The EXPRESS

“The EXPRESS” (Rob Brown & Dennis Quaid)

Other than knowing he was the first black man to win the Heisman trophy, I didn’t know very much about Ernie Davis; & even though I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, it did seem to harken back to familiar territory covered recently (by “Glory Road”) & long ago (“Brian’s Song”) I feel it is important to see films such as this to remind us of what despicable people the parents of the baby boomer generation really were. It is difficult for me, personally, to view because I’m embarrassed to admit that this is how I was brought up - & yet proud of myself for ‘growing up’ & discovering my parents were wrong, & that anyone who judges another human being by his ethnicity is a moron. Every time I hear Aerosmith’s “Living On The Edge”, I want to write Steven Tyler & tell him to re-record that song & change the line, “If you can judge a wise man by the color of his skin, then mister you’re a better man than I.” to “Mister, you’re a lesser man than I” because the ‘better’ man doesn’t judge people by their skin color.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, movies!
I liked how they made the focus on Ernie’s relationship with his coach, Ben Schwartzwalder(Dennis Quaid) As Jim Brown (Darrin D. Henson) tells Ernie (Rob Brown) ‘Ben is a great coach, he will make you a better football player’ but don’t expect him to treat you as if you were a member of his ‘team’. Ernie takes this information to Syracuse & teaches his coach a thing or two about people while Schwartzwalder utilizes Ernie’s natural talents on the football field toward an undefeated season & a match up with racist Texas in Dallas in the Cotton Bowl to decide #1.
Rob Brown does an impressive job conveying Ernie’s emotions; a childhood stutter causes adult Ernie to learn to speak distinctly - & this is where Ernie separates himself from idol Jim Brown – Jim just went thru the motions & did what he had to do to get a lucrative job in the NFL – Ernie challenged the rules that said a black man can’t do this or do that & forced his coaches & team mates to see that hiding behind the cloak of ‘Hey, at least we give them a chance by putting them on the team1’ doesn’t make them any less prejudice than the idiots in West Virginia or Texas that spew their racial insults openly.
Charles Dutton plays ‘Pops’, Ernie’s Grandfather; it is a subtle, yet moving portrayal as Dutton shows his emotions without saying a word in most of his scenes.
Although the film centers on Ernie’s college years in the late 50’s & early 60’s, the story covers his entire life. It is an emotional tale & I’ll admit it brought water to my crusty old eyes. Yes, it has a familiar theme, but the Ernie Davis story is one that you won’t forget once you’ve seen it - & please do see it when you get a chance.