Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

My wife and I watched this movie at home on Netflix streaming movies. Judging by the paltry box office numbers and the very few IMDb votes far too few people have seen it. Mostly true, it would seem too melodramatic if it were fiction, and wonderful story of a football player that to this day, almost 50 years later, inspires University of Texas football players.Most of the movie involved the 1968 and 1969 college football seasons. Even though I now live in Texas (for 30 years now) back then I was a student at Purdue University and a Big 10 fan, so I don't specifically recall what UT was doing in those years.The movie starts in 2010 when a young lady is interviewing old coach Darrell Royal who would have been about 86 at that time. She asks about who his favorite All-American was and after a brief pause he says "Freddie Steinmark". The reporter is taken aback, Steinmark was NOT one of UT's All-Americans but Royal says "He was MY All-American." And that is what the movie is about.Aaron Eckhart is good as Coach Royal and Finn Wittrock (looking too much like Matt Damon) is Freddie Steinmark. We first see him in high school in Colorado, hoping to get a chance to play at Notre Dame. Or somewhere, because he wasn't very big at 5'9" and 165 pounds. He is surprised with a visit offer to University of Texas at Austin where Coach Royal offers him a full scholarship to play football.The story is about how Freddie always had a positive attitude and a work ethic, both on the field and in the classroom, that set the bar for everyone else. He became the star on defense and in punt and kickoff returns and as Coach tells him later, they would not have won the national championships without Freddie.Good story, good movie. The recreation of football action is very realistic.SPOILERS: During that 1969 season when UT went undefeated, was voted #1, and won the Cotton Bowl over Notre Dame, Freddie began to experience increasingly painful discomfort in his left leg. At the end of the season Coach made him see a doctor and he was ultimately sent to MD Anderson in Houston where he was diagnosed with bone cancer. They had to amputate his leg at the hip, the prognosis was not good. Freddie disregarded doctor's orders and learned to use a walking device so that he was able to attend the Cotton Bowl game and help inspire his teammates to victory over Notre Dame. He died less than 2 years after his surgery.

From the bonus segments on the DVD of "My All-American," it is clear that the filmmakers were primarily interested in presenting an inspiring human interest story, as opposed to a football biography. They were enormously successful in achieving their goal in retelling the life of University of Texas football player Freddie Steinmark.Freddie Joe Steinmark was only 5'10 tall and weighed only 155 pounds, yet he was such an overachiever that he won a full scholarship to play for the University of Texas in the late 1960s. Legendary football coach Darrell Royal is perfectly played by Aaron Eckhart, and an outstanding young actor, Finn Wittrock, performs the role of Steinmark.For football fans, there is an excellent set of hard-hitting action scenes on the gridiron. In the bonus clip to the DVD, we learn that Mike Fisher was faced with the daunting challenge of recreating a football playbook from forty-five years ago. The sequences were entirely believable both on the practice field and in game action. The son of the Texas quarterback in the championship season of 1969, effectively played the role of his dad.The film is not perfect, and some viewers may find the interpretation of Steinmark to be overly sentimental. A legitimate question to ask is whether Steinmark was really quite the saint, as portrayed in the film.Another shortcoming was the relationship of Steinmark with his father, as interpreted in the film. The father clearly overbearing in the way he pushed his little boy to excel in football. The drama of whether Steinmark would be awarded a scholarship seemed like a life-and-death matter to the father. Why? Student loans existed in the 1960s.Inexplicably, the domineering presence of the dad never seemed to phase young Freddie Steinmark. There is an excellent film called "Fear Strikes Out" that depicts a similar father-son relationship and the damaging effects on the baseball player Jimmy Piersall. Psychologically, "My All-American" was not sophisticated in its approach to family systems. At the least, there should have been some accountability for the conduct of the father. In the film, even Freddie's close friend, Bobby Mitchell, casually observes that the father is living out his failed athletic career through his son.Still, the film was a moving depiction of a life well-lived, yet cut short. It is clear that Freddie Steinmark truly touched those around him, both with his athletic abilities and his strength of character. This is a solid family drama and worthy of viewing and reflection.

Although he only lived for 22 years on planet earth Freddie Joe Steinmark touched a whole lot of lives and still does today in the great state of Texas. He's their version of the Gipper for those University of Texas Longhorns.The film is done in flashback with Freddie's Knute Rockne, UT's coach Darrell Royal played here by Aaron Eckhart. Freddie Joe Steinmark did not make All American, but in Royal's mind he's his once and forever My All American.Finn Wittrock plays Freddie with a minimum of sentimentality who led that Texas team to its first national championship in a generation and then it's discovered he has one bad almost always terminal version of bone cancer. Both Wittrock and Eckhart are supported by an impeccably cast group of supporting players.To this day in Texas the Longhorns win for Freddie the way Knute Rockne had them win one for George Gipp. The film is also a winner.

"We would not have been national champions if you had not been on that field." Freddie Steinmark (Wittrock) is a tremendous football player, but was always told he was too small to play for a major college. When Texas coach Darrell Royal (Eckhart) recruits him, Freddie works harder than anyone on the team and finally earns a starting job. In the midst of a run at the National Championship season Freddie's knee begins to bother him. When he sees the doctor his life, and the legacy of Texas football is changed forever. I am a huge fan of sports movies, especially ones that are true. This one took awhile for me to get invested in, but when I did I really got into it. This is not one of the best sports movies I have ever seen, but it is very much worth seeing and I do highly recommend it. The movie has great sports scenes as well as a very emotional arc that can only be true, this isn't something you can make up. Sports movie fans will really like this, and this is actually a decent family movie. It is rated PG, but some of the subject matter may need to be explained. Overall, a very good movie that I recommend. Not one of the best sports movies ever made, but a very good addition to the genre. I give this a high B.