MY ALL-AMERICAN Blu-ray Review

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Freddie Steinmark is a kid who always pushes himself no matter what anyone says or does to him.  His dream is to play football in college because he has a passion for the game.  He ends up getting interviewed to play for the University of Texas by Coach Darrell Royal.  Freddie is very excited but now all he has to do is prove he belongs on the team.

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Everyone knows I’m not one for revealing the entire plot to a movie in my reviews so this is as far as I’d like to get into the story with out revealing all of the plot points.  MY ALL AMERICAN follows the life of Freddie Steinmark, All-American Safety for the Texas Longhorns in the 1960s.  The film is written and directed by Angelo Pizzo and based on the book COURAGE BEYOND THE GAME: THE FREDDIE STEINMARK STORY by Jim Dent.  Pizzo is best known for writing RUDY and HOOSIERS.  Before I found out about his previous works, I was thinking to myself that the film felt a little like RUDY and it completely made sense.  It more captures the spirit of RUDY and not trying to reuse the same formula.  The actors give a genuine performances but I’d like to focus on Finn Wittrock specifically. Steinmark is a person that nothing can bother him.  His charm is what draws people toward in to him.  It’s in the way he talks to his teams, his coaches, and the lady in his life that make them have the confidence they needed for the given situation.

Cast
-Finn Wittrock as Freddie Steinmark
-Sarah Bolger as Linda Wheeler
-Aaron Eckhart as Darrell Royal
-Robin Tunney as Gloria Steinmark
-Michael Reilly Burke as Fred Steinmark
-Rett Terrell as Bobby Mitchell

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The video is a 1080p AVC transfer.

The picture on the Blu-ray is brilliant.  Every color is bold and bright, especially the greens.  The football field and the outdoor scenes are lush with color.  The oranges and reds in teams stand out a lot, possibly to avoid any confusion.  The lines in the detailing are sharp and allow the viewer to see every grass stain and abrasion on the players.  Overall, the coloring on the Blu-ray is spot on.

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The audio is an English DTS HD 5.1.

MY ALL-AMERICAN has an excellent mix with a lot going on throughout most of the film.  During the games, the movement and roar coming from the crowd is as if it is a character on its own.  Layered over that is the score.  The score sounds like the band is in the room with you.  There are powerful drums and loud horns that bellow out a beautiful score.  The bass gets a workout when the score is playing.  The voices are mixed well over the effects and ambient sounds from various places.

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-The Spirit of Freddie Steinmark:
This short extra shows how the filmmakers wanted to do the character justice.

-A Look Inside MY ALL-AMERICAN: This is a little featurette of the cast and crew discussing their feeling about making the film.

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Disc Details
2 Disc set w/ 1 Blu-ray and 1 DVD
Digital copy

Running Time
119 mins

Edition Ratings
Rated PG

Region Coding
Region Free

Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1

Audio Mixes
English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish

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MY ALL AMERICAN is one of the best sports films that I’ve seen in quite a number of years.  It showcases a kid that had so much heart and never quit.  The acting is good the pacing in the film is great.  The release has a beautiful picture and superb sound.  The extras are a little light but I definitely recommend checking this movie out.

Order MY ALL-AMERICAN on Blu-ray from Amazon
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About the author

MEDIA JOURNALIST | Michael is a fanatic about all both cinema old and new. He collects anything from 1:6 Scale, 1:12 Scale, and vinyl Collectibles plus Slipcovers and Steelbooks. He loves pop culture, writing, reviewing films & collectibles, and journalism. An avid Batman, The Joker and anything comics junkie, he will also chat it up about pretty much anything. Go ahead and ask...