We Are Marshall (PG, 2006)

Based on a true story, WE ARE MARSHALL focuses on the recovery of the Marshall University football team and the surrounding West Virginia community following the November 1970 plane crash that killed 75 team members, coaches, and boosters. Although he's scheduled to be on the doomed flight from North Carolina, Coach Red (Matthew Fox) does his assistant a favor, putting him on the plane and driving himself home, completing a recruiting run on the way. Horrified that his decision led to the assistant's death, Red quits football, assuming, with everyone else, that the university will disband or at least suspend the program. But then, according to the movie, some surviving team members (who were injured that weekend, and so not at the game) ask to reinstate the program. University president Don Dedmon (David Strathairn) gives in to their demand, eventually hiring a new coach, Jack (Matthew McConaughey), who provides the yin to Red's yang.

Conventional in every way, We Are Marshall is stuffed full of meaningful music and montages, but it rarely overcomes generic clichés.

Studio: Warner Bros.
Director: McG
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Matthew Fox, Matthew McConaughey
Genre: Drama
Run time: 124 minutes
Theatrical release: December 21, 2006
DVD release: September 18, 2007
MPAA Rating: PG
MPAA explanation: emotional thematic material, a crash scene, and mild language.