HARVARD BEATS YALE 29-29

HARVARD BEATS YALE 29-29 - 2008

RATED - NR but probably G. This is a football documentary.

RATINGS - 13,718 Netflix (3.6/5), 130 IMDB (7.4/10).

STORY - It's November 23, 1968 and, for the first time since 1909 Harvard and Yale are meeting in the last game of the season and both teams are undefeated. Yale is ranked 16th in the nation and is heavily favored. The title of the film gives away the ending but doesn't tell you or show you the improbable, almost impossible, ending to this game. If this was Michigan & Ohio State it would have been the game of the century. For the most part, except for Calvin Hill and Tommy Lee Jones, there are no household names in either lineup. But it's more than just a game, it's Harvard & Yale, the elite of the elite, and it's 1968 and the Vietnam War is at its height and the country has had two more assassinations with MLK & RFK. As exciting as the game was, the film is also a commentary on our country, particularly what was going on in the colleges & universities. The documentary is the game footage interspersed (sometimes in the middle of the play to create suspense) with commentary from the actual players involved in that play. As you might expect, the players are articulate and intelligent. You get a lot more than just comments on the game. Do you want to hear one opinion on why the sexual revolution was going on? Do you want to know what it was like to date Meryl Streep and what was she like as a college co-ed? How about who roomed with Al Gore and George W. Bush and the pranks they were involved in? What of a former decorated Marine just back from Vietnam and what it was like to confront war protestors in front of every classroom building and play on the same team with players who protested and participated in SDS. While I agree that mostly real football fans are going to want to watch this, it has broader appeal than some reviewers give it credit for. It's very well done and entertaining as well as quite a game. A little nostalgia for baby boomer football fans. Enjoy. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 09/12/09.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER

PATH TO WAR

PATH TO WAR - 2002 HBO TV

RATING - NR but probably PG for tense situations & some language.

AWARDS - GOLDEN GLOBE + 17 Other Nominations

STARRING - Alec Baldwin, Donald Sutherland, Michael Gambon

RATINGS - 19 Amazon (4.4/5), IMBD (7.4/10)

STORY - PATH TO WAR is an HBO film, almost a docudrama, about the war in Vietnam-not the one fought on the battlefield but the one being fought in the White House. Donald Sutherland (Clark Clifford) and Alec Baldwin (Robert McNamara) are outstanding and Michael Gambon (Lyndon Johnson) also turns in a terrific performance of a President fighting the battles of ego and conscience. LBJ was a very complex personality and much of that persona comes through in the film. The eerie part is the comparison between then and now-a President from Texas, with two daughters, a divided country, fighting a war that doesn't seem winnable, against an enemy that is hard to quantify. In fact, it seems like many times during the movie you could just substitute Iraq for Vietnam and it would fit perfectly. Combines actual newsreel footage in the film making it feel even more real. Obviously, a very traumatic period in American history, this is a fascinating look behind the scenes at how we got into Vietnam and, finally, the decision LBJ made to start the peace process and not run for re-election so he could concentrate on ending the war. Sadly, he never lived to see the official end to the war. Watching this and THE FOG OF WAR, the Academy Award winning documentary about Robert McNamara, gives a great inside look at the people behind the decisions that affect millions of people, here and abroad. You see the human frailties as well as strengths. At one point, LBJ was complaining to Clark Clifford about the advice he had been given, and Clifford looked him in the eye, and told him that no matter what the decisions had been there were his and he alone had to take responsibility. A very powerful film worth watching. While younger children probably won't be interested anyway, there is some language (LBJ was no saint) and a little bit of violence during the anti-war rallies. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 10/20/2007.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMBD