As sick as I am of football flicks this year I must admit I rather enjoyed this film. Mainly because of the great performance of its lead. He does a great job as the weird coach that is so offbeat and positive that this town that is healing from the biggest tragedy it has ever known,just does not know have to take him. Mcg also proves he can direct something that is not flashy and slick. It will be a great film for families to see together and it does a good job pulling on the old heartstrings. Matthew Fox also does great as the assistant coach who lived through it all and has many demons to face. WE ARE MARSHELL is the best film of its kind since Remember the Titans.

Based on a devastating true life story that rocked the small town of Huntington West Virgina. In November of 1970, the Marshall University football team was almost home from losing their game against East Carolina University; the plane a mile from home hit treetops on a ridge and crashed into a gully. In the fiery plane perished thirty-seven Marshall players, head coach Tolly(Robert Patrick)and five members of his coaching staff, other school staff, flight crew and twenty-two boosters. School President Don Dedmond(David Stratharin)wanted to indefinitely suspend the football program. For the betterment of the community, Dedmon hires a young new head coach Jack Lengyel(Matthew McConaughey)to continue the program. Assistant coach Red Dawson(Matthew Fox) who missed the fateful flight agreed to help rebuild the Thundering Herd. The NCAA under the circumstances waived their rule of not allowing freshmen to play varsity ball. It would be a slow go for the school and town to recover. This movie tries to show the relationships between the injured players that did not travel on the tragic flight, the new coach and school board of directors and the town trying to heal. Marshall University would slowly rise from the ashes that chocked Huntington West Virginia. Also in the cast: Anthony Mackie, Ian McShane, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Arlen Escarpeta, January Jones and Brian Geraghty.

I spent many summers with my aunt, uncle and cousin in Huntington, WV and was at the University of Virginia in Nov 1970 when the plane carrying most of Marshall's football team crashed. It crashed just a few miles from their home.

While my school was 300 miles from Huntington many weekends I'd make the trip to Huntington to see my aunt & uncle.

Just a week before the accident my uncle and I saw one of their games - a home game playing Kent State - and it was such an eerie feeling for me to know that virtually everyone I saw on the field that day was gone in an instant.

I don't think it would be possible for any director to truly capture the level of grief in Huntington at that time, but this movie gave a pretty good glimpse inside.

While this movie is about the rebuilding of a football team that all but vanished, the greater message to me is how they kept building through their intense grief, and why that effort was important.

Almost everyone in my circle knew someone - or had a loved one - killed. A poster mentioned that some in Huntington don't like the film - everyone I know - including my cousin, felt that it really captured the time.

The Huntington Quarterly devoted an issue to describe the making of the movie, and how the actors met - and mingled - with members of the community. I believe that the community embraced the production crew.

Kate Mara's character, according to my cousin, is a composite of several actual individuals and the restaurant has a different name but everything else is factual. Incidentally I loved Kate's character.

Matthew McConaughey has said that it is the most meaningful movie he has done.

I have recommended it to all my friends.