The Express
- Title: The Express
- IMDB: link
Sports movies are often filled with cliché and usually fall into one of two categories – the underdog who makes good (Rocky, Seabiscuit, Major League, Hoosiers, Miracle, Blue Crush) or the team facing racial diversity (Remember the Titans, Pride, Glory Road). Although The Express falls into the later category it has enough of its own voice to separate it as something more than just another Titans knock-off. It’s not a great film, but it’s better than I expected.
The film follows the college career of young Ernie Davis (Rob Brown) who follows in the footsteps of his hero Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson) to play football for Syracuse University.
After the early scenes involving Ernie’s recruitment by Brown and head coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), the film moves to Syracuse, the short scenes involving Davis’ freshman season on the bench, and his break-out sophomore year.
…
The latest from Spike Lee is an adaptation of James McBride’s book itself inspired by events in Italy during WWII. A murder and the discovery of a priceless artifact lead to a tale forty-years before involving four African-American soldiers in a Tuscan village and a disturbed child, the lone witness to a monstrous act.
The film, except for small cameo roles, is a three-man piece. Two soldiers wounded in action (