''Rudy'' is a 1993 American
biographical
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...
sports film
A sports film is a film genre in which any particular sport plays a prominent role in the film's plot or acts as its central theme. It is a production in which a sport or a sports-related topic is prominently featured or is a focus of the plot. D ...
directed by
David Anspaugh. It is an account of the life of
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger, who harbored dreams of playing
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
at the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
despite significant obstacles. It was the first film that the Notre Dame administration allowed to be shot on campus since ''
Knute Rockne, All American
''Knute Rockne, All American'' is a 1940 American biographical film that tells the story of Knute Rockne, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame's legendary football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien (actor), Pat O'Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as p ...
'' in 1940.
In 2005, ''Rudy'' was named one of the best 25 sports movies of the previous 25 years in two polls by
ESPN
ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...
(#24 by a panel of sports experts, and #4 by
ESPN.com users). It was ranked the
54th-most inspiring film of all time in the
American Film Institute
The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...
's
"100 Years" series.
The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 18, 1993, and was released in the United States on October 13, 1993, by
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, which is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation.
The compan ...
. It stars
Sean Astin as the title character, along with
Ned Beatty
Ned Thomas Beatty (July 6, 1937 – June 13, 2021) was an American actor. In a career that spanned five decades, he appeared in more than 160 film and television roles. Throughout his career, Beatty gained a reputation for being "the busiest ac ...
,
Jason Miller,
Robert Prosky
Robert Prosky (born Robert Joseph Porzuczek, December 13, 1930 – December 8, 2008) was an American actor. He became a well-known supporting actor in the 1980s with his roles in ''Thief (1981 film), Thief'' (1981), ''Christine (1983 film), Chris ...
,
Lili Taylor and
Charles S. Dutton. The film had supporting roles from
Jon Favreau
Jonathan Kolia Favreau ( ; born October 19, 1966) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Favreau has appeared in films such as ''Rudy (film), Rudy'' (1993), ''PCU (film), PCU'' (1994), ''Swingers (1996 film), Swingers'' (1996), ''Very ...
and
Vince Vaughn
Vincent Anthony Vaughn (born March 28, 1970) is an American actor. He is known for starring as a leading man in numerous comedy films during the late 1990s and 2000s. He was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Awards, Screen Actors Guild Award ...
, being both actors' first film roles. The script was written by
Angelo Pizzo, who created ''
Hoosiers'' (1986), which was also directed by Anspaugh.
Plot
In the 1960s in
Joliet, Illinois
Joliet ( ) is a city in Will County, Illinois, Will and Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, located southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County, Illinois, Will County. It had a population of ...
, Daniel Eugene "Rudy" Ruettiger dreams of playing football at
Notre Dame. However, he lacks the grades and money to attend along with the talent and physical stature to play major
college football
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...
. Following high school, Rudy works at a steel mill with his father, a Notre Dame fan, and older brothers John and Frank in four years. After Rudy's supportive best friend Pete is killed in a mill explosion, Rudy decides to follow his dream.
In 1972, Rudy visits Notre Dame but is academically ineligible to enroll. With the help of local priest and former Notre Dame president Father John Cavanaugh, Rudy enrolls at nearby
Holy Cross College, hoping to transfer. He approaches Fortune, head groundskeeper at Notre Dame Stadium, and is given a job. Homeless, Rudy sneaks into Fortune's office through a window to sleep on a cot; initially indifferent to Rudy's plight, Fortune later leaves him with blankets and a key to the office. Rudy learns that Fortune, despite working at the stadium for years, has never seen a Notre Dame football game.
Rudy befriends
teaching assistant
A teaching assistant (TA) or education assistant (EA) is an individual who assists a professor or teacher with instructional responsibilities. TAs include ''graduate teaching assistants'' (GTAs), who are graduate students; ''undergraduate teach ...
D-Bob, who helps him study in return for Rudy's helping him socially with girls. D-Bob tests Rudy for a learning disability; the results indicate that Rudy suffers from
dyslexia
Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, wri ...
, which he then overcomes to become a better student. At Christmas, Rudy returns home to find that his family appreciates his college academic achievements, but Frank still mocks Rudy for his attempts to play college football. Rudy persists, and even losing his girlfriend Sherry to his older brother Johnny does not deter him.
After two years at Holy Cross and three rejections from Notre Dame, Rudy is finally admitted and attends football tryouts in the hope of making the team as a
"walk-on". Assistant coach Warren warns the walk-ons that 35 scholarship players will not even make the "dress roster" of players who take the field during games. However, Coach
Joe Yonto notices Rudy's determination and gives him a spot on the daily practice squad. Rudy tells Fortune and persuades him to promise to see Rudy's first game.
Rudy's hard work and dedication in practice convinces head coach
Ara Parseghian
Ara Raoul Parseghian (; ; May 21, 1923 – August 2, 2017) was an American football coach and player who coached the University of Notre Dame to national championships in 1966 and 1973. He is noted for bringing Notre Dame's Fighting Irish footb ...
to let him suit up for one home game in his senior year. However, Parseghian retires following the
1974 season and is replaced by former
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...
head coach
Dan Devine
Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Universi ...
, who refuses to put Rudy on the game-day roster. Frustrated by not being on the dress list for the last home game, Rudy quits the team.
Fortune finds a distraught Rudy and reveals that he had actually played for Notre Dame years earlier. However, Fortune quit the team because he felt that his skin color kept him from playing; Fortune has regretted this decision ever since. Reminded that he has nothing to prove to anyone but himself and will forever regret quitting, Rudy returns to the team. Each of his fellow seniors, led by
team captain
In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...
and
All-America
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
n Roland Steele, lines up to lay his jersey on Devine's desk. Each player requests that Rudy be allowed to dress in his place for the season's final game. Devine lets Rudy suit up against
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...
.
With Rudy's family and D-Bob in attendance, Steele invites Rudy to lead the team onto the field, and Fortune is there to see the game as promised. With Notre Dame leading 17–3 late in the fourth quarter, Devine sends all the seniors into the game except Rudy, despite Steele's and the assistant coaches' urging. Fans are aware of Rudy's goal from a story in the student newspaper, and a "Rudy!" chant begins in the stadium. Hearing this, the Notre Dame offense, led by
tailback Jamie O'Hara, overrules Devine's call for
victory formation and scores a quick touchdown. This gives defensive player Rudy a chance to get in the game and be entered onto the
Fighting Irish roster. Devine finally lets Rudy play on the Notre Dame kickoff to Georgia Tech. Rudy stays in for the final play, sacks the Georgia Tech quarterback, and is carried off the field on his teammates' shoulders to cheers from the stadium.
An epilogue states that since 1975, no other Notre Dame player has been carried off the field as of the time of the film's release in 1993. Rudy graduated in 1976, and five of his younger brothers went on to earn college degrees.
Cast
Production
In 1982,
Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger initially pitched a film project based on his life story to Hollywood executives but failed to generate interest. Later, he entered into a deal with a screenwriter who allegedly deceived him, resulting in the loss of his life savings. Residing in
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. It lies along the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. It is the List of cities in ...
, where the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...
is located, Ruettiger found renewed inspiration after watching the 1986 film ''
Hoosiers''. A fortuitous encounter in South Bend led him to obtain contact information for ''Hoosiers'' screenwriter
Angelo Pizzo. Around 1989, Ruettiger persistently pursued Pizzo, who initially had no interest in creating another Indiana-based sports film, especially one set at Notre Dame, a school he disliked. Despite initial reluctance, Pizzo eventually mentioned the project to ''Hoosiers'' director
David Anspaugh and producer
Robert Fried.
In 1991, Fried successfully sold the project to
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...
, securing Anspaugh as the director and Pizzo as the writer. However, when Columbia's chairman
Frank Price
Frank Price (born May 17, 1930) is an American retired television writer and film studio executive. He held a number of executive positions including head of Universal TV; president, and later chairman and CEO, of Columbia Pictures; and presid ...
departed for
Savoy Pictures, the new chairman
Mark Canton put the film into
turnaround in early 1992. Although Savoy Pictures nearly acquired the rights from Columbia, they opted out when foreign deals failed to materialize in time for an October 1992 production start.
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is part of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, which is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony, Sony Group Corporation.
The compan ...
joined the project in September 1992 and gave the green light to the $13-million film after resolving "last-minute rights claims against the property." Filmmakers had a two-week window to revise the script and just two days to secure permission to film at Notre Dame. The school had not agreed to allow its campus to be used as a film location since 1940's ''
Knute Rockne, All American
''Knute Rockne, All American'' is a 1940 American biographical film that tells the story of Knute Rockne, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame's legendary football coach. It stars Pat O'Brien (actor), Pat O'Brien as Rockne and Ronald Reagan as p ...
''. Initially uninterested in another film about Notre Dame football, the university's administration, led by executive vice president Reverend William Beauchamp, changed its stance after reading Pizzo's script. They recognized it as a "heartwarming, enlivening story" about hard work that embodied the school's values.
The 50-day filming commenced on October 26, 1992, on the campus north of South Bend. Notre Dame, Holy Cross Junior College, and the local bar Cap N' Cork, served as filming sites. Notre Dame-specific locations encompassed its twin lakes, Notre Dame Stadium, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, and the
Golden Dome. Crowd scenes were captured during halftime at Notre Dame football games against
Boston College
Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...
and
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with ca ...
. The pivotal scene where players carry "Rudy" off the field was shot during that year's
Notre Dame vs. Boston College game, with the 59,000 fans present chanting Rudy's name. N.F.L. Films, the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...
's cinematic division, handled the filming of football action scenes. Following the six-week stint in South Bend, the production relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where the Thompson Steel Mill was used. The nearby town of
Whiting, Indiana
Whiting ( ) is a city located in the Chicago Metropolitan Area in Lake County, Indiana, which was founded in 1889. The city is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan. It is roughly 16 miles from the Chicago Loop and two miles from Chicago ...
, stood in for Joliet, Illinois.
Actor
Sean Astin, portraying the titular character, experienced "head-to-toe bruises" during the filming process. Additionally, Astin's stuntman sustained injuries, necessitating knee surgery by the conclusion of the shoot.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to ''Rudy'' was composed and conducted by
Jerry Goldsmith
Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer, conductor and orchestrator with a career in film and television scoring that spanned nearly 50 years and over 200 productions, between 1954 and 2003. He was consid ...
and performed by the
Hollywood Studio Symphony
The Hollywood Studio Symphony (sometimes the Hollywood Freelance Studio Symphony) is the credited name of the symphony orchestra behind many major soundtracks, including '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'', ''Suc ...
. Goldsmith had previously worked with Angelo Pizzo and David Anspaugh on their successful 1986 film ''
Hoosiers'', garnering the film an Oscar nomination for
Best Original Score and thus making Goldsmith their first choice to compose a soundtrack for ''Rudy''.
# "Main Title" (3:35)
# "A Start"(2:27)
# "Waiting" (2:35)
# "Back on the Field" (2:07)
# "To Notre Dame" (6:55)
# "Tryouts" (4:27)
# "The Key" (3:55)
# "Take Us Out" (1:51)
# "The Plaque" (2:36)
# "The Final Game" (6:16)
According to Soundtrack.net, "Tryouts" has been used in 12 trailers, including those for ''
Angels in the Outfield,
BASEketball
''BASEketball'' is a 1998 American sports comedy film cowritten and directed by David Zucker, starring ''South Park'' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and costarring Yasmine Bleeth, Jenny McCarthy, Robert Vaughn, Ernest Borgnine and Dian ...
,
The Deep End of the Ocean,
Good Will Hunting'', ''
The Little Vampire'', ''
Mafia!'', ''
Seabiscuit
Seabiscuit (May 23, 1933 – May 17, 1947) was a champion thoroughbred racehorse in the United States who became the top money-winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-hors ...
'' and ''
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron''.
In 2008, Senator
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American statesman and United States Navy, naval officer who represented the Arizona, state of Arizona in United States Congress, Congress for over 35 years, first as ...
used "Take Us Out" as an official anthem during his presidential run. The piece of music was played at major events such as after Senator McCain's acceptance speech to the
Republican National Convention
The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...
and after John McCain announced Governor
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, and author who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nomi ...
as his running mate in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
.
"Take Us Out" was played in the pilot episode of ''
About a Boy'', based on the
2002 film of the same name.
Also recorded in the film are performances of various Notre Dame fight songs by the
Notre Dame Glee Club.
Historical accuracy
In reality, Coach Dan Devine had announced that Rudy would dress for the Georgia Tech game during practice a few days before. The dramatic scene in which Rudy's senior teammates laid their jerseys on Devine's desk in protest never happened. According to Ruettiger, Devine was persuaded to allow him to dress only after a number of senior players requested that he do so. Devine had agreed to be depicted as the "heavy" in the film for dramatic effect but was chagrined to find out the extent to which he was vilified, saying: "The jersey scene is unforgivable. It's a lie and untrue."
As a guest on ''
The Dan Patrick Show
''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and inde ...
'' on September 8, 2010,
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford Montana Jr. (born June 11, 1956) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons, primarily with the San Francisco 49ers. Nicknamed "Joe Cool" and "the Co ...
, who was an active member of the team when Ruettiger played in the Georgia Tech game, confirmed that the jersey scene never happened, stating: "It's a movie, remember. Not all of that is true...The crowd wasn't chanting, nobody threw in their jerseys. He did get in the ball game. He got carried off after the game."
Nearly 10 years later in an interview on
Barstool Sports
Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that publishes sports journalism and pop culture-related content. It is owned by Dave Portnoy, who founded the company in 2003 in Milton, Massa ...
' ''Pardon My Take'' podcast, Montana reiterated that the jersey scene and crowd chanting did not actually occur. He also implied that carrying Ruettiger off the field was sarcastic rather than celebratory, saying: "Was there a lot of things that happened? Yeah. He got in, he got a sack. Was the crowd chanting? No. Did I throw in my jersey? No. Did he get carried off the field? He got carried off by three of the biggest pranksters on the team."
Reception
The film was the closing night gala at the
1993 Toronto International Film Festival.
[
''Rudy'' received primarily positive reviews from critics. ]Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
of the ''Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' wrote that the film "has a freshness and an earnestness that gets us involved, and by the end of the film we accept Rudy's dream as more than simply sports sentiment. It's a small but powerful illustration of the human spirit." Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' observed that "For all its patness, the movie also has a gritty realism that is not found in many higher-priced versions of the same thing, and its happy ending is not the typical Hollywood leap into fantasy." In ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'', Richard Harrington called ''Rudy'' "a sweet-natured family drama in which years of effort are rewarded by a brief moment of glory." Kenneth Turan of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' called the film "Sweet-natured and unsurprising...this is one of those Never Say Die, I Gotta Be Me, Somebody Up There Likes Me sports movies that no amount of cynicism can make much of a dent in."
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film holds a rating of 78%, based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The site's consensus reads, "Though undeniably sentimental and predictable, ''Rudy'' succeeds with an uplifting spirit and determination." Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
gave the film a score of 71, based on 22 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data.
Background
Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.
In 2006, AFI placed the film on its 100 Years...100 Cheers list, where it was ranked #54.
Home media
Rudy was released on VHS by Columbia TriStar Home Video on May 25, 1994, and on LaserDisc on June 22, 1994. The film was released as a Special Edition DVD on September 26, 2000. The film was released on Blu-Ray for the first time on September 9, 2008. A 30th Anniversary SteelBook 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray that included a new director's cut, deleted scenes, and director's/writer's commentary, was released on November 14, 2023.
See also
* List of American football films
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
Notes
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudy
1990s American films
1990s biographical drama films
1990s English-language films
1993 drama films
1993 films
American biographical drama films
American football films
Biographical films about sportspeople
College football in fiction
Cultural depictions of American people
Cultural depictions of players of American football
English-language biographical drama films
Films about disability in the United States
Films about the education system in the United States
Films directed by David Anspaugh
Films scored by Jerry Goldsmith
Films set in 1975
Films set in Illinois
Films set in Indiana
Films set in the 1970s
Films set in universities and colleges
Films shot in Illinois
Films shot in Indiana
Notre Dame Fighting Irish football
Sports films based on actual events
TriStar Pictures films