Wolff rating: GOOD
Plot summary: Broken-down receiver deals with the end of a season filled with political machinations and craziness.
Biased, pithy comments: Ah, the 70s. Drugs, women with bad hair, drugs, big sideburns, drugs, bad suits made out of material from outer space, drugs, a nearly all-white NFL, and a lot of drugs. Nolte falls into the part and fakes the limp well, but he's not served all that well by the rest of the story---it's a rambling take on all that is and was wrong with professional sports. Although certainly a better story than most of the formula sports films out there (like, say, ``The Replacements,''), it's not Nolte's best work (which is ahead of him). The best moments of this film lie around the edges---the sinister coaches treating these players like schoolkids, the creepy Texas glad-handing/back-stabbing, and some of the supporting characters when they get a chance to talk. But Nolte's character, well, he seems right on the edge of figuring out his problems from the moment the movie starts, so watching him figure it out is a short trip. This is a movie that should be seen side-by-side with ``Any Given Sunday,'' if you can handle that much sweaty testosterone.
How many times I have seen it: x1
Starring: Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, Charles Durning, Dayle Haddon, Bo Svenson.
Directed by: Ted Kotcheff