Very Cool!!!

Not even bad in a good way

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

This is the usual American sport production in which the « good » little beats the « bad » big. To be accurate, here, this thematic is multiplied three times : football, girlfriend, father's job. So it's full of values, maybe too much of them. However, this genre is interesting because it shows that American education (so poorly rated in my hypocritical country) offers a path for teens. In France, sports are totally rejected from schools but every one laments over teens violence ! The movie offers also a (soft) critic of wild capitalism and money, which is rather unusual ! At the end, the movie fails a bit because it's too much about winning ! In love, business or sports, the point is not to be a winner but to give everything, whatever the outcome may be ! But as the unknown cast for me is rather good, the movie is watchable, all the more than it offers Nat as a surprise guest-star ! I left you the pleasure to discover her part and i'm still wondering how after a decade of nearly break after « Johnny English », she decided to come back with this one ! Anyway, she is good and happy and maybe it was her the « underdog » ?

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.

This movie takes place in my hometown. It was exciting to see some of the places I visit on the big screen. That being said, the movie is low budget all the way. Especially the acting. Terrible through and through. And, it always is a shock to see recruiting at the high school football level. Everything about the movie is cliché: from the ragtag losing football team at the beginning (no one seems to do anything right), to the champions at the end (way too over the top). I guess Americans are suckers for the underdog story, but how many times do we have to see the same thing portrayed on screen. Two minutes into the movie, anyone in the theater could have accurately written the ending. No surprises. And, the parallel storyline with the quarterback's father was a little too convenient. Couple items of note, there are no palm trees in stark county, Ohio (except maybe indoors), and the Underdog team didn't seem to have enough players to field both offense and defense.

I just saw this film yesterday at the Cleveland International Film Festival. I must say, I was very impressed.The overall cinematography is in line with most modern day multi-million dollar Hollywood productions, even though this was produced as an independent film and shot in less than a month in Stark County, Ohio. It's amazing to see how far film makers can go when they actually have talent and aren't relying on a bloated budget and over-hyped marketing campaign. UNDERDOGS shines in that the shots themselves are well composed and can, at times, even evoke emotion.The actors and actresses all performed extremely well. Though this is a family-oriented film, there wasn't a lot of "cheesy" moments or poor acting typically associated with those types of films. The characters themselves are very memorable and you could almost hear the audience praising the heroes and booing the villains as the film went on. There is enough humor sprinkled throughout to keep it from becoming too serious.Though this was primarily a football movie, I found it quite engaging even though I didn't understand a lot of the football jargon. The parallel plot of an employee fighting against his greedy employer really helps drive home the whole spirit of being an underdog, which most people can really relate to.Overall, fun and enjoyable film and highly recommended!