AMERICAN UNDERDOG

The true story of Hall-of-Fame quarterback Kurt Warner (Zachary Levi) begins with Kurt as a D-II athlete at the University of Northern Iowa, who's been riding the bench the previous 4 years and is in his last year of eligibility with aspirations of being drafted by the NFL. Warner, known as a humble, honest, and straight forward man, finally questions his coach as to why he doesn't get on the field more, especially when he was so heavily recruited out of high school. His coach provides his reasons and they work together to improve Kurt's game. This is happening while Kurt simultaneously meets and falls in love with Brenda Meoni (Anna Paquin), who's a single mother with 2 small children with trust issues, being her marriage ended due to spousal infidelity. Once Kurt is out of college and doesn't make it to the pros, the story does an even better job at building the relationship and rock solid bond between Kurt and Brenda. Financially struggling as Brenda is attending nursing school and Kurt working graveyard shift at a local supermarket, Kurt finally takes up an offer that's previously extended to him to participate in the AFL. Kurt at first has difficulty adjusting to the rapid pace of the league but once he does, he dominates it while catching the eye of a NFL team, the St. Louis Rams and his chance to fulfill his childhood dream. This is an important story I'm glad is being told as the world needs more Kurt Warner's nowadays: standup, Christian bound men, who lead with their actions and not empty words. You can tell this was a passion project for Levi as he does a terrific job portraying Warner onscreen while Paquin is equally delightful as Brenda. Kind of surprised the NFL isn't pushing this movie harder as I'm sure they could use some good PR. 6/10