Everybody's All-American (1988)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Taylor Hackford

Writers (WGA):

Frank Deford (novel)
Thomas Rickman (screenplay)

Release Date:

4 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance | Sport

Tagline:

Their life story is a love story

Plot:

A Louisiana football legend struggles to deal with life's complexities after his college career is over. |

Plot Keywords:

Ghost | Gambling | Racism | American Football | Sports Team

Cast

Jessica Lange	...	Babs Rogers Grey
Dennis Quaid	...	Gavin Grey
Timothy Hutton	...	Donnie 'Cake'
John Goodman	...	Lawrence
Carl Lumbly	...	Narvel Blue
Ray Baker	...	Bolling Kiely
Savannah Smith Boucher	...	Darlene Kiely (as Savannah Smith Bouchér)
Patricia Clarkson	...	Leslie Stone
Joseph Meyer	...	Pep Leader
J. Kevin Brune	...	Roommate
Wayne Knight	...	Fraternity Pisser
Roy B. Stewart Sr.	...	Junie
Pat Pierre Perkins	...	Willy Mae
Aaron Neville	...	Man with Gun
Shawn Burks	...	Georgia Center

Also Known As:

When I Fall in Love

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 (video rating) | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Australia:M | Finland:K-14 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company:

New Visions Pictures

Trivia:

A key scene featuring a candlelight parade involving large numbers of extras was filmed when snow started falling. Despite the beauty of the scene, director Taylor Hackford elected to reshoot the scene, as snow in Baton Rouge in November was such a rare event that he was worried it would be seen as a special effects goof in the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: Level of beer and amount of foam in Cake's glass at Lawrence's pub.

Quotes:

[about the Gray Ghost's theme restaurant]
Babs Grey: I'm running this place. I'm good at it. Did anybody ever think I was good at anything? I sure didn't.

Movie Connections:

Features Long-Haired Hare (1949)

Soundtrack:

Lawdy Miss Clawdy

The Good & Bad Of 'Everybody's All-American'

I like football. I like most of the cast in this film. Does that mean I enjoyed the movie? No, this modern-day soaper was filled with mostly unlikable characters and an appealing story for my tastes, even though it had some very good points.

In a nutshell, it's about an ex-college football star who doesn't know what to do when his playing days are over and nobody is cheering him anymore.

To me, on the negative side were the melodramatic clichés of the typical (for movies) unhappy marriage (a Louisiana State University football star and its Homecoming Queen ), the standard (for movies) adulterous affairs, the normal (for movies) lectures about race and in particular, the South; the tale of real and not-so-real friends, the predictable getting-back together routine, blah, blah, blah. Add in some fake Southern accents, too.

On the more positive side, Dennis Quaid plays "Gavin Grey" of the title role. The story concentrates mostly on the downside of his life, picking up 20 years later when he's not so famous anymore and a life of gridiron fame never materialized after a promising start. The sad thing is, there are real-life stories like this, probably more than we know. So, I am not knocking the film for its story. Many college and professional athletes go into "the real world" unprepared, just as many beautiful Homecoming Queens are unprepared for life because their fabulous looks - not their personality or character - opened a lot doors for them.

"Grey" winding up telling old sports glory stories to drunks at a restaurant is the same as Jake LaMotta doing it in "Raging Bull" and "Rocky Balboa" doing the same in Sylvester Stallone's recent role.

Jessica Lange plays the ditzy Homecoming queen who bears four kids and then becomes a good businesswomen. She isn't the most faithful, loving wife. And, at 39 years of age when she made the film, a little too old to be playing a college kid.

Quaid and Lange, though, are fine in their performances, but supporting actors John Goodman and Timothy Hutton were the most interesting, in my humble opinion.

Overall, so-so as a sports-soap opera. It's not a film I have ever been interested in viewing a second time.