elizabeth embry

The movie was about overcoming and rising up. I was an English teacher in Abilene, Texas, and knew I was in over my head. So many of these kids are overcoming poverty, gangs, non existent parents, hunger, and not believing there can be a better life. They have no hope. Many times sports is the only place that they can succeed, hold your head high, and find a group where you are looked up to and feel accepted. It's a movie about brotherhood, coaches and teachers that do so much more than teach. I do want to add that Harolds, the restaurant, was not the real place, it was a Hollywood set. The REAL Harolds was a hole in the wall in a really bad part of town with the best BBQ you ever tasted with two wonderful people who owned and ran it. But, it was an iconic hangout in Abilene visited by lawyers, doctors right along long tables with refuse workers, janitors, and lots of teachers. All were welcome and all were friends interested in getting these boys on the right track.

One of the best movies about the Viet Nam War. It is about the redemption and hope of so many affected by the war through so many generations. A hero that moved a man to heroism 30 years later. That man was not on the Viet Nam battlefield, but on the battlefield of right and wrong. That wrong was the corruption by our own government during that flawed war.

I liked it and loved the music. The movie missed the opportunity of "Long Winding Road," when the star is going on the long road to the beach house, then ultimately ending up admitting his love for the girl.