Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

RaphaelSemmes As a self-confessed sports junkie, I enjoy sports films. To me authenticity is a vital component in sports movies, particularly when a film involves an individual of Jim Thorpe's stature. I don't think that it's sufficient, or worthy, to merely issue a general disclaimer professing that characters and events may be different than those portrayed in the film. It's my belief that the true greatness of a person's accomplishments are obscured when accuracy is not maintained. Thorpe's football accomplishments at Carlisle Indian Industrial School are legendary. A number of sequences in the movie deviate a bit from events that actually transpired. The movie chronicles a big game in the 1908 season between Carlisle and Penn. While it is accurate that Carlisle played Penn that season, the actual score was a 6-6 tie not the 13-13 tie asserted in the movie. In the film, Thorpe kicks a 50 yard field goal with 25 seconds remaining to tie the score. In actuality, Thorpe missed three field goals that day. The film contrives a rivalry between Penn's Tom Ashenbrunner and Thorpe. Problem is that there was no Ashenbrunner that played for Penn. In actuality, the Penn running back (star) was All-American Bill Hollenback. He was the Penn player who faced Thorpe that fateful October afternoon in 1908. In real life, Thorpe claimed that Hollenback was his toughest and fiercest rival. Pop Warner, Carlisle's coach, advises Thorpe that Allegheny College is searching for a coach, and that the school has narrowed the search to Ashenbrunner and Thorpe. Presumably, how they perform in the big game will determine who gets the Allegheny coaching gig. In reality, Bill Hollenback was hired by Penn State in 1909 to coach their team, not Allegheny. In retrospect, one must wonder if permission was denied by Hollenback to use his actual name in the film. Given the crowd shots, it could be implied that the Penn game was (seemingly) played at Carlisle and not Franklin Field. That implication is simply inaccurate. Carlisle routinely played road games against smaller, closer opponents (e.g. Muhlenberg College). Do any of these inconsistencies diminish Thorpe's achievements? I would claim they don't, but they certainly test the veracity of the film. If Ashenbrunner is fictitious, did Jim Thorpe actually set a particular record or complete in a certain Olympic event? As correctly indicated by various reviewers, Jim Thorpe was married three times, but only one wife is depicted in the film. The one son that we are introduced to in the movie, who tragically passes away, was actually one of eight children fathered by Thorpe and his three wives. Of course liberties must be taken so that a storyline has continuity and the audience is engaged. But omitting and altering facts is very disconcerting. Instinctively, I enjoyed Jim Thorpe All American. It's a likeable movie about an American hero. Burt Lancaster is a great actor, and his portrayal of Jim Thorpe is captivating. And Charles Bickford is a terrific coach/mentor Glenn S. "Pop" Warner. However, no matter how good Lancaster acted in his role of Thorpe, there will always be incessant issue of authenticity. That persistent foible of integrity was never overcome in this classic film.

A_Different_Drummer Today we would recognize this as a biopic but in 1951 Hollywood was just coming off its heyday (the 30s and 40s), musicals were disappearing, consumerism was coming in, and styles were changing. First this is a 50s film with 40s sensibilities. That's important because, as any cinephile will tell you, the 50s -- when Hollywood "discovered" teenagers, and wasted its time catering mainly to that market -- is the closest thing to a lost decade in film history that we have. It is an OK film but not a great one. What is astonishing is Lancaster. I have reviewed several of his films on IMDb and, before this exercise is over, I may just review a few more. The versatility of the actor is still the stuff of legend, and rightly so. In 1951 Burt was was in his late 30s but HERE HE IS PLAYING A WORLD CLASS ATHLETE IN HIS 20s and, typical of Lancaster he pulls it off. Five years later, in his 40s, Lancaster in his 40s did Trapeze, another role that showcased his athletic prowess. And 10 years after this film, he did Judgement at Nuremberg, one of the best portrayals of his career, playing a much older judge with "second thoughts" on morality. Bottom line: for Lancaster fans only.

jimakros Jim Thorpe was an incredible athlete and this movie shows this much,it is pretty accurate in the description of his athletic achievements. Where it fails miserably is in the telling of his personal life,for some strange reason it makes up a tragic story of Thorpe's life,concentrating on the fictitious death of his supposedly only son when a young boy, and the tragic consequences that follow,turning him into a sad,miserable and lonely middle-aged man. The truth is ,that Thorpe had 8 children,a son and 3daughters from his first wife and 4 sons from his second wife.His son from the first marriage died at age 2, but Thorpe had other children and the loss of his son did not destroy him. Furthermore ,after he divorced his first wife he didn't end up alone and miserable as the movie shows but remarried twice. Whatever problems he may have had later in his life,they were caused by other reasons and one wishes this movie tried to explain the true story of Thorpe and not make up one instead. Burt Lancaster is OK in the role,physically he seems perfect for the part,but the script doesn't help him understand this man by making up most of his personal life.

gitrich Burt Lancaster and Charles Bickford give convincing portrayals as Jim Thorpe and Pop Warner respectively. It is too bad that Indians could not have played many of the characters but then this was 1951. Thorpe himself was an advisor bringing credibility to the film related to its accuracy.