My Movie Review on Rudy (1993) (Plus, a Bonus) · 9:11pm Dec 14th, 2021
Merry Christmas, my friends.
This is your friendly film, TV show, and episode reporter here with another review.
Today, for the 2nd installment of this year's "Christmas Craze", I'm gonna give you guys my take of "Rudy".
Similar to my review on the "I Can Only Imagine" film, I was originally going to start things off with a summary. But, I later decided to cancel on the notion. The best I can really say is that this movie chronicles the youth years of famous football player Rudy Ruettiger, whom at the time aspired to be a football player for Notre Dame college.
Moving on from that...
After I did my dedication review for Christopher Plummer, Sean Connery, Ed Asner, and Richard Donner, I decided that I should also make one for Ned Beatty, who passed away at 83 years of age on June 13, 2021. The only problem was that the closest I ever came with him was with his voice work as Lotso in "Toy Story 3" and Tortoise John in "Rango", so I never saw any of Beatty's live-action work. I already reviewed the two aforementioned movies too, so that added onto the dilemma.
Once I did some research to find out what else Beatty starred in, though, I became interested in seeing "Rudy" and immediately chose it for the dedication-review. So, I rented it on AppleTV and kept it on standby. Until I watched it a few weeks ago, that is.
Coming from a guy who finally saw "Rudy" for himself, I'd like to note that there's one nitpick that kept this movie from being perfect. The nitpick in question was that there are some cuss words that were openly inappropriate for a PG-rated film to have, and I can't help but wish they were toned down. Considering how much of a big part the Holy Cross College played in the overall movie and in the real Rudy's life, I believe that the cussing should've been omitted entirely.
In addition to this, the film as a whole is one that should've been rated "PG-13" instead of "PG". The reasons for why I think this is not just because of the cussing, though. It's also due to the moments featuring Rudy on the football team being very intense, and there were even parts featuring characters with bloody scars and noses.
As with the previous movies I reviewed, though, this factor isn't something that I blame squarely on the film itself. The real guilty part on the matter is the MPAA rating system, which I'm starting to think was prone to poor judgement back then.
Other than that, "Rudy" turned out to be one of the most awesome movies I ever watched!
For instance, the acting, characters, and character development were fantastic.
I really can't lie, Sean Astin was amazing in his portrayal of Rudy Ruettiger! Whenever he was on the screen, I was immediately impressed by how well he portrayed Rudy not just as a character but as an actual person too. He played the part with powerful emotion, great personality, astounding innocence, and brilliant optimism; the way he also managed to make Rudy relatable on a human level was terrific. Rudy himself had tons of development throughout the film, and he was someone that I hoped would succeed despite the odds stacked against him.
The film's supporting cast members and characters were great as well.
Despite having a bit of a potty mouth throughout the film, Jon Favreau and his character of Dennis "D-Bob" McGowan were instant scene-stealers. Ned Beatty was also quite a showstopper in his performance as Rudy's father, Daniel Ruettiger. Whatever material he had, Beatty made excellent use of, and he took his portrayal to a genuinely emotional level. The developments of all the supporting characters were likewise very top-notch, and each of them had personalities that helped them instantly stand out.
The direction by David Anspaugh, and the story by Angelo Pizzo, were terrific too.
One thing I'd like to note is that the movie isn't 100% historically accurate with Rudy's backstory, and I know this because I did some slight research on the matter. In spite of this, Anspaugh and Pizzo's work on this movie was so emotional and heart-tugging that you could easily ignore the inaccuracies in favor of researching Rudy himself at a later date. As a movie made to depict Rudy's origins as a football player, the concept kept itself together pretty well and didn't leave any loose ends. The film as a whole also had great morals about perseverance, which is that if you keep trying and never give up your goals will be achieved. For anyone who has a dream, one of the greatest ways of actually achieving that dream is to work for it and never quit, and Rudy's persistence demonstrated just that.
Finally, the music by Jerry Goldsmith was magnificent.
I'm not sure how many movies I reviewed in the past that Goldsmith composed for, but I believe he has definitely become one of my favorite composers. The score he created for "Rudy" was one of the most emotionally-invested of his career, and one of the most heartfelt. The way his music reflected the feelings of the characters was particularly amazing, especially with Rudy himself.
In conclusion, "Rudy (1993)" isn't an entirely flawless feature film. But, it's extremely worthwhile and brilliant to watch regardless. I'm so glad that I took the time to see it for myself, that's for sure.
So, I rate "Rudy (1993)" 4½ out of 5 stars.
Rest In Peace, Ned Beatty (July 6, 1937-June 13, 2021).
Your work in the film industry will never be forgotten, and you will always be a Hollywood treasure.
Before I conclude this post, I'd like to show you guys my newest original painting:
I know that it hasn't been too long ago since I last shared a picture of one of my paintings, but after I completed it I decided to make another that would be my first non-paint-by-number in quite a while. It was mainly because I had been going through the large amount of leftover paints I had from the paint-by-numbers I previously worked on, and afterwards I suddenly felt like making a colorful square kind of painting.
So, what do you guys think? Of this review? And this painting?
