There’s no doubt that Ernie Davis led an inspirational and tragically moving life, yet the formulaic presentation and stereotypical structure to the motivational sports drama doesn’t provide an appropriately unique platform to tell his story. Perhaps his life is the epitome of the genre, but we’ve seen this same tale numerous times only with different sports and slightly different obstacles. The Express does an exemplary job of recreating an era and a football legend with plenty of heart and exciting action, but an overlong running time and an over-attentiveness to specific dates and historical accuracy diminishes the entertainment and amps up the documentary vibe.

Ever since he was a young boy growing up in Pennsylvania, Ernie Davis was forced to overcome harsh adversity, and perhaps the greatest came when he was recruited to play college football for Syracuse. The Express chronicles the tragically short, yet monumentally accomplished life of the first African-American to ever win the Heisman Trophy.

All the actors involved portrayed their respective real-life characters with enthusiasm and charisma aplenty, however far too many seemed included just to fill a stereotypical role in such films. Since it’s based on a true story, perhaps all of these people really existed. Dennis Quaid gives a notable hard-edged, tough-coach-with-a-heart-of-gold performance who admirably avoids too many lengthy inspirational speeches, yet still manages to breach the trying-too-hard to act tough line at a few points throughout the film.

Once again Hollywood has churned out an inspirational sports drama with that winning blend of feel-good momentum and underdog accomplishments. Although the sport keeps changing, the formula stays the same, and so the significance of this based-on-a-true-story adaptation feels overdone and imitative. Realistic, well-acted, but ultimately more of the same tried-and-true storytelling, The Express is a perfect movie-going experience for those who know exactly what the film is all about before watching it.

- The Massie Twins

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