Everybody’s All-American ** (1988, Jessica Lange, Dennis Quaid, Timothy Hutton, John Goodman, Carl Lumbly) – Classic Movie Review 9731

Director Taylor Hackford’s 1988 romantic sports drama Everybody’s All-American [When I Fall in Love] is one of the films that dragged Dennis Quaid’s star career down just when it had been going so nicely after The Big Easy. The public didn’t come.

Quaid plays Gavin Grey, a young All-American champion football player who falls for and marries his high-school sweetheart, homecoming queen Babs Rogers (Jessica Lange) and becomes a Louisiana football star. But 20 years later his career and marriage are on the inevitable rocks.

Some good scenes and two quality star performances, plus support from Timothy Hutton as Donnie ‘Cake’, John Goodman as Lawrence and Carl Lumbly as Narvel Blue, are the main pluses.

On the debit side, in an epic-length tale running 127 minutes, Hackford lets things ramble and does not focus sharply. There are just not enough highs among the lows, and the story is quite a depressing downer anyway.

Everybody’s All-American is interesting, even intriguing, but it fails to achieve its intended greatness by some long way.

Thomas Rickman’s screenplay is based on the novel by Frank Deford.

Frank Deford, legendary sportswriter and author of Everybody’s All-American, died on May 28, 2017, aged 78.

Also in the cast are Ray Baker, Patricia Clarkson and Wayne Knight.

 © Derek Winnert 2020 Classic Movie Review 9731

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