''Greater'' is a 2016 American biographical

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, sporting event, athlete (and their sport), or follower of sport (and the s ...

directed by David Hunt and starring Christopher Severio as

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

player

Brandon Burlsworth Brandon Vaughn Burlsworth (September 20, 1976 – April 28, 1999) was an offensive lineman for the Arkansas Razorbacks football team from 1995 to 1998. He joined the team as a walk-on and eventually became an All-American. Football career Bur ...

, a

walk-on Walk On may refer to: Music * ''Walk On'', a 1994 album by Boston, and its title song Albums * ''Walk On'' (Boston album), 1994 * ''Walk On'' (John Hiatt album), 1995 * ''Walk On'' (Randy Johnston album), 1992 *''Walk On'', a 2007 album by ...

college player who became an All-American, dying in a car crash 11 days after being drafted high in the 3rd round to the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

. The film was released on August 26, 2016.

Plot

The year is 1999 and Marty Burlsworth is awaiting the

funeral A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect ...

of his 22-year-old brother, Brandon. While others, including Marty's mother, Barbara, have accepted the loss and put their faith in God, Marty can not do that as he does not understand why God would take away his brother on the cusp of his stardom in the NFL. That doubt is shared by a stranger, The Farmer, who does what he can to reinforce Marty's anger. As preparations for the funeral begin, the story rewinds to when Brandon was a 12-year-old with big dreams of playing for the University of Arkansas, and then his days playing high school football for Harrison High School football coach Tommy Tice. It is then that Marty and Brandon's long-estranged father, Leo, an alcoholic former musician, tries to get back into their and Barbara's lives. Marty does his best to protect his younger brother, due to being 17 years older than him and often mistaken for being his father. When Brandon does not get a scholarship to become an Arkansas Razorback as an offensive guard, he is determined to join the team as a

in 1994. Offensive line coach Coach Mike Bender does not believe Brandon will make the team, due to Brandon not being large enough for a Division I-level college lineman. The sight of him is not lost on other players such as Nathan Ward, Anthony Lucas, nor Grant Garrettthe latter of whom is assigned as Brandon's roommateand they make fun of him relentlessly. But with hard work, Brandon sheds fat and puts on muscle, eventually proving himself on the field and turning around everyone's opinion of him. By his sophomore season, Arkansas head coach Danny Ford gives him a scholarship, and Brandon earns a starting position at right guard on the offensive line. Inspired by Brandon, the team achieves near greatness in his senior year of 1998, all by working and practicing hard. After the season is over, Brandon is named an All-American, and is then drafted in the 3rd round of the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at ...

by the Indianapolis Colts. After attending a workout session in Indianapolis, his position coach tells him that he foresees a great career ahead for him. Eleven days after being drafted, Brandon is killed when he is hit head-on by a tractor trailer. When his brother Marty sees how much he meant to the people of his hometown and how many have shown up for his funeral, he rebuffs The Farmer, deciding to celebrate Brandon's life and move on with his own.

Cast

* Christopher Severio as

* Neal McDonough as Marty Burlsworth * Leslie Easterbrook as Barbara Burlsworth *

Michael Parks Michael Parks (born Harry Samuel Parks; April 24, 1940 – May 9, 2017) was an American singer and actor. He appeared in many films and made frequent television appearances, notably starring in the 1969–1970 series '' Then Came Bronson'', but ...

as Leo Burlsworth * Fredric Lehne as Coach Mike Bender * Nick Searcy as The Farmer * Wayne Duvall as Pastor Rick * Quinton Aaron as Coach Aaron * Patrick Duff as Howard Mudd * Texas Battle as Anthony Lucas * Grant Cook as Grant Garrett * Josh Emerson as Nathan Ward * Connor Antico as Clint Stoerner * Lou Diamond Philips as The Car

Reception

While on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American 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, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 69%, that is based on only 16 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. However, some critics found the work to be more of a faith-based movie rather than a sports movie with Variety describing it as follows. "An insistent, clunky sermon about triumph through faith, David Hunt’s film is so determined to turn its subject into a Christ-like saint that it loses any sense of him as an actual flesh-and-blood man, the result being a third-string sports saga only apt to play to its devout target audience."

References

External links

* * * {{Mojo title, greater 2016 films 2010s sports drama films American biographical drama films American football films American sports drama films Sports films based on actual events Religious drama films Religious sports films Films set in 1999 2010s English-language films 2010s American films