North Dallas Forty (1979)

Pro football exposed

Phillip Elliot (Nick Nolte), an aging wide receiver who must be injected with pain-killers in order to perform, faces the end of the life he loves as he sees his career slipping away. Aware of his position in a fundamentally corrupt system that demands everything of the players, then discards them when they are used up, he nevertheless puts up with it for the sake of the thrill he gets on the football field every Sunday and the joy of doing what comes naturally to him.

If you're looking for an uplifting sports film with a rousing last minute win against overwhelming odds, look elsewhere. This movie is an expose of pro football as big business in which the players are expendable commodities. There is scarcely any game footage in the film until the very end, and even then it subverts sports movie conventions. Unfortunately, the love story in the film is unconvincing, even though it is intended to serve as a dramatic foil to the dishonesty and manipulation Elliot faces in his professional life. It's not surprising that Dayle Haddon didn't go on to much of a film career following this performance. However, it is surprising that singer Mac Davis didn't make more of a splash on the big screen, since he is so good here.
November 9, 2008

1970s tale with heavy resonance for today

This might be considered the perfect teammate for "The Longest Yard" but it stands on its' own. A big reason for that is the startling performance of singwriter-singer Mac Davis. He got his character *down* - not too deep of a dude, but deep enough to step to Nolte at the end and say that he knew that his buddy was under surveillance and that suspension was next. He proved to be a buddy on the field but not "off the field".
The athletes must work with those who they dislike and distrust. As in any occupation involving more than one individual.
Nolte is no road scholar but is a little older, wiser, roadweary enought to be tired of the detached powers-that-be and their strategy meetings with tired motivational techniques and condescention. Not exactly tired of illegal substances to keep on keel, however. He meets a somewhat enigmatic, free spirit at a typical brawling, baudy pre-big game bash - I'm not clear on how she knew about it or why she would want to attend. She is the absolute perfect balance to all the rough dudes he has to live and perform with and her peaceful demeanor starts to work on him. In the end, shell-shocked over his own decision to chuck-it, he turns to her for...regrouping. Davis will continue playing football - and have no Love in his Life. Nolte will do the converse.
The writing, directing, and cutting here is of a very high order, the attention to detail amazing. I am no fan of this sport but I had no desire to break it up in quarters - the picture flows.
Other performances of note are by Charles Durning, the old-timer trying to keep the young guys focysed and the front office smiling. But he doesn't seem to buy his own exhortations, and he delivers some interesting facial expressions to support that. Dayle Hadden is the understated counterpart to all the riotous action, perhaps a tad too refined and mannered - though that was the '70s. Today she would have been portrayed as the exasperated divorcee who has had it with immature men and masculinity in general.
Some nicely low-lit Love scenes provide peaceful interlude to the mayhem coming in the next frame.
February 3, 2008

North Dallas Forty

Ted Kotcheff's revealing "North Dallas Forty" uncovers the less heroic aspects of pro football as big business, depicting players as commodities to be replaced when their broken bodies give out, coaches as bullying nursemaids, and owners as greedy, manipulative tyrants. To his credit, Kotcheff isn't heavy-handed in his approach, leavening the film with plenty of wit and warmth. Nolte is superb playing the aching, rebellious Phil, while singer Davis exhibits natural acting chops as Max. Sterling support comes from Steve Forrest and Dabney Coleman (as owners), G.D. Spradlin and Charles Durning (as coaches), and Bo Svenson (hilarious as an unhinged defensive player on the Dallas team). July 4, 2007

The dark side of pro football

NORTH DALLAS FORTY is based on the semi-autobiographical book written by Michigan State's own Pete Gent. Gent played basketball @ MSU and went on to play Tight End for Tom Landry's Cowboys in the 1960s. The coach of the team in the movie is obviously a caricature of Landry in the way that he calls guys out in film sessions and mixes football with religion, computers, psychology and philosophy (not to mention some mind-games to boot!).

The crux of the film details what it's like to be an aging player in football. Once players get north of 30 they become much more dependent on shots and pain pills and have to watch their skills erode with each passing season. The movie depicts the devastating toll that football takes on even the most athletic bodies.

Nick Nolte plays a wide receiver who finds himself in just such a circumstance. He is fighting for his pro football life while younger players are trying to push him out of the league to make a place for themselves. He also is in the middle of politics being played out on multiple levels over who gets to play.

While this is a sports movie, we hardly get to see any "game" action at all. This is not a bad thing, just different. The basis of the movie centers around the "behind the scenes" issues of a pro football team.

If you like sports movies (especially football) you'll likely enjoy this one. Just so you know it's bound to not be as uplifting and cathartic as most sports films tend to be. January 13, 2007

Sad But True

I'm not a particularly big sports fan so I am not qualified to rate the football sequences of this film but by impression is that there is nothing wonderful about them. That's fine because they are beside the point. They are just an incidental part of the story. The real story is of the aging athletes.

Nick Nolte plays the receiver of the Dallas football team. He was great in his day and still has the talent but a life on the field has severely battered his body. He's having a hard time keeping up and, for the first time in his career, he is not a starter. That slot goes to some younger talent. He's at the age where his body and his love interest insist that he should retire. The problem is that he genuinely loves the game.

He has other problems as well. Most of the team are spoiled rotten and act little better than spoiled children. The team owner and the team coach are difficult to work for; they demand sacrifice of their players but are two faced and willing to permanently see them hurt in order to further other goals such as bringing along a newer player. Having your girlfriend catch the eye of the owner's brother is also something that tends to put a damper on either your professional career or your love life.

This was presented as a comedy and there are some light moments where the players are acting badly. They are, after all, getting paid millions to play a game. It is really about the human decisions, though. It is about making tough, personal choices and being willing to live with the consequences. It is about being willing to give up that which is important.
March 2, 2006

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