Rating of
3/4
This is NOT a football movie
The M.O.W. - wrote on 08/01/08
"Brian's Song" is the true story of two friends (James Caan and Billy Dee Williams) who are members of the National Football League team, the Chicago Bears in the late 1960s. It is based on I Am Third, the autobiography of "The Kansas Comet" Gayle Sayers (who is played by Williams in the movie).
Football is not the main focus of the movie, it is about the friendship of Piccolo (Caan) and Sayers, a friendship that grows stronger when it is learned that Piccolo has embryonal cell carcinoma, a form of cancer. The type of cancer is not mentioned in the movie, it's just referred to as cancer.
There are some fair performances in the film. The two that stand out from the rest are Caan and, most notably, Williams. The two lead actors are very believable in their portrayal of the friendship of their characters.
A small problem is the development of the supporting characters. You don't really get to see much of the team, many of which are actual members of the Chicago Bears of the time this movie was broadcast on ABC in 1971, or the wives of Sayers and Piccolo. This does help maintain the focus on the two leads however.
The visuals in this movie are nothing spectacular. It is very obvious that stock footage of actual games are used. Not even the team practice scenes standout. They do, however, use location shoots at football arenas for scenes that take place on the sidelines.
This movie is not for very young children who will not understand the seriousness of Piccolo's illness. However, older children should watch it with parents.
