Highly Overrated But Still Good

Admirable film.

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I remember my days at college in the Boston area doing a sports prognostication show every Friday called Pro Profit. It was 15 minutes long radio show emanating from my college radio station WMLN. My partner and myself would predict the winners of the NFL games played that Sunday. We would write a two to three line reason why our particular team would win that day and predict the spread as well.( Gambling in it's purest form.) Anyway, my friend one Friday on the air predicted the Bears would beat the Vikings despite having terrible team with a eight game losing streak at hand. It also happened to be the anniversary of the death of Smokey the Bear who passed away in a Washington D.C. Zoo two years earlier. My partner closed his prediction as follows, "Except for the great running back Walter Payton the Bears have no offensive line and no defense but their motto is simple, "Win One For Smokey!" I lost it! Uncontrolled laughter filled the air-waves. Now what does this story have to do with this review? Absolutely nothing! Brian Song was introduced on Monday Night football by the brash pompous Howard Cosell during halftime. Mrs. Joy Piccolo was interviewed by promoting the made for TV film about her husband who was tragically taken by Cancer at the age of 26. Joy also was raising money for Cancer research. This movie was shown on the ABC network the following week. The movie starts in Chronological order as an errant punt heading past black running back Gale Sayers (Billy Dee Williams) is picked up by white rival running back Brian Piccolo (James Caan) who give him bogus advice that Coach Halas (Jack Warden) has hearing problem in one ear. Sayers was called into Halas's office Sayers keeps moving around to try to speak into Halas's good ear. Revenge on teammate Piccolo comes quickly as the tradition in NFL training camps is for all the rookies to stand up during dinner and sing their College fight song. It's Piccolo's turn to sing his fight song from his Alma Matter Wake Forest University. As he sings Gale put and extra helping of mash potatoes with gravy on his chair. To the as he finished to the displeasure of the Bears players, Brian plops down on the chair in disgust. This cements their bond, relationship as Black player and White set a precedent rooming together as both men make NFL history in that regard of racial unity. One reporter asks Gale if he objects to having a white roommate and he replies, He won't let me use the bathroom. Racial jokes fly throughout the movie in good spirit as Brian who is rehabbing/training Gale after a knee injury to motivate him tries to call him the N word. James Caan does a fine job with the southern drawl although the real Brian Piccolo looks more like Burt Reynolds, I had no problem with the chemistry between Williams and Caan. Jack Warden who always seems to a play a sports coach to some capacity plays the legendary Poppa Bear with compassion and warmth. A heartrending scene when a little girl in the hospital wanted an autographed ball from Brian as Joy Picollo (Shelley Faberes) asked the nurse which room she was convalescing in? The Nurse said that the girl died this morning. The movie had the feel of a Marcus Welby MD episode with the same sets and music. Stock footage of the real Gale Sayers shows his dynamic running style of misdirection fooling opposing defensive linemen. Despite the inaccuracies and continuity issues of the actual places these events were held, it's still a great Television experience winning several EMMY Awards. To Quote Gale Sayers in one of his speeches, "I love Brian Piccolo and I hope all of you love him too."

As a big fan of TV-movies from the 70's, you'd think I'd have seen "Brian's Song" a lot sooner. I finally watched it, and wasn't disappointed.You know the story, two football players, one white, one black, become best buds and help each other out. James Caan is superb as always, and Billy Dee Williams is pretty good.At first, it seemed a major part of the plot would have involved race. When Billy Dee is told by his team that he and Caan will be the first black and white roomies, he is told to pretty much expect big trouble in every city they play in, from both blacks and whites. However, we never see any of that trouble a single time. And really, the only hint of any trouble of any kind from the roommate situation went Caan's way - he reads a racist letter that someone sent to him, upset he was rooming with a "darkie" - and joked his mother sent it. And that's all for the big, bad roommate situation.However, this being 1971, there are various funny race jokes. Caan tells Williams he's going to name his new kid "Spade"; when Caan sees Williams fumble a ball around, he says something about "you'd think the ball had a white sheet on it"; Caan relates chicken to blacks; and there's a scene where Caan jokingly calls Williams a "nigger" and everyone gets a big laugh out of it. Ah, the days when one can make jokes that aren't politically correct! The ending is sad, and done very well. The whole movie actually is pretty good, and the friendship is built up nicely, We never really know why Caan as Picolo chose Billy Dee to be friends with, but it really doesn't matter. They made a good team in this flick.

This was such a touching film. Great actors coming together and making this film incredibly well done. James Caan was excellent as Bryan, and the chemistry he had with Billy Dee Williams was amazing. This film had me crying, it is just so sad to lose people to Cancer, but here, you have a great athlete that gets stricken with this in his late twenties. What a waste of an exceptional human being in general, not just an athlete.I recommend this film to anyone that wants to see a real and true story about life.One of James Caan's best performances, and then came Godfather. Not a bad movie either.

"Brian's Song", the 1971 version was the rarest of things, an excellent TV movie. Great cast of stars on their way up such as Billy Dee Williams, James Caan and Shelley Fabares, augmented by Jack Warden, Bernie Casey and David Huddleston, with several actual Chicago Bears. This movie is full of actual conversations between the players, who are real people with prejudices and human weaknesses. Yes, those are racial stereotypes and epithets, just like were used in that time, not the sanitized, soulless P C drivel of this day. The story is powerful, the friendship that builds between two men about as different as Americans can be. James Caan is Brian Piccolo, the overachieving, loudmouthed Italian boy. Billy Dee Williams is Gale Sayers, a gifted, shy African-American All-American, high profile running back who is pestered and ridiculed by Brian in the early stages of the story, but who becomes the ideal friend. Jack Warden portrays coach George Halas. Bernie Casey is the savvy and practical veteran player, J. C. Caroline, one of the Bears who mentors young Black players in the NFL/Bears way. As Brian and Gale help each other through training camp, injuries and ultimately death, the actors mesh perfectly, conveying the joy, excitement,camaraderie, practical jokes, triumphs and tragedies of life in the spotlight. Don't miss this movie, it has humor, sports, romance, dedication, vintage football clips and an inspiring message. Don't confuse this 1971 version with the weak remake. An unquestionable 10 that will be enjoyed by just about everyone, football fan or not. An added bonus is the great score. Buzz Kulik did a great job directing this movie, getting fine performances out of not only the real actors, but also the real Bears players and coaches.