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The inspirational sports drama "My All American" chronicles the short life of a scrappy underdog, mistakenly putting his on-the-field exploits ahead of his personal human story.
Freddie Joe Steinmark (played by Finn Wittrock) was an undersized defensive back whose work ethic and never-say-die attitude made him a star in his Colorado high-school football team — and got the attention of Texas Longhorns coach Darrell Royal (Aaron Eckhart), who recruited him to Texas in 1968. Freddie becomes the team's starting safety in his 1969 sophomore season, which is when he notices a persistent pain above his left knee that is diagnosed as a cancerous tumor.
The story follows a similar pattern to the classic 1971 TV movie "Brian's Song" (in fact, Brian Piccolo's cancer was diagnosed less than a month before Steinmark's), and there are tears aplenty as Freddie and his high-school sweetheart, Linda (Sarah Bolger), confront his terminal illness.
Screenwriter and first-time director Angelo Pizzo specializes in underdog sports stories (he wrote "Hoosiers" and "Rudy"), and he imbues "My All American" with the same rah-rah sentimentality. Alas, he lavishes far too much attention on the details of Texas smash-mouth football (such as Royal's introduction of the "wishbone" offense), to the detriment of Freddie's personal plight.
'My All American'
Opens Friday, Nov. 13, at theaters everywhere; rated PG for thematic elements, language and brief partial nudity; 118 minutes.