| I actually had a conversation with my co-workers yesterdy about how I cry every time I watch Rudy
For those who maybe unfamiliar with the film, I'll give a summary of the movie, which is based on a true story. It contains spoilers, but this isnt the kind of movie where you wonder what's gonna happen next. you know exactly how it's gonna end. anyway...
Sean Astin (Sam from Lord of the Rings) plays Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, a kid whose dream his whole life was to play Notre Dame football. At this time (late-60's, early-70's) playing football at Notre Dame was a HUGE deal. It was almost a bigger deal than playing in the NFL. Notre Dame, besides being the elite college football program of the time, also had some of the most rigorous academic requirements for incoming students
So, Rudy wants to play Notre Dame football, but there are several problems. He's not smart enough to get into the school academically, he's not athletic enough to get a football scholarship, and his family doesnt have enough money to pay for him even if he did get into the school.
Everybody tells him to give up his dream and go work in his town's manufacturing plant. But he refuses to give up. He enrolls in a community college very close to the Notre Dame campus, and works his butt off, both in school and at his job, and is eventually accepted to Notre Dame. He spends his first couple of years at Notre Dame on the practice squad football team. Basically, he's just a tackling dummy for the real players. But he gives it everything he has every play, and earns the respect of the coaching staff.
He has a talk with the coach, who agrees to let him play one game the following season, Rudy's senior year. But there's a catch. His coach leaves to go coach the Green Bay Packers, and the new coach refuses to honor the previous coach's promise to let Rudy play in one game. So, the entire season passes by and the coach never puts Rudy on the active roster.
Here's where it gets emotional...
Before the last game, the captain of the team walks into the coach's office and puts his jersey on the desk and says that he won't play unless Rudy plays. Then, one by one, every player comes in and puts their jersey down on the desk and leaves the room. So, finally, the coach relents, and puts Rudy on the roster for the final game of his senior year.
So the game comes, and Notre Dame has the game well under control. Since they're in no danger of losing, the player's start urging them to let Rudy get on the field and play. Even the assitant coaches think he should, but the head coach refuses. So then one of the big guys on the team starts chanting "Rudy, Rudy, Rudy..." and then the other players join in. Then, the fans behind them start chanting it too. After a little while, the entire stadium is chanting his name, and the coach agrees to let him on the field for the last two plays of the game. Rudy runs onto the field and the stadium goes crazy. The first play, he has no idea what he's doing and just runs around. Second play, he sacks the quarterback to end the game, and he is then carried off the field by his teammates
I watched it last weekend with my girlfriend, and I was crying like a little baby. It's a little cliche and predicatable, but it's still really emotional |