Review: "The Senior"

There have been many sports movies, both factual and fictional, about redemption and glory.  We love to see an underdog rise above insurmountable odds and win.  The stories are entertaining and inspirational. They are all about achieving your dreams, no matter what stands in your way. There is often an underlying element about inner strength, love and support from family and friends, and occasionally some degree of divine intervention.

“The Senior” is one of those stories. It’s the true story of Mike Flynt, a guy who was thrown out of college and off his beloved college football team during his senior year back in 1971, following a string of incidents involving his volatile temper.

Almost four decades later, at the age of 59, Flynt receives an invitation for a college football team reunion. His wife and children encourage him to go and try to reunite with his old teammates, and perhaps resolve some long-standing, unresolved issues. 

To his surprise, his buddies embrace him and the guy who got him thrown off the team makes peace with him over drinks at the local bar. All would seem to be well, except for the fact that Flynt wants to finish his senior year and bring about some closure.  In the process of doing that, he discovers that he is still technically eligible to try out for the football team he once led as captain. 

The problem is that he is now pushing 60.  Granted, he’s in pretty good physical shape, working construction and working out on his backyard punching bag.  But the idea of playing college football seems patently insane, to everyone but Flynn.

His struggle to convince the coach to let him try out for the team and the physical punishment he endures to earn his way back onto the roster is something right out of a Slyvester Stallone “Rocky” movie. 

At first, the younger teammates are reluctant to take him seriously. Their reactions range from head-shaking skepticism, to rage-filled hostility from an intimidating, hot headed jock named Hank Stanton (played by Chris Setticase) who becomes Flynt’s nemesis.

Flynt’s journey is a steep uphill climb, fraught with possible age-related injuries that could put him in a wheelchair, permanently. His wife and kids struggle to understand.

Michael Chiklis plays Mike Flynt in “The Senior.” He’s a good choice for the part, bearing a strong resemblance to the real Mike Flynt who is featured in a short promotional message that precedes the movie as well as some closing credit video clips. Flynt was reportedly on set during the filming to ensure that the movie stuck to the facts.

As a film, “The Senior” comes off as one of the many faith-based movies that have been released in recent years by companies like Angel Studios, who released “The Senior.” It has the earmarking of a well-intentioned, modestly budgeted indie film that tries to make the best of what it has to work with. 

In the way of film criticism, the clunky script could have used a few rewrites.  The videography suffers from under-lit scenes that scream for more fill lighting.  Faces are often noticeably underexposed. The lighting is bad.

While it’s fair to say that “The Senior” may not receive Oscar nominations for the cast or crew, it’s also fair to speculate that it might still find an audience, solely on the merit of the story material. 

What’s remarkable here is that the story actually happened, and let’s face it, compelling stories about unflinching determination and hard-fought success always have a chance of being contenders at the box office.

In the movie, the coach (played by Rob Corddry) quips that Mike Flynt, is “like a 59-year-old Rudy.” That pretty much sums it up.

Mike Flynt became the oldest college football linebacker in NCAA history. His comeback is an astounding tale, culminating in a suspenseful, nail-biting, season ending game.

Fans of Mary Stuart Masterson will enjoy seeing her back on the screen in the role of Flynt’s wife Eileen in “The Senior.” She starred in movies like “Some Kind of Wonderful” (1987), “Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991) and “Benny & Joon” (1993).

Pittsburghers will love seeing Dormont native and Robert Morris University grad Chris Stetticase in a strong supporting, badass role. He also appeared in “Dirty Grandpa” with Robert De Niro in 2016 as well as the TV movie “Paterno” (2018).

While “The Senior” may not be the best movie of the year, it is nevertheless an inspirational, real-life sports story, still worth seeing if you’re in the mood for an upbeat tale about a tough, hard-headed old guy trying to prove he still has The Right Stuff.

“The Senior” is family-friendly, after-school special kind of movie, rated PG.