Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (2008)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

I wanted to but couldn't!

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Two former powerhouses of football meet on the field 30 years after their heyday. Both teams, while generally inept, have somehow managed to compile perfect records against the other inept teams in their generally inept conference.One team plays well. The other stumbles. At the end, the inept team that was winning gives up a buttload of points to the inept team that was losing. This results in a tie.Almost all points are scored because of -- because of -- well, because of inept mistakes.A Harvard fan decides to create an inept film about this inept game and gives it the inept title Harvard Beats Yale.Outside of graduation day at the Hollywood division of the Betty Ford Clinic, never have so many minor talents had so much praise heaped on them simply for waking up and breathing.Watch this film if you like to hear people say, We tried hard; they tried hard; it broke my heart.Stay away if you like football, people who don't whine, or quality.This film gets two stars: One star because lots of eggheads got beat up that day; and one star because the voices in my head go quiet when I'm extremely bored.

I'm not interested in football, so I expected to be bored by this film. Moreover, 1968 was a year of spectacular events world wide, from human cultural evolution to political revolution, so why should some football game between two private elitist universities matter? But wow! -- what a riveting and unforgettable story! The story of the game is recalled by the players on both sides -- many of whom are highly articulate, interesting characters to watch. We get the "7-Up" effect (only the age jumps between, say, 21 and 56) where we can see in the older men the same distinct personality and character of the young men they are remembering. For example, we see Brian Dowling, the demigod-like undefeated Yale QB, remind the audience, with visible irritation, that the 29-29 game was not a defeat but a tie -- he's still attached to his undefeated status all those years later. It's hard to describe why the story of this one football game feels so archetypal and earth-shattering. I felt like I'd just seen a remake of the Trojan War, or something on that epic and mythic scale, where the warrior heroes are reflecting back on battlefield highlights. No exaggeration.

Watching Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 is like watching the greatest college football game you could ever imagine, and getting to know the players as it's happening. Even if you already know the final score, the process of getting there is spell-binding for anyone who enjoys watching sports (or has a pulse).But it's much more than just an amazing football game. Through interviews with the players - now older and wiser - the film evokes the background of the times - 1968, perhaps the most tumultuous year in modern American history.The players represented both sides of the political spectrum. Like other young people, many were war-protesters. Yet other players despised the protests - at least one was a proud Vietnam vet, who came to the Ivy Leagues after experiencing Khe Sanh.But on a cold November day, the players and the fans throughout New England put aside these political differences to celebrate the drama of The Game. Through the interviews, we learn that Yale was very heavily favored (thus a tie was considered a "win" for Harvard). We learn about the different personalities - which Yale players knew George W. Bush, which Harvard guy roomed with Al Gore, who dated Meryl Streep, who was the inspiration for the football-player character in Doonesbury, etc.But as the film progresses, these interviews slowly give way to a closer focus on the game itself. It's now late in the 4th quarter with the seconds ticking away. Harvard is still down by 16 points, and you are on the edge of your seat wondering how they are going to pull off this inspirational "victory", making everyone forget - at least for a brief moment - the darker battles then raging in America.

Pegasus3 should change their name to "Clueless1". The title of this documentary QUOTES a headline on the Harvard Crimson after this game. If Pegasus3 found this a very boring documentary, that is their prerogative, but this isn't just about football, it's much more a peek into one of the most turbulent years in American and world history. Just look at 1968: the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert F. Kennedy, the Prague Spring and the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, riots on college campuses, the protests by Tommie Smith & John Carlos at the Olympics in Mexico City, 1968 was a benchmark year for youth. Sure, the comments of the players are mostly about the game, but their insights into what else was happening at the time were great, such as the Yale player who was the roommate of George W. Bush telling that he had a picture of Bush hanging off the goalposts at Princeton(for which, we find out, Bush was arrested, and BTW, talk's cheap, let's see the picture!!), and another Yale player telling & showing us that he was dating Vassar co-ed Meryl Streep at this time. We find out that Tommy Lee Jones was the roommate of Bush's opponent, Al Gore. I remember hearing about this game after it occurred, but I never knew exactly what occurred, and though the title may say "Harvard Beats Yale", I love the fact that all the players feel like winners for experiencing it. Although I can't see how something called J. Hoberman of the Village Voice could mention a piece of junk like either version of "The Longest Yard" in the same paragraph with this great little film. Of course, Hoberman is from New York, and I don't think they've played college football in New York since back before Columbia lost 29 games in a row. I love college football. I lived through 1968. I loved "Harvard Beats Yale 29-29".