MOVIEmeter
SEE RANK
Up 428 this week

The Express (2008)

PG  |   |  Biography, Drama, Sport  |  10 October 2008 (USA)
7.3
Your rating:
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -/10 X  
Ratings: 7.3/10 from 15,742 users   Metascore: 58/100
Reviews: 44 user | 85 critic | 27 from Metacritic.com

A drama based on the life of college football hero Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

Director:

Watch Trailer
0Check in
0Share...

Watch Now

From $2.99 on Amazon Video

ON DISC

Celebrate IMDb's 25th Anniversary with Photos We Love

IMDb turns 25 on October 17! To celebrate, we put together a gallery of some of our favorite movie, TV, and event photos from the last 25 years.

See the Photos We Love

User Lists

Related lists from IMDb users

a list of 41 titles
created 19 Nov 2011
 
a list of 28 titles
created 29 Dec 2012
 
a list of 22 titles
created 05 Sep 2013
 
a list of 34 titles
created 19 Dec 2013
 
a list of 29 titles
created 7 months ago
 

Related Items

Search for "The Express" on Amazon.com

Connect with IMDb


Share this Rating

Title: The Express (2008)

The Express (2008) on IMDb 7.3/10

Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.

Take The Quiz!

Test your knowledge of The Express.

User Polls

1 win & 2 nominations. See more awards »

Videos

Photos

Learn more

People who liked this also liked... 

Invincible (2006)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

Based on the story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976.

Director: Ericson Core
Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Greg Kinnear, Elizabeth Banks
Glory Road (2006)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

Director: James Gartner
Stars: Josh Lucas, Derek Luke, Austin Nichols
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.1/10 X  

When a plane crash claims the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and some of its fans, the team's new coach and his surviving players try to keep the football program alive.

Director: McG
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, Anthony Mackie
Action | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.3/10 X  

Based on H.G. Bissinger's book, which profiled the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas and their heroic high school football team, The Permian High Panthers.

Director: Peter Berg
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Jay Hernandez, Derek Luke
Coach Carter (2005)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.2/10 X  

Controversy surrounds high school basketball coach Ken Carter after he benches his entire team for breaking their academic contract with him.

Director: Thomas Carter
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Rick Gonzalez, Robert Ri'chard
Rudy (1993)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Rudy has always been told that he was too small to play college football. But he is determined to overcome the odds and fulfill his dream of playing for Notre Dame.

Director: David Anspaugh
Stars: Sean Astin, Jon Favreau, Ned Beatty
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.8/10 X  

The true story of a newly appointed African-American coach and his high school team on their first season as a racially integrated unit.

Director: Boaz Yakin
Stars: Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris
42 (2013)
Biography | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

The story of Jackie Robinson from his signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1945 to his historic 1947 rookie season when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

Director: Brian Helgeland
Stars: Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford
Miracle (2004)
Biography | Drama | History
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.5/10 X  

Miracle tells the true story of Herb Brooks (Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad.

Director: Gavin O'Connor
Stars: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Nathan West
Gridiron Gang (2006)
Crime | Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.9/10 X  

Teenagers at a juvenile detention center, under the leadership of their counselor, gain self-esteem by playing football together.

Director: Phil Joanou
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Xzibit, L. Scott Caldwell
Hoosiers (1986)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 7.6/10 X  

A coach with a checkered past and a local drunk train a small town high school basketball team to become a top contender for the championship.

Director: David Anspaugh
Stars: Gene Hackman, Barbara Hershey, Dennis Hopper
Draft Day I (2014)
Drama | Sport
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 6.8/10 X  

At the NFL Draft, general manager Sonny Weaver has the opportunity to rebuild his team when he trades for the number one pick. He must decide what he's willing to sacrifice on a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with NFL dreams.

Director: Ivan Reitman
Stars: Kevin Costner, Chadwick Boseman, Jennifer Garner
Edit

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
Danny McCarthy ...
...
Sister
...
Edit

Storyline

This biopic focuses on the relationship of Ernie Davis (1939-1963), a gifted African-American athlete, and his coach from 1958 to 1962 at Syracuse University, Ben Schwartzwalder (1909-1993). Schwartzwalder recruits Davis with the help of All-American running back, Jim Brown. The civil rights movement is gaining steam; Davis experiences prejudice on campus, in town, and on the field, sometimes from teammates. How he handles it and how he challenges Schwartzwalder to stand up for his players provide a counterpoint to several great seasons that lead first to a national championship and then to the Heismann Trophy. Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com>

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Taglines:

He changed our country... one yard at a time.

Genres:

Biography | Drama | Sport

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic content, violence and language involving racism, and for brief sensuality | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
Edit

Details

Official Sites:

Country:

|

Language:

Release Date:

10 October 2008 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

The Express: The Ernie Davis Story  »

Filming Locations:

 »

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$4,562,675 (USA) (10 October 2008)

Gross:

$9,589,875 (USA) (31 October 2008)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

| (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
See  »
Edit

Did You Know?

Trivia

While taking his Cleveland Browns physical, the doctor feels Ernie Davis' neck and asks him if has not been feeling well. Swollen lymph glands on the neck are a symptom of Leukemia. See more »

Goofs

At the very start of the movie, in the huddle of the first play the audience witnesses during the Texas game, you can clearly hear the quarterback say the play and he says it is a Shovel Pass, but when the play is run it is in fact a direct hand off to Ernie Davis, not the shovel pass that was called. See more »

Quotes

Ben Schwartzwalder: I won't tell him he'll be the next Ernie Davis, because there'll never be another Ernie Davis.
See more »

Connections

References Stalag 17 (1953) See more »

Soundtracks

Don't Forget
Written by Steve Weisberg
Performed by Pablo Calogero
Courtesy of Stove Proeber Music
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
" Only real Giants can tell you how good it feels to be so tall "
30 August 2009 | by (USA) – See all my reviews

When studios turn back the clock in movies, they expose the excessive baggage which accompanied our bigoted and ignorant past. Audiences living in the present decade can observe all of the social ills of those bygone eras. Social problems in America have all but been buried, yet irritatingly they surface when our society is reminded not every American has learned the lessons of the past. Thus it is with this superior movie called " The Express." The great Ernie Davis is played by Rob Brown as an adult and Justin Martin in his youth. Both actors do a incredible job. Dennis Quaid plays Ben Schwartzwalder, the inspirational coach who does an exceptional job. The icon Jim Brown is played by Darren Henson and Charles Dutton is William Davis Sr. Although the film traces the life of Ernie Davis, it only highlights the major events, tragedies and triumphs of the all star player at Saracues University. The movie is inspirational on many levels and touches the viewer with the most dramatic obstacles such as racism and segregation. Indeed a personal meeting with the late great John F. Kennedy is sure to evoke positive memories. Throughout the entire movie one is offered a blunt eye-view of our most brutal social affliction and one can only hope our great nation will one day make it obsolete. Easilly recommended to all audiences. ****


6 of 8 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

Message Boards

Recent Posts
Slander against West Virginia flovece
A Challenge to Davis Entertainment - WHY NO ELMIRA?? WTF? Swampthing
Syracuse v WVU racism LIE in this movie DawnReinas
Why is no one saying they hate white underdog movies? Frodoholic9
As a Syracuse football fan, please SHUT UP! mk135605
Loved it, loved it, loved it!! MsD430
Discuss The Express (2008) on the IMDb message boards »

Contribute to This Page

Create a character page for:
?