The Express

w/pic”They’re going to be looking up to you. You owe them more than just a game…”Caption: Rob Brown stars in the football movie The Express.By Dwight BrownNNPA Film Critic As a young boy, Ernie Davis experienced prejudice and discrimination in the Pennsylvania coal-mining country, where he lived with his grandfather (Charles Dutton). As a young man, attending high school in Elmira, New York, Ernie (Rob Brown, Finding Forrester, Coach Carter) became his school’s star running back. The head football coach at Syracuse University, Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid, The Rookie), scouted Ernie and when he was a reluctant candidate, the coach sent in his last success story, the legendary Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson, Stomp the Yard), to convince the player Syracuse was a good choice. As a freshman, Ernie excelled to the point that he was put on the varsity team. He was just one of three Black players; one of the others was his best friend, Jack (Omar Benson Miller, Miracle at St. Anna). Ernie ran past tacklers like they were standing still. The goal line was his home. Victory was his friend. In the ’60s, as a sophomore, he pushed the Syracuse team to an undefeated season, becoming a nationally known running back. While attending away games, he faced segregated hotels, racist rival football players and hostile southern crowds. Somehow he persevered, won the respect of his White teammates and broke down barriers. On paper, Davis’ life is heroic and groundbreaking. That’s probably what convinced producer and diehard football fan John Davis (I, Robot) to buy the film rights to author Robert Gallagher’s book, Ernie Davis: The Elmira Express. John Davis’ intentions were good, but along the way he made some fated mistakes. He hired screenwriter Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond) to write the script and filmmaker Gary Fleder (Runaway Jury) to direct the movie. Neither is of African American heritage, and their lack of knowledge of the Black community makes this film feel like an impersonal study void of an African American point of view. Yes, White people calling Black people the “N” word and worse back in 1950s and ’60s America. So, watching Ernie and his buddy Jack withstand a torrent of racial slurs might make some sense. What doesn’t make sense is that Ernie and Jack never speak harsh words about white people. It’s rare in life that a White person degrades a Black person without some heated, pointed response coming back their way. But in this movie, for the most part, Black people are gluttons for punishment. A savvy Black writer would have gotten into Ernie Davis’ head, reflected his thoughts, his worldview, and most importantly, his anger. On film all we see is a stalwart young man, displaying saintly courage and uncanny athletic ability; it’s like you’re getting the sanitized, condensed Reader’s Digest version. Something about this film feels so phony. Within the confines of a very one-dimensional script and a weak film more fit for an ESPN movie of the week than a theatrically released feature film, the characters have no depth, the performances, for the most part, seem sterile and the pace grinds along. The redeeming quality for the Coach Schwartzwalder character is that he has a character arc. He’s a White coach with blinders on, afraid to rock the racial boat, but he learns to show some guts before the final credits. Ernie Davis has a similar transition, as he goes from the happy-go-lucky football player, who hides from the civil rights movement to a young man bent on making college football responsible for it’s racist leanings. Quaid as the stereotypical, tough-as-nails, ever-screaming coach fails to find the nuances in his character. Rob Brown feels more like a fashion model caught in a football movie than a strong, emotional actor who knows how to work the depths of his character. Charles Dutton, as the doting grandfather, is the one actor in the movie who makes all the right moves; in a few minutes of screen time he overshadows the entire cast. The film’s technical credits are average not admirable. Production designer Nelson Coates (Antwone Fischer) and costume designer Abigail Murray (Kiss The Girls) recreate the ’50s and ’60s, but there isn’t one visual that is truly memorable. Kramer Morgenthau, director of photography, and editors William Steinkamp (Out of Africa) and Padriac McKinley (Bordertown) fail to give the film eye-catching glory or a pace that zooms. Scenes bump into each other-they don’t transition seamlessly. So why see this very shallow, ordinary football movie? Ernie Davis was the first African American football player to win the Heisman Trophy. A terminal illness cut him in his prime, making his life short and tragic and his accomplishments all the more heroic. Davis was probably a lot more of a complex person than the character on screen reveals. This film may not be worth a trip to the movie theater, but watching it on TV, during the height of the football season, may be a good use of couch potato time. In fact, viewing The Express just before the Superbowl, as a legion of Black football players take the field, will put the evolution of their being into context. Rating: **