[yasr_overall_rating]
The story of Brandon Burlsworth, possibly the greatest walk-on in the history of college football.
“Greater” is a sports movie with heart. I am in no way a sports person, don’t watch football, basketball, hockey, wrestling, and the list goes on. My whole life has been dedicated to films, either making them or critiquing them. It feels a little strange being able to do both but I’m always up the challenge. While I don’t care for sports, occasionally, a sports-themed movie comes along that manages to successfully keep me engrossed and even with a lengthy runtime of 131 minutes, I never once found myself looking at the time. Instead, I found my interest piqued as to who exactly Brandon Burlsworth was, the lead character that headlines the film. According to Wikipedia, Brandon was “an offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team from 1995–1998. He joined the team as a walk-on and eventually became an All-American. He was well known for his thick black glasses and his resemblance to comedian Drew Carey.” Naturally, because of my lack of knowledge about football, I also had to look up what a “lineman” was. For those who know the game, you can skip the next few lines and once again, Wikipedia rose to the challange: “In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line.” At the end of the day, Brandon was an overweight underdog who most people wouldn’t give a second glance to, but he ascended the ranks and became a hometown hero, rallying his teammates in an almost unwinnable situation, and helped the team rise the football ranks from below 20 up to #2.
The movie follows his early life from a typical overweight kid, whose parents divorced early on due to his father’s alcoholism, right up to his untimely death in 1999, at the young age of 23, the result of a car accident. Actor Christopher Severio, who portrays Brandon in the film, successfully encompasses his appearance and demeanor, and makes Brandon a genuinely likable character, while Neal McDonough plays Marty, Brandon’s older brother, who apparently because of the age difference between them, was often mistaken as his father. I was also surprised to discover Leslie Easterbrook played their mother, and for those who don’t know, she played the strict yet sexy Sgt. Callahan in the “Police Academy” movies, films I grew up on in the ’80s. Here, she displays emotional range that pleasantly surprised me and made me a fan all over again.
A devout Christian, Brandon read his bible daily and so inspired many of his teammates to follow suit, not by asking them but rather, by inspiring them. After his death though, his brother Marty struggled with his faith, constantly questioning why someone so young and full of life, could be taken from his family. McDonough is an actor I have long admired and he gives a virtuoso performance that resonates with you and makes you truly feel his pain. He does not become an object of sympathy, rather, he forces us to think about our own lives, and the world encompassing us. Director David Hunt does occasionally resort to over-sentimentality, accompanied by borderline schmaltzy music but given the movie’s subject matter, he can’t be blamed for wanting to tug at the heart strings. “Greater” is indeed a great film as it envelopes all that life has to offer, joy, heartbreak, love, hate, forgiveness, faith, and dogged determination. After all, without those, what do we have left?
Available on Blu-ray, DVD & On Demand Tuesday, December 20th
