American Underdog

I am a sucker for inspirational sports movies and I have very vivid memories of watching Kurt Warner win Super Bowl XXXIV so I spontaneously decided to see American Underdog last night.  It is a very average biopic but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy it.  Warner (Zachary Levi) dreams from a very young age of becoming the MVP in the Super Bowl after watching his idol Joe Montana in Super Bowl XIX.  However, he faces many seemingly insurmountable obstacles such as being benched until his fifth year as a college athlete, not being selected during the college draft, being cut by the Green Bay Packers on the first day of training camp, being forced to stock shelves at a grocery store to make ends meet, giving up on the NFL to play in the Arena Football League, and having to prove himself over and over again to the antagonistic offensive coordinator of the St. Louis Rams.  Through it all, it is his relationship with his wife Brenda (Anna Paquin) and her disabled son Zack (Hayden Zaller) that inspires him to never give up.  He is finally given an opportunity when the Rams' starting quarterback is injured in a preseason game and, despite throwing an interception during his first play, he goes on to achieve his dream.  This movie focuses more on Warner's personal life than it does on football and, while I did appreciate seeing his struggles off the field, I wish it had included more of him on the field.  The few football sequences we get are a lot of fun, especially the requisite training montage featuring "Boom" by P.O.D. and the trash talking from Ray Lewis (Nic Harris) during his first game, but the depiction of his success with the Rams feels very rushed.  I also think the use of actual footage from several key games is sloppy.  Levi and Paquin give very affecting performances but nobody else makes much of an impression (Dennis Quaid has little more than a cameo).  There are flaws but there are also quite a few stand up and cheer moments (my favorite is when a stock boy who worked with Warner puts the Sports Illustrated with him on the cover out for display) and I did enjoy it.  This might be one that you can wait to see on a streaming platform but it is worth seeing.

Note:  The one and only time I waited at the stage door was for Zachary Levi after She Loves Me on Broadway.  He signed autographs and posed for pictures with everyone in line (Jane Krakowski flounced after only a few) and I found him to be incredibly charming.