Brian's Song (2001)

Touches You

There are better movies of two hours length. I loved the actress'performance.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I just discovered this film on Netflix instant viewing and decided to give it a shot. I was introduced to the original film in high school when our gym teacher showed it in class, and I'm eternally grateful for that... the original version of Brian's Song is an amazing film and you should check it out if you get the opportunity. (It happens to be on instant viewing at the moment as well.) At first I didn't think I was going to like the film since it seemed so different from the original; it was hard to get used to the new actors as Pic and Sayers since I had James Caan and Billy D. Williams in my head as owning those roles for so long. I'm glad that I gave the movie a chance, though, because by the end I was absolutely loving it.There are a number of differences between this movie and the original, though I don't think that the remake suffers for them. The tone of this film is much more serious and toward the end is much more focused on Pic's illness, but I think that this serious tone helps to show that even someone who jokes around and takes life as lightly as Pic can be overwhelmed. It helps to add humanity to the film which it would have otherwise lacked, and the actors all do a wonderful job of bringing the characters and their pains to life.Some reviewers and commenters have said that this remake shouldn't have been made and that ABC should have just shown the original again to introduce it to younger audiences but I disagree. All too often, older movies just don't hold up well in the eyes of a younger generation. I know when I was young I'd much rather watch a new movie than some old film that came out when my parents were young; I think that this remake did a good job of honoring the 30th anniversary of the original while introducing the story to young people who might not have known about it otherwise. Once they've seen this film it might be easier to introduce them to the original as well.I scored this remake 8 out of 10 because I liked it but not as much as the original movie. The original would be a straight 10.

Pic was a senior at Wake Forest when I was a freshman there. His last year at Wake was one for the ages. He led the nation in rushing & scoring. (As it was put in the original movie: "I mean I led the ENTIRE nation!") He even did the place-kicking.....scoring all 20 points in a 20-7 win over ACC Co-Champ Duke that year. Pic & QB John Mackovic (who led the ACC in total offense that year) led the Deacs to a 5-5 record. That may not seem like much to some people, but Wake Forest had gone 1-19 the previous two years.Anyway, the original movie is one of the best movies I have ever watched. It is unbelievably heart-breaking at the end....particularly for all of us who knew Pic. And with less than 4,000 students, everyone knew everyone else at Wake Forest....at least a little bit. I have a DVD copy which I watch from time to time, and which still moves me to tears. I encourage anyone who wishes to see "Brian's Song"...and that should be everybody...to do whatever you have to do to find the original version, and skip this inferior remake. The original movie portrays Pic & Sayers the way they really were.

I have yet to see the original version of this movie, but as a stand alone, this movie was amazing. While I realize that the actors may not have the physical attributes of the real life persons, they're acting makes up for it. I thought the casting decisions for the leads was wonderful and Sean Maher and Mekhi Phifer put their hearts into their roles. I've seen the synopsis for this movie sometimes includes "4 hankies needed", but you will need more than that. From what I have read on websites, the movie follows the real life story of Brian Piccolo pretty closely including statements and speeches that were made. It has a great intermixing of news reports and events of the times to show younger generations what the times were like. In present day, it's hard to see how the decision to have Piccolo and Sayers become roommates is hardly front page news. I think this would make a great educational film for schools or other children's programs.

The original was the best football movie ever. It also was the one movie that made it all right for guys to get weepy (just TRY not to sniffle during the "I love Brian Piccolo" speech) and it featured actual game footage of Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo. The new version adds nothing.