Rudy! Rudy!

I watched Rudy for the first time last night. I didn’t hate it, but it was a little over-the-top cheesy. I’m also pretty sure I missed 37% of the dialogue because I was too busy talking over the movie. Every line that Sean Astin said became exponentially better when I added the words “Mr. Frodo” to the end, especially his little speech about how no one ever believed in him and how he was going to prove them all wrong. When you think about it, Rudy and Samwise Gamgee are pretty much the same character. They’re both small. They both have put themselves up to daunting challenges: Rudy is determined to play football at Notre Dame even though he’s a 22-year-old socially awkward underachieving student; Sam is determined to help his good friend Mr. Frodo get to Mount Doom to destroy a ring. They both have friends with issues: Rudy’s new best friend, D-Bob (it made me laugh too) has trouble getting ladies; Sam’s best friend, Frodo, has in his possession an evil ring. They both believe they can do things no one else thinks they can, and they both eventually accomplish their goals. Rudy gets into Notre Dame and not only dresses for a football game, but gets to PLAY! Sam and Frodo make it to Mount Doom, the ring goes bye bye, and the world goes on! Put some elf ears on Rudy and they could be the same character.

I make fun but the movie wasn’t terrible. It was based on a true story, so it really is pretty incredible. I like Sean Astin. Jon Favreau was in it. Side note: I want to see a time lapse video of Jon Favreau through the years. He was fat, then he was less fat, then he was fat again, less fat, and now he’s really, really fat. Oh, and they said “shit” more times than I thought was allowable in a PG rated movie.

There were some issues with the story, though:

Rudy and his girlfriend break up at the church during his best friend’s funeral. Who does that? I laughed out loud.

This was set in 1975? Really? It looked like 1956. The haircuts, the costumes, the cars, everything. Or is Joliet, Illinois just two decades behind the times? If I go there right now will it be 1990?

Rudy was broke, having spent all his money on tuition, so broke in fact that he had to sneak into the maintenance room at the football stadium to sleep. Yet somehow every time something pivotal happens that he wants to rub in his father’s face, he manages to find a way to hop on a bus back home, only to turn around and walk right out as soon as his dad tells him he still doesn’t believe in him. It’s called a telephone, Rudy. Call collect! That’ll show the old man.

How could D-Bob afford a limo when he came back for Rudy’s big game? Didn’t he have student loan debt? Besides, who’s going to hire a lawyer named D-Bob?