critics 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. Read critic reviews

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Movie Info

A brutal satire of American professional football in which a veteran pass-catcher's individuality and refusal to become part of the team "family" is bitterly resented by his disciplinarian coaches. The National Football League refused to help in the production of this movie, suggesting it may have been too near the truth for comfort. From the novel by former NFL player Peter Gent.

Rating:

R
Genre:

drama, comedy
Original Language:

English
Director:

Ted Kotcheff
Producer:

Frank Yablans
Release Date (Streaming):

Dec 2, 2016
Runtime:

2h
Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Cast & Crew

Nick Nolte
Phillip Elliott

Mac Davis
Seth Maxwell

Charles Durning
Coach Johnson

Dayle Haddon
Charlotte Caulder

Bo Svenson
Jo Bob Priddy

Steve Forrest
Conrad Hunter

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Critic Reviews for North Dallas Forty

All Critics (25) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (21) | Rotten (4)

Profanely funny, wised-up and heroically antiheroic, North Dallas Forty is unlikely to please anyone with a vested interest in glorifying the National Football League.

August 29, 2016 | Full Review…

Gary Arnold
Washington Post
Retains enough of the original novel's authenticity to deliver strong, if brutish, entertainment.

August 1, 2008 | Full Review…

Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
The football scenes are brutally real; the locker room scenes are totally authentic.

March 21, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
The production is a most realistic, hard-hitting and perceptive look at the seamy side of pro football.

March 14, 2007 | Full Review…

Variety Staff
Variety
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.

January 26, 2006 | Full Review…

Geoff Andrew
Time Out
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.

May 9, 2005 | Full Review…

Janet Maslin
New York Times
A scathing yet comical take on the big business of football.

October 9, 2020 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

Tom Meek
Cambridge Day
The movie boasts some fine performances -- by Nolte, Mac Davis as the Bulls' quarterback and John Matuszak as a fired-up lineman -- but it's too concerned with celebrating the mating and bonding rituals of overgrown adolescents.

July 19, 2019 | Full Review…

Richard Corliss
Maclean's Magazine
It's not damning with faint praise to say this is the best pro football movie ever -- and by yards.

August 29, 2016 | Full Review…

People Magazine
Pro football fans may be disillusioned by this excellent, honest, and often brutal expose of the play-for-pay game.

March 14, 2007 | Rating: 3.5/4 | Full Review…

TV Guide
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.

March 14, 2007 | Full Review…

Film4
The best football movie ever made.

June 10, 2006 | Rating: A | Full Review…

Robert Roten
Laramie Movie Scope