Retains enough of the original novel's authenticity to deliver strong, if brutish, entertainment.
North Dallas Forty (1979)
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Reviews Counted: 21
Fresh: 18
Rotten:3
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Consensus: Muddled overall, but perceptive and brutally realistic, North Dallas Forty also benefits from strong performances by Nick Nolte and Charles Durning. Football fans will likely find it fascinating.
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: NORTH DALLAS FORTY is a funny and insightful peek into the world of professional football, adapted from Peter Gent's novel. Phillip Elliott is an aging wide receiver for the North Dallas Bulls who... NORTH DALLAS FORTY is a funny and insightful peek into the world of professional football, adapted from Peter Gent's novel. Phillip Elliott is an aging wide receiver for the North Dallas Bulls who still delivers on the field--despite the many past injuries that keep him in almost constant pain. Almost as painful for him is the constant abuse heaped on the players by management. Now Phillip's determined to do something about it. The corporate bigwigs, however, are growing increasingly annoyed by Elliott's complaining. Will the athlete cave in to the pressure and keep his mouth shut or fight the executives at the risk of ending his career? Featuring a stellar cast that includes Charles Durning, Mac Davis, and Nick Notle, this film ranks with HORSE FEATHERS, SEMI-TOUGH, and THE LONGEST YARD as one of the greatest football films of all time. [More]
Starring: Nick Nolte, Charles Durning, Bo Svenson, Mac Davis
Starring: Nick Nolte, Charles Durning, Bo Svenson, Mac Davis, John Matuszak, Dabney Coleman, Steve Forrest, Brian Dennehy, Dayle Haddon
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Producer: Frank Yablans
Screenwriter: Frank Yablans, Ted Kotcheff, Peter Gent
Composer: John Scott
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Reviews for North Dallas Forty
The football scenes are brutally real; the locker room scenes are totally authentic.
Pro football fans may be disillusioned by this excellent, honest, and often brutal expose of the play-for-pay game.
The production is a most realistic, hard-hitting and perceptive look at the seamy side of pro football.
It relies upon your belief in the inherent nobility of the sport... If you believe that, this is the greatest sports movie ever made. If you don't, it's a wallow in self-pity.
Something of a mess, both in terms of the wayward plot which rambles all over the place, and in terms of the rather muddled juggling of audience sympathies.
The leading man, Nick Nolte, has a physical authority and a clowning, irreverent manner that lend the film some semblance of continuity, even when it's about to flounder.
North Dallas Forty reveals some of the reasons why the fun has been taken out of football.
It’s still fascinating to get a glimpse of what athletes sacrifice to entertain us. It would have been considerably more fascinating if more of the people involved had seemed more human.
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