suffering from leukemia. He was introduced, in uniform with number 45, at the first game of the season, and his number was retired. He lived only to 23.

The Express is a movie able to make the viewer feel both inspired and saddened by Ernie Davis' story. However, there are many minor cinematic errors that inhibit The Express from becoming a truly great movie. Ernie Davis' story is really quite spectacular, being one of the greatest college football players of all time, overcoming racism, being the first black man to win The Heisman Trophy, and dying at a far too young age. The Express depicts these events and issues with emotion and sincerity. With some elite acting, a well-developed story, and lovable characters The Express is able to cover up some of the abundant cinematic mistakes that plague the film.When viewing The Express one thing is absolutely undeniable, Dennis Quaid's performance as Coach Schwartzwalder is absolutely spectacular, and he really carries the movie as a result. While most of the actors in the movie are able to deliver their lines with emotion and sincerity, Dennis Quaid demonstrates his ability to truly become the character he is supposed to be, using actions and facial expressions. Through his near perfect performance he is able to cover up many of the amateur acting mistakes Rob Brown makes. Brown looks like Ernie Davis physically, but when he delivers his lines it lacks a certain emotion that is really needed, especially dealing with issues as vast as racism in sports in the late 1950s.The storyline of Ernie Davis' life is incredible within itself. The way The Express tells the story keeps the viewer intrigued in what is going to happen, even when they know how the movie must end. Gary Fleder (the director) is able create a vital emotional attachment to most of his characters. Due to the back-stories of the characters, such as Ernie's childhood experience of running away from a group of white boys who want to beat him up for being African American, the viewer will be drawn into loving the entire Syracuse football team, thus caring about what happens to each of the characters as the story progresses.Although there are all these triumphs in the way The Express is told that makes it a fun story to watch, as a movie it is not anything particularly incredible. The most substantial issue with this flick is the fact that is actually too flashy. Throughout many scenes there is so much going on technically (with oddly chosen effects or an over-abundance of background music) that it inhibits the storyline from progressing in a sensible pace. The scenes in which football games were actually depicted were prime examples of this, and while it could be due to an attempt by Gary Fleder to make the viewer see how much better Ernie was than the other players in an artistic way, personally, I saw it distracting when trying to understand Ernie's talent on the field. The same was true with the background noise at some point. Again, on the football field powerful noise is needed, but off the field, in the locker room or at school the ambient noise was rather distracting and hurt the dialogue greatly.The Express is an inspirational movie that makes the viewer cheer and cry, but as a film it lacks in multiple technical areas.

The Express is a touching, inspiring, and captivating film that should be seen by everyone. Whether you're black or white, a sports fan or not, The Express is undoubtedly enjoyable by all audiences. Rob Brown provides a powerful performance as the football star Ernie Davis. All of Brown's acting is believable. Not once did I feel like I was watching just another cheesy sports movie. The racial issues give The Express its certain depth and meaningfulness. Ernie Davis is able to rise above all these racial barriers and discrimination and become an unexpected superhero. Ernie Davis is proof that nothing is impossible. A person's skin color is no reason to feel hindered and certainly does not make one less worthy than another.My favorite scene has to be the Syracuse v.s. Texas game. Right away, I was floored by just how terrible racism was at the time. The fans were booing, hissing, and even throwing garbage at the black players on the field. This sort of discouragement by the fans would surely intimidate most football players, but not Ernie Davis. He is just as determined to prove his strength and skill as ever before. There is just one problem; Coach Ben is reluctant to allow Ernie to play in this game due to a hamstring injury. Ernie gets fired up and exclaims that he will most definitely be playing in this game. During the game, Ernie gets pelted and tackled constantly by the opposing white players. Despite his injury and lack of support from the crowd, Ernie leads the team to a National Championship. The intensity of this scene kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I was truly touched to see the determination in Ernie's face as he was pummeling the other players and getting steps closer to breaking through those racial barriers.All in all, The Express proves to be a film worthy of recognition. If you haven't seen it, you are truly missing out. The emotions portrayed by the actors are heartfelt and remarkably touching. This film does an excellent job depicting racism at the time and the struggles that African Americans were faced with. After having seen The Express, I feel much more educated and sympathetic towards anyone who is faced with racial prejudice of any kind.

Ernie Davis was the running back for the Syracuse Orangemen in the late 1950's and was the first African-American to win the Heisman trophy. Tragically, he died of leukemia in 1963.This is a good story. As far as I know, Ernie Davis was a class act, a man of good character. The acting in this film is fine. But...First, the editing. During the game, the show Davis' feet, then the number on his jersey, then fans in the stand, then his whole body, then a shot of the coach, etc. What happened to the long take? Why must film makers resort to MTV style quick cuts? A good example of this technique is when Dennis Quaid is giving the rousing half time speech. There are two distinct cuts while he's speaking. Can't Mr. Quaid remember the whole speech? Is that why they cut it? Or is this some stylistic device, making the movie look "cool"? When I was growing up, some movies had the tag line "based on a true story". I understood that the screenwriters weren't actually in the rooms where the real characters spoke, so they had to make up lines for them.But lately the tag lines have changed to "inspired by a true story". OK, so there's more dramatic latitude.But this film says "inspired by real events". What does that mean? I'm guessing that in one game Mr. Davis scored a touchdown, and in another game the score was 24-10, and the writers "blended" these "real events" into one football game. Isn't Mr. Davis' story dramatic and interesting enough that they didn't have to do this? It's like taking two, isolated events and writing a story that connects them both. Let's see, man landed on the moon July 20, 1969 and Obama won the election in 2008. Let's see if we can somehow connect these two "real events" and making a film out of it.Mr. Davis' story is inspiring and wonderful. The film makers should be ashamed for mishandling it.