Necessary Roughness (1991)

Truly Dreadful Film

People are voting emotionally.

As Good As It Gets

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Texas State University has just won the National Championship, but they did so by cheating. The team has been expelled and the coaches have been fired, meaning the upcoming seasons will have to feature a has been coach and a team of walk-ons. The new team will include a 37 year old quarterback, a wide receiver who can't catch a cold, a science teacher at linebacker, and a female kicker. Sports comedies require a very delicate balance to avoid leaning one way or the other, and on both sides, Necessary Roughness fails to deliver. This film really isn't that funny and the team just sucks, making for a painfully predictable experience. While featuring one of the greatest motivational locker room speeches of all time, the film really doesn't have much else going for it. Scott Bakula stars and tries his best to make the story believable, but it just isn't, and when you add Sinbad and Katy Ireland to the mix, it just makes for a very uneven film. For something like this to work, it has be raunchy and way out there, hysterical with a completely unforeseen ending, similar to Major League. This film has none of it, as the jokes are all at a fifth grade level and the on-field action isn't at all believable. I love a good sports movie and Scott Bakula can be terrific in the right role, I wanted to like this movie, but it just seemed to never end, a sure sign that the film fails to entertain or inspire.

So why review a 21 year old movie? Easy. Good movies have no expiration date, and this is certainly one of them. At the time, the NCAA was going through all sorts of problems with player bribes, payoffs, faked grades, violations from steroids to hookers to cars for the players. This movie was brave enough to face these problems and gives an accurate picture of trying to build a football team from a bunch of wanna be's and never were's. Scott Bakula is perfect in the role, neither attempting to affect a fake Texas drawl nor over playing the role. Hector Elizondo and Robert Loggia, two veteran actors who could easily dominate the film, instead add their considerable talents to make the film believable. Several great touches are added, including Rob Schneider as the announcer for the games, and the appearance of a prison team arranged by Dean Elias (Larry Miller, the schmuck you love to hate) adds an extreme and interesting comic scene. Dick Butkus, Earl Campbell, Roger Craig, Ben Davidson, Tony Dorsett, Evander Holyfield, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Jim Kelly, Jerry Rice, Hershel Walker, and Randy White are the prison football players, and if you have to ask who they are, you need to head over to the NFL Hall of Fame (Except for Evander Holyfield, former Heavyweight Champion of the World). The film is cohesive, the language is minimal, and the violence is limited to the football field, practice, and a slight altercation between two teams at Billy Bob's. Collectible if you are a fan of good sports movies, and definitely a great film for the family on a Saturday night.

This was a very funny sports (specifically American Football) movie where a college football team gets heavily sanctioned by such things as recruitment violations and has to get a new team from its student body and recruits its quarterback as a 34-year-old farmer in Scott Bakula. I will admit that there was hardly anything new in this formula and cliché-ridden film, and you will probably be able to figure out what happens in the final scene once it arrives, but you will have a fun time getting there. I absolutely loved Rob Schneider's role as the sportscaster. The coaches, players, and the lady professor were all great, and the movie was hilarious throughout. I actually attended the filming of the final scene at UNT. That was fun. You will not regret watching this movie.*** out of ****

After the college football team is cracked down on by the dean for poor grades, the coach is forced to sign on some unconventional players (a 34-year old man, a teacher and a samurai) to play Iran Man football.With Scott Bakula being the star of the film, this movie is very much like "The Natural" with Robert Redford. Like Redford, Bakula was pushed out of sports 16 years ago and returns to be a star in his later years when everyone thinks he is past his prime. Yes, 16 years in both films. I could say it was like "The Replacements" but that seems almost too easy.A lot of things about the film are really stupid. Using Kathy Ireland as a kicker was just an excuse to put a hot girl in a locker room. Having a teacher coincidentally be a woman with a crush on Bakula from his high school years is a stretch. And in general, the movie served no point... the team has no chance of winning, so the best they can hope for is to not be skunked.Bakula is a great actor, but very dated in this film with his goofy jean jacket. Sinbad was Sinbad, and not the one from "Houseguest" but the unfunny one from the 1980s. Kathy Ireland was a better actress than I expected. The best actor? Strangely, Rob Schneider, who is probably known best for his dumb characters from Saturday Night Live and subsequent bad movies. In this, a young Schneider plays an announcer who is lovable and funny... comparable to Bob Uecker from "Major League".This film was okay, but I have no interest in seeing it again and if you choose to watch it, you don't have my blessing.