Incredibly flat movie that had a promising cast and a nice story. The movie just lacks any punch as everything is predictable and just kind of fumbles along. And, while the lead actor was OK, he was physically too small and underweight to portray any standard high school QB - not believable at all.There's too many classic football movies to re-watch vs watching this one.

Underdogs is a low key, slow burn underwhelming drama that just about sustains your interest.D B Sweeney is a veteran football coach newly arrived at a struggling High School in Ohio.Logan Huffman is the team's quarterback who is drawn to the cheerleader of the rival high school football team which leads to rivalry with her boyfriend who is the quarterback for that High School.The interesting part of the film and this is based on true facts is that the Huffman's father is the inventor of the EdenPURE space heater and has to defend his invention from his former employer. The former employer is also the dad of the rival high school's quarterback.The film is rather contrived and low key, there is enough spin put on it to make it viewable but it never rises above than just being average thanks to the space heater side plot because it never passes muster as a sports movie.

This was a good idea on paper. The terrible acting completely sabotaged this film. When the movie started I had high hopes. Underdog sports movies kick ass. I was hoping for an Invincible/The Little Giants/The Blind Side feel good movie. What I was left with was a disappointment I haven't felt since the student film I did in college. Only that had better acting. I stopped paying attention at some point. What a bummer.On a side note, the two stars are for Natalie Imbruglia. Solid talent there.

I'm a veteran of sports movies... "Rudy", "We Are Marshall", "One on One"-- I grew up on them and still can't resist the genre. So I'm well aware of the underlying metaphor of struggle and victory as it applies to daily life. I also hold a college degree in Literature, so I can sniff out cheese in a movie. "Underdogs" was refreshingly different.Yes, I loved it because I grew up in the region-- in the cradle of the birthplace of football. But I liked "Rudy", even though I've never worshiped the Football Jesus at Notre Dame. So, only minimal kudos for my love of place. I loved this movie because, unlike many sports movies, it was clear-eyed and real.The cinematography was sharp and by no means low-budget. The camera was so omnipresent yet graceful that it was able to pick up the subtleties of actors' expressions that catapulted the story along. The pacing was never slow either. The movie roared along like a high-school football season,with the viewer caught up in the play-by-play of the tumultuous season, as well as the companion struggle of the movie's main protagonists. The movie really let its young actors tell the story, too, so the point of view came right from the characters' hearts. Although the adults in the film did the usual pontificating, it was really the kids' story.As a veteran of many Film Festivals, I can say that this movie is not traditional Film Fest fare. As Sally Sparrow said so well in an episode of British TV series "Dr. Who", 'sad is happy for deep people'. So not your typical Film Fest Sturm und Dang, but plenty of clear-eyed, uncliched retelling of the football myth and legend in our culture.