ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Ava-Grace Willis Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

TxMike My wife and I watched this movie at home on Netflix streaming movies. Judging by the paltry box office numbers and the very few IMDb votes far too few people have seen it. Mostly true, it would seem too melodramatic if it were fiction, and wonderful story of a football player that to this day, almost 50 years later, inspires University of Texas football players.Most of the movie involved the 1968 and 1969 college football seasons. Even though I now live in Texas (for 30 years now) back then I was a student at Purdue University and a Big 10 fan, so I don't specifically recall what UT was doing in those years.The movie starts in 2010 when a young lady is interviewing old coach Darrell Royal who would have been about 86 at that time. She asks about who his favorite All-American was and after a brief pause he says "Freddie Steinmark". The reporter is taken aback, Steinmark was NOT one of UT's All-Americans but Royal says "He was MY All-American." And that is what the movie is about.Aaron Eckhart is good as Coach Royal and Finn Wittrock (looking too much like Matt Damon) is Freddie Steinmark. We first see him in high school in Colorado, hoping to get a chance to play at Notre Dame. Or somewhere, because he wasn't very big at 5'9" and 165 pounds. He is surprised with a visit offer to University of Texas at Austin where Coach Royal offers him a full scholarship to play football.The story is about how Freddie always had a positive attitude and a work ethic, both on the field and in the classroom, that set the bar for everyone else. He became the star on defense and in punt and kickoff returns and as Coach tells him later, they would not have won the national championships without Freddie.Good story, good movie. The recreation of football action is very realistic.SPOILERS: During that 1969 season when UT went undefeated, was voted #1, and won the Cotton Bowl over Notre Dame, Freddie began to experience increasingly painful discomfort in his left leg. At the end of the season Coach made him see a doctor and he was ultimately sent to MD Anderson in Houston where he was diagnosed with bone cancer. They had to amputate his leg at the hip, the prognosis was not good. Freddie disregarded doctor's orders and learned to use a walking device so that he was able to attend the Cotton Bowl game and help inspire his teammates to victory over Notre Dame. He died less than 2 years after his surgery.

lavatch From the bonus segments on the DVD of "My All-American," it is clear that the filmmakers were primarily interested in presenting an inspiring human interest story, as opposed to a football biography. They were enormously successful in achieving their goal in retelling the life of University of Texas football player Freddie Steinmark.Freddie Joe Steinmark was only 5'10 tall and weighed only 155 pounds, yet he was such an overachiever that he won a full scholarship to play for the University of Texas in the late 1960s. Legendary football coach Darrell Royal is perfectly played by Aaron Eckhart, and an outstanding young actor, Finn Wittrock, performs the role of Steinmark.For football fans, there is an excellent set of hard-hitting action scenes on the gridiron. In the bonus clip to the DVD, we learn that Mike Fisher was faced with the daunting challenge of recreating a football playbook from forty-five years ago. The sequences were entirely believable both on the practice field and in game action. The son of the Texas quarterback in the championship season of 1969, effectively played the role of his dad.The film is not perfect, and some viewers may find the interpretation of Steinmark to be overly sentimental. A legitimate question to ask is whether Steinmark was really quite the saint, as portrayed in the film.Another shortcoming was the relationship of Steinmark with his father, as interpreted in the film. The father clearly overbearing in the way he pushed his little boy to excel in football. The drama of whether Steinmark would be awarded a scholarship seemed like a life-and-death matter to the father. Why? Student loans existed in the 1960s.Inexplicably, the domineering presence of the dad never seemed to phase young Freddie Steinmark. There is an excellent film called "Fear Strikes Out" that depicts a similar father-son relationship and the damaging effects on the baseball player Jimmy Piersall. Psychologically, "My All-American" was not sophisticated in its approach to family systems. At the least, there should have been some accountability for the conduct of the father. In the film, even Freddie's close friend, Bobby Mitchell, casually observes that the father is living out his failed athletic career through his son.Still, the film was a moving depiction of a life well-lived, yet cut short. It is clear that Freddie Steinmark truly touched those around him, both with his athletic abilities and his strength of character. This is a solid family drama and worthy of viewing and reflection.

jlj9675-1 I thoroughly enjoyed this inspirational and uplifting film. Altho I don't quite understand the game of football and abhor the violence of some of the plays, I still enjoyed this film. The acting was superb in almost all of the actors. The cinematography was very good. I didn't realize it was a true story till the end but feel real good to have gotten to know the main characters. It is a wonderful example of the true team spirit that can be found if we try and the keep on trying attitude of those who succeed in life. I highly recommend this film for all young men and women, especially high-schoolers. Altho I consider it a faith-based film, it was not preachy or overbearing in its message.

mack-royal I was worried about this film being worth a darn. My father is depicted by Aaron Eckhart. Well, it turned out much better than I ever could have asked for. I've seen people try to make a movie out of this story for decades, so I was surprised that it got finished... and released!Well, you may not cry out loud, guys. But I guarantee you will get chills and a lump in your throat. Sure, it's got a lot of football, but GIRLS, you will love this character played by Finn Wittrock. Then you will cry.You are at the cinema-plex. You aren't sure what to see.... PICK THIS ONE.