Take Down

I struggled with how to rate this because I enjoyed it years ago when I saw it on HBO and I remember it.

Edward Hermann (Lost Boys) is an underappreciated actor. He's subtle, but he's always believable. He's a straight man, with a heart. He never plays a hero, but he usually has integrity (granted in Lost Boys he was the bad guy . . . So, twist), but I've liked Edward Hermann every time I've seen him and I liked him in this. He was believable as the English Teacher asked to be a fish out of water wrestling coach because the students formed a wrestling team.

I don't remember Lorenzo Lamas role - it's been 20 some years since I saw this. I remember the big kid and a few other scenes and Ed Hermann's wife.

It's by the numbers but it's honestly well acted, small down, believable story, a little bit like meatballs where the underdog wins in the end. Not believable, but this film took itself seriously. It's not slapstick, it's just a movie about a small town and a bunch of kids and an English teacher asked to coach and for what it is, it's good.

In the 70s, it was a 7 star movie. Because I don't think it ages that well, 6 stars today, but I have good memories of this one.

Vincent Roberts shines as Bobby Cooper, Maureen McCormick's brother. He shows a sense of shyness, sensitivity, and vulnarability when he finds out that he is sick. He decides to quit the wrestling team just before they must wrestle their arch-rivals Rockville. He makes a touching speech to Nick (Lorenzo Lamas) when Nick gives up on the team. Bobby would give anything to go back and he can't. It is a touching and somewhat sad tribute to this actor whose career was cut short. His death at the age of 21 has saddened me very much.

This is Lamas'( Falcon Crest, Renegade) first big role in a movie. He gives us his most sensitive performance. He even pens a song for the movie which he performs. You also see Maureen McCormick acting her most Marcia Bradyist and an early performance by Stephen Furst(St Elsewhere, Babylon5). It is the story of a down and out town. The people have been down so long they don't even try to get up. Just before graduation a small group of kids decide they want one win before a life of defeat and they give it everything. Their great hope is Nick(Lamas) who has enough problems of his own( a drunken father who he covers for at work so often that he will probably not graduate). Can one 18 year old boy with the world against him find the courage in himself to succeed against all odds?

I do not like sports movies. Let me repeat that: I DO NOT LIKE sports movies. Still, there are a handful of them I highly recommend and this is one of them. It's a well crafted, touching story with solid, thoroughly believable acting by Herrmann and indeed most of the cast. It captures the flavor of small town schools and sports very well, and almost everyone will understand and sympathize with the characters' personal struggles, particularly the two protagonists as one endures the travails of the young and the other the realization that what he thought he wanted and what really matters aren't necessarily the same.

The cinematography captures the look and feel of a small town in rural America very well and the supporting cast gives a good portrayal of the kind of people you find in such towns and the kinds of kids you find in their schools--reliable, honest, subject to their own strongly held feelings, and absolutely focused on The Big Rival High School and the upcoming contest.

I highly recommend this movie. It's a pity it's so seldom seen on satellite; it's well worth watching.

Ed Beamish was my middle school Principal. Great man!