Universal StudiosReview in a Hurry: The Express tells the story of Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), the first black player to win the Heisman trophy. Mentored—sort of—by Coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), Davis breaks the boundaries of racism as well as records. But this picture covers too much, too fast, and what should be a moving, inspiring tale feels more like an ESPN highlight reel than an actual movie.
The Bigger Picture: It's tough, admittedly, to sum up someone's life in just two hours, and even tougher when that person is as genuinely impressive as Ernie Davis. Unfortunately, this movie tries to cram it all in, haphazardly skipping between years and places. As a result, the audience never gets any traction with the story. Aside from Davis and Schwartzwalder, characters are cardboard cutouts. And Quaid—always underrated as an actor—has to work to bring nuance to his role, since most scenes paint him as a typical hardass coach. Even so, there's never any connection between him and Davis; whatever bond they have must have been forged offscreen.
With every line of dialogue a cliché—"In Texas, football is a religion." "People look up to you." etc.—the football sequences have to do most of the talking. They're beautifully shot, gripping and tense, but they don't make the case that Davis was extraordinary off the field, as well.
The 180—a Second Opinion: You'd have to be dead inside not to cheer when Davis scores touchdown after touchdown against the pig-eyed racists determined to cripple him. Everything that's great and awful about sports is captured in those moments.