Rotten Tomatoes score: 84%
Rudy is the tale of a young man who undergoes no perceptible physical changes whatsoever, not even so much as a haircut, between his senior year of high school and his 26th birthday. It's also the tale of a young man so single-mindedly obsessed with a bizarrely specific, inconsequential goal, that he manages to inspire us all.
This is one of the trillions of movies that are supposed to be based on a true story, and as usual it's hard to tell exactly how strictly the movie follows the true story. I know that Notre Dame head coach Dan Devine was incensed at the way his character was portrayed, and I know that people have questioned the accuracy of the way the real-life Rudy tells his story. Frankly, I don't care about any of this; my general approach to these movies is to assume that nothing in the movie happened in real life unless proven otherwise. "Based on a true story" is just a lame marketing gimmick, not an indication of accuracy.
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger is five feet nothin', a hundred and nothin', and has hardly a speck of athletic ability. But all he wants in life is to play football for the University of Notre Dame. The reason for this is never really explained; I guess there is no reason--his family are all Fighting Irish fans, and he seems to have a desire to impress his dad and brother, but whether this is his motivation is anybody's guess. Everyone admires Rudy for his determination and "heart," which is mentioned in almost every line of dialogue. I believe they are referring to his resolve and tenacity, as opposed to some cardiac anomaly, but that's just a hunch.
Rudy's father (Ned Beatty) and brother Frank (none of Rudy's many siblings was called Frank in real life) think his dream is stupid, which it kind of is, but his best friend Pete believes in him and encourages him. For four years, he and Pete toil away at the foundry where Ned Beatty is foreman. Then, when Pete dies in a work-related accident, Rudy decides the time has come. So he walks out of the funeral, abandons his fiancée, and hurries to catch a bus to South Bend. Ned Beatty attempts to have a heart-to-heart with Rudy about accepting your lot in life and not chasing pointless dreams. I know we're supposed to be rooting for Rudy, but Ned Beatty's speech makes 100% perfect sense, and it is in no way mean-spirited.
(I'm not sure if this is excellent writing, intended to depict the dad as a well-meaning and thoughtful counterpoint to the movie's main theme, or if it's bad writing and we were not supposed to find the dad as sympathetic as I did.)
At Notre Dame, Rudy meets Father Cavanaugh, who arranges for Rudy to matriculate at Holy Cross Junior College and work on getting a transfer if he makes the grade. The movie takes pains to show us how broke Rudy is: He takes a job with Fortune the Notre Dame stadium groundskeeper and sleeps in Fortune's office. But since he tells Pete that he only has $1000 to start with, I have no idea how he affords four years of college. I know it's the 70s, but even then that doesn't seem like enough. (Apparently the real Rudy had served in the Navy, so he was eligible for the GI Bill.)
Somewhere in here is a scene where Rudy visits home, and one of his siblings asks him where he's been. Are we to understand that Rudy has been at Holy Cross for a semester and hasn't written or called home one single time? Did no one know where he was? "Hey, Ned, you know who I haven't seen lately? One of our kids!"
Even though the focus of this act is on Rudy's attempts to qualify for a transfer, we only see him in class once, and it's in a scene that serves primarily to introduce Jon Favreau as his friend D-Bob. ("D-Bob"?? Was this a real person, or is this name made up for the movie? Either answer would mystify me.) A single line of dialogue reveals that D-Bob has discovered Rudy is dyslexic and gotten him the lessons he needs to improve his grades.
Eventually Rudy gets into Notre Dame, and then immediately dedicates his life (and the rest of the movie's runtime) to trying to get into a football game. Rudy uses his Power of Heart to impress the coaches enough to get a spot on the Irish practice squad, but his dad and brother refuse to believe he's on the team.
Now, what this is building up to is a conflict where Rudy will have to persuade the coach to put him into a game so that his family can see him on TV. I get that they needed some kind of in-universe reason for Rudy to endure one more setback before the finale. The problem is that this is such a lame plot device. Rudy asks the coach personally to let him dress for a game, and the coach is so impressed by Rudy's Heart that he obliges--So wouldn't he probably have been willing to write a letter to Rudy's dad?
"Dear Ned Beatty:
Your son Rudy is on my football team. Enclosed is an autographed picture and a Fighting Irish beer koozie. You were great in Deliverance.
Best,
Ara Parseghian."
Anyway, during Rudy's last season, the new coach Dan Devine refuses to honor his predecessor's commitment. This is the reason why the real Devine was so upset with his portrayal, and it's a pretty unnecessary twist. But in the end Devine comes around. Rudy invites his family to the last game of the season; upon reaching the stadium, Ned Beatty calls it "the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen." Wow, for a guy with about 80 children, that's kind of pathetic. At the team's insistence, Devine lets Rudy into the game for one play, whereupon he is carried off the field in triumph.
A series of title cards informs us that Rudy graduated with a degree, and that five of his brothers and sisters did so as well. I bet that kid who didn't know where Rudy was for six months wasn't one of them.
The critics liked this movie; so did I.
And here are our lessons about sportsmanship:
1. Parents should support their children's dreams.
Even if the dreams are stupid. Especially if they're stupid.
2. Workplace safety is of paramount importance in heavy industry.
Well, actually, if Pete hadn't died, Rudy would never have been inspired to go to South Bend, so scratch that one.
3. If you put your mind to it, you can spend 30 seconds of your life doing what you always dreamed of doing.
After that, you'd better get to work trying to persuade somebody to make a movie about it.
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