Jolt Country

I went into American Underdog mistakenly thinking it was one of those war movies where an American soldier rises above his situation and overcomes adversity to defeat the odds and emerge from combat as a victor. Instead it turned out to be a film based on the life of NFL quarterback Kurt Warner, which come think of it is exactly what I just described.

Every sports legend has a story and American Underdog is Kurt Warner's. Warner discovered football through his father, who walked away from the family when Warner was just a child. While playing college ball he met the love of his life, Brenda, a divorced mother of two children (one of which suffered an injury and had become blind). After college, Warner went undrafted by the NFL. When a two-day stint with the Packers didn't work out, Warner joined a local arena football team and played three seasons there while stocking shelves at a local grocery store. Five years out of college, Warner was picked up by the St. Louis Rams, who were forced to put him on the field after their starting quarterback was injured. Warner's rookie season, known as "The Greatest Show on Turf," led to a winning season, victory at the Super Bowl, and eventually led to Kurt Warner being adorned the title of best undrafted NFL player of all time.

If Kurt Warner has a mean or even slightly unkind bone in his body, it's not depicted here. When the woman he fell in love with while line dancing at a country bar reveals she has two children, one with special needs, Warner shrugs it off. When the couple struggles for money, Warner gets a job bagging groceries. When his arena football coach offers him $100 for every touchdown, he scores as many as possible and puts the money in a jar to give to Brenda and her kids. He turns down invitations to parties to spend time with his wife. He dedicates his wins to God, remained married to Brenda, and now has seven kids. It wouldn't surprise me if the guy was deemed a Saint or named as an honorary Pope of the Day or something.

Toward the end of the film, American Underdog mixes restored footage of Warner's rookie season in the NFL with newly shot footage shot at eye level. It's a great moment that adds real excitement to the film, especially for viewers like me that didn't know how things were going to end.

The message woven throughout American Underdog is not hidden. The key to success is to have a dream, try hard long enough, and believe in yourself. And also have great teeth. This guy had really nice teeth. A dream, hard work, and a nice set of choppers will take you far.

Kurt Warner going from a shelf stocker to **the MVP** and winning a Super Bowl is probably the most unbelievable thing to happen in the history of sports. And he seems like a nice guy, a good guy and is one of the few announcers I can listen to at length. I really don't end up caring for just about all of the other quarterbacks that have tormented my team over the years. I doubt they are bad people. I just .... ehhh. You get your head caved in enough and enough Sundays ruined and you don't like them as players.

Warner though is one of a scant few that I actually like and rooted for.

Have I got a movie for you!