Going all the way back to Brian's Song, the story of small/undersized football players overcoming huge odds to make a squad have had a consistent niche in storytelling, and occasionally as in the example, sometimes the stories have tragic endings. The latest story to throw its helmet on and hit the cinematic gridiron is My All-American.

Angelo Pizzo was the writer for similar sports films like Hoosiers and Rudy, and this was his first directorial effort, based on a book by Jim Dent. My All-American tells the story of Freddie Steinmark (Finn Whitrock, Unbroken), an undersized football player from Colorado with lots of heart and commitment. So much so that Darrell Royal (Aaron Eckhart, Olympus Has Fallen) offers him a scholarship to play with his vaunted Texas Longhorns team. Freddie became an integral part of the 1969 Texas team that won a national championship in football, until a cancerous growth in his leg forced its amputation and took Freddie's life when he was 22.

Normally with a story like Freddie's, or something similar, the key would be to let the story unfold as organically as you could, and if you have to make a dramatic enhancement or two, so be it. My All-American ignores such counsel, putting loads of schmaltz in the subject matter, and putting it in between an equally curious storytelling decision at the beginning and ending of the film. I don't want to ruin it in case you decide to seek it out on your own, but when you see it, it will take you aback in the silliness.

When Freddie is onscreen, one would also think his story did not require many additional touches, but for whatever reason Pizzo decided that wasn't the case. Past the football field we see Freddie's parents, including the familiar Robin Tunney (The Mentalist) as his mother. And Sarah Bolger, who I remember seeing as a child in Jim Sheridan's In America, appears as Freddie's girlfriend Linda Wheeler. Each are in supporting roles, and each are without complaint in their performances. Average, if not unspectacular.

The big performances are reserved for Eckhart and Whitrock. On the former, he plays a football coach, conveying leadership with a softer side effectively, and his work is good. The story tends to lack scenes of worthy connection between the Coach and Freddie (Freddie's excitement at getting a scholarship leading to a memorable relationship strains credulity for me), and Eckhart helps this along however he can. Whitrock's performance is odd; he seems to be playing Freddie as a mythological character rather than a smallish football player, and it hampers trying to give the film/story a chance. I know he's gone, but just be the guy.

I'm left with a personal dilemma at times when it comes to ‘guy-cry' films like this, where you know what's going to happen, you may get emotional about it, whatever. But if the film doesn't deliver on those promises, I sometimes wonder if I've finally donated what's left of my soul to the great and growing ocean of cynicism that comes with film criticism. But in My All-American, we have the tragic case of people fooling with a formula that is generally foolproof, and the result is morbidly comic more than seriously emotional. What a shame.

The 2.40:1 high-definition widescreen presentation is a bit of a mixed bag. The oranges found in the Longhorn uniforms look great, as is the greens of the fields, and black levels in darker moments are fairly deep. The image has a peculiar lack of image detail thoughout, and whites in jerseys or exterior shots tend to push a little on the hot side. I expected a little more out of my source material than what I got from this film.

The DTS-HD Master Audio track makes it work within the football sequences, with subwoofer engagement on every tackle and tumble, and crowd noise during the games are convincing in their immersion level. Quieter moments have well-balanced dialogue and occasional directional effects to further convey the immersion level. The football sequences were a little too amped up for my tastes, but the soundtrack is generally good throughout.

Two featurettes are included with a standard def disc and digital copy code; "The Spirit of Freddie Steinmark" (2:57) looks at the man with thoughts by the cast and crew, and "A Look Inside My All-American" (2:39) is a look at the production, and how the football sequences were captured.

My All-American tries to let you know about the short life of Freddie Steinmark, but in doing so, the storytelling makes it less serious and the viewer is left bracing themselves for all the kitschy little cinematic mile markers that make the film less than memorable. Technically the disc could have been better, to say nothing of the extras. I'm sure there's a documentary out there somewhere that's told the story better.