5.2 /10 1 Votes
2/4 Directed by Taylor Hackford Cinematography Stephen Goldblatt Director Taylor Hackford Box office 12.64 million USD | 6.2/10 46% Music by James Newton Howard Initial release 4 November 1988 Adapted from Everybody's All-American Screenplay Thomas Rickman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Produced by Executive Producer:Stuart BenjaminProducers:Taylor HackfordIan SanderLaura ZiskinCo-Producer:Alan C. Blomquist Written by Screenplay:Thomas RickmanNovel:Frank Deford Starring Jessica LangeDennis QuaidTimothy HuttonJohn GoodmanCarl Lumbly Cast Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange, John Goodman, Timothy Hutton, Carl Lumbly Similar The Replacements (film), Gridiron Gang, Friday Night Lights (film) |
Everybody's All-American is a 1988 American sports drama film directed by Taylor Hackford and based on the novel Everybody's All-American by longtime Sports Illustrated contributor Frank Deford.
Contents

The film covers 25 years in the life of a college football hero. It stars Dennis Quaid, Jessica Lange, Timothy Hutton and John Goodman.
Plot

Gavin Grey (Dennis Quaid) is a 1950s star athlete known by the moniker "The Grey Ghost," who plays football at a Louisiana university. His campus girlfriend Babs Rogers (Jessica Lange), nephew Donnie (Timothy Hutton) who also goes by the nickname "Cake," and teammate Ed Lawrence (John Goodman) adore his personality and charm. During the Sugar Bowl game, Gavin's play, defining his competitiveness throughout his career, causes a player from the opposing team to fumble the ball, which he returns to score a game-winning touchdown.

As his college days come to an end, Gavin ends up marrying Babs, starts a family, and gets drafted by a professional football team. Lawrence opens a popular sports bar in Baton Rouge. Everyone is pleased for Gavin, including his friendly rival Narvel Blue (Carl Lumbly), who might have achieved professional stardom had he chosen an athletic career path. Reality quickly sets in for Gavin as life in the NFL is difficult, competition fierce, and the schedule grueling. Gavin is a respectable running back for the Washington Redskins, but hardly the idol worshipped by everyone back home during his school years. Concurrently, Lawrence has accrued a number of gambling debts. He is later murdered amid an episode of organized crime, creating more debts for Gavin and Babs, who had invested in Lawrence's business.

Babs does her best to keep up with her husband's career and mood swings, and in doing so inherits the role of the wage earner in their household. A sympathetic Donnie finds her frustrated and lonely, as his lifetime attraction to her brings them together for a brief extramarital affair. Gavin's financial setbacks encourage Babs to seek a job from Narvel to manage his restaurant.

Age and injuries result in Gavin being traded, benched, then forced into retirement. He enters a failed business relationship with entrepreneur Bolling Kiely (Ray Baker), whom he despises, spending countless hours telling old college football stories to clients. Donnie moves on with his life, becoming an author and getting engaged to a sophisticated woman named Leslie Stone (Patricia Clarkson), while supporting Gavin and Babs through a marital breakdown. A despaired figure in the end, Gavin mends his relationship with Babs as he spends his withdrawal from professional sports reminiscing about his famed athletic youth.
Production
Reception
Reaction to the film was mostly mixed, as Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 46% rating based on 28 reviews.