Touchback (film)

Last updated
Touchback
Touchback poster.jpeg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Don Handfield
Written byDon Handfield
Produced byCarissa Buffel
Lisa Kearns
Kevin Matusow
Brian Presley
Starring Brian Presley
Melanie Lynskey
Marc Blucas
Kurt Russell
Christine Lahti
CinematographyDavid Morrison
Edited byRyan Eaton
Music by William Ross
Production
companies
Freedom Films
Emmett/Furla Films
Distributed by Anchor Bay Films
Bliss Media (China)
Release date
  • April 13, 2012 (2012-04-13)
Running time
120 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million [1]
Box office$204,232 [2]

Touchback is a 2011 American sports film, written and directed by Don Handfield and starring Brian Presley, Melanie Lynskey, Kurt Russell, and Christine Lahti. It premiered on home video in Finland and Sweden on September 28, 2011, and had a limited theatrical run in the United States the following year. The film received mixed reviews from critics. [3]

Contents

Plot

Scott Murphy is a former high school football hero, famous as the top high school quarterback in Ohio with the nickname of "Mr. Football.". A leg injury he received during the Ohio State High School Championship game terminated his scholarship to Ohio State University and his dreams of a professional career in football. It has been twenty years since that game and Scott still resides with his family in the quiet town of Coldwater, Ohio. He has a splinted leg and has been a farmer and volunteer firefighter since high school. Rather than marrying the head cheerleader, Scott has married a shy clarinet-playing band member named Macy and has two daughters. A compromised harvest and bank obligations have caused a strain on his farm, which he is in jeopardy of losing. In an upcoming football game, he is to be honored in a halftime ceremony as the quarterback who brought the team to a state championship. With bad luck around every corner, Scott is not mentally prepared for the game, and the return of his good friend Hall who made the NFL and married Scott's old high school girlfriend only adds to his depression.

An early frost and a broken soybean combine header doom the harvest and bring Scott to the brink. His wife, Macy, suggests that they could pick the soybeans by hand in order to bring them to market. Scott finds this far-fetched since there are 200 acres to harvest. He decides to kill himself via carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in his truck. As he passes out, Scott wakes up back in 1991, a few days before the big game.

Scott remembers the course of his life and resolves to change events so his injury won't happen and he can take the OSU scholarship. He is anxious to get free of the small farming town, derisively called "Backwater" by the other teams. With his hindsight and knowledge of the outcome, he spends more quality time with his hard-working mother who has never seen him in a game and introduces himself to Macy whom he knows he will marry.

At a last recruiting meeting, the OSU scout admits the game will be hard and that he could get injured, so if he chooses, sitting out will not impact his invitation to joining the quarterback unit at OSU. The day of the championship game, he informs Coach Hand (played by Kurt Russell) that he will not play in the big game which will guarantee his acceptance at OSU and a bright future in football away from Coldwater. Shocked, Coach offers a speech about the merits of the people of Coldwater. Coach shares with Scott how he receives a job offer from OSU annually only to turn it down out of love for Coldwater and its citizens. After considering his coach's and his mother's feelings and his responsibility to the team, Scott decides he will play after all. Scott's efforts on the field are lackluster and they struggle to keep up. Coach Hand encourages him to share the ball with his teammates. In the second half, Scott mixes it up a bit and they finally take the lead. With "the play" imminent, Scott tells his coach he will not run the pitch-fake which he knows will cause his leg to be broken. Coach smiles and suggests a passing play, but informs Scott that based upon the Chief's defensive formation, he can call an audible as necessary, but it is his decision.

As Scott prepares to call for the hike, he looks over at his girlfriend, then out into the band bleachers, where he sees Macy and he decides. As the clock runs down, Scott calls an audible, a running play where he maneuvers himself close enough to jump into the end zone. As he crosses, Scott is hammered by two defensive players, but his leg is shattered at the knee. Coldwater wins the Ohio State High School Championship game over the heavily favored Chiefs. For the most part, Scott single-handedly, beat a much bigger high school team that had eight defensive players already signed to NCAA Division I scholarships.

In the present, Scott comes to in his truck, his suicide attempt failed due to his truck running out of gas. As he walks to town, he sees it is desolate. The game is over but even the football field is absent of any people or players. As he makes a turn for his farm, he sees his soybean field lit up and crowded with all the citizens of Coldwater. They heard about his hardship and his need for his crops to make it to market, and they have all gathered to pick the soybeans by hand. Scott embraces his life in the tight-knit community, happy about his family and friends. He also decides to be an assistant coach to his old mentor Coach Hand.

Main cast

Production

Filming

Filming took place during July and August 2010. The primary filming location was Coopersville, Michigan at the Coopersville High School football stadium. Additional filming occurred in Grand Rapids, Ravenna Township and River View High School in Warsaw, Ohio. [4] One scene was also filmed in Ohio Stadium on October 23, 2010, during an Ohio State football game. [5] Touchback marked the first time Ohio Stadium and Coopersville High School stadium had been shown in a major motion picture.

The film had limited distribution and disappointing box office sales. [2] It was distributed domestically by Anchor Bay and in China by Bliss Media. [6]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 38% based on reviews from 13 critics. [3]

Joe Leydon of Variety called it "A lightweight and overlong feel-good drama that plays like a mashup of It's a Wonderful Life and Friday Night Lights ." [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quarterback</span> Position in gridiron football

The quarterback, colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually considered the leader of the offense, and is often responsible for calling the play in the huddle. The quarterback also touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and is almost always the offensive player that throws forward passes. When the QB is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, it is called a sack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mike Riley (American football)</span> American gridiron football player and coach (born 1953)

Michael Joseph Riley is an American football coach who was most recently the head coach of the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League (USFL). He has previously served as the head coach of two college football programs: Oregon State and Nebraska (2015–2017). Riley has also been the head coach of teams in four different professional leagues: the Canadian Football League (CFL), World League of American Football (WLAF), National Football League (NFL), and Alliance of American Football (AAF). He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide in the 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Tressel</span> American football coach (born 1952)

James Patrick Tressel is an American college football coach and university administrator who served as president of Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio from 2014 to 2023. Before becoming an administrator, Tressel was the head football coach of the Youngstown State Penguins and later the Ohio State Buckeyes in a career that spanned from 1986 until 2010. Tressel's teams earned several national championships during the course of his career, earning him numerous accolades.

Thomas Joseph Tupa Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a punter and quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. He was selected in the third round of the 1988 NFL Draft to the Phoenix Cardinals. He also played for the Indianapolis Colts, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Washington Redskins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry</span> College football rivalry in the United States

The Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry, referred to as The Game by some fans and sports commentators, is an American college football rivalry game that is played annually between the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes. As of 2023, Michigan and Ohio State are the winningest and third winningest programs in NCAA Division I football history, respectively. The rivalry has gathered profound national interest as many of the games determined the Big Ten Conference title and the resulting Rose Bowl Game matchups, as well as the outcome of the NCAA Division I college football championship. In 2000, the game was ranked by ESPN as the greatest North American sports rivalry ever. The rivalry is listed in Rivals!: The Ten Greatest American Sports Rivalries of the 20th Century, published by Wiley. Encyclopædia Britannica includes the rivalry as one of the ten great sports rivalries in history.

<i>The Best of Times</i> (1986 film) 1986 film by Roger Spottiswoode

The Best of Times is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Roger Spottiswoode, written by Ron Shelton and starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as two friends attempting to relive a high school football game.

Steven Packer Preece is a former professional football player, a defensive back in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons, from 1969 to 1977. He played his college football at Oregon State, where he was a successful option quarterback.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Fiesta Bowl</span> College football game

The 2003 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl was a college football bowl game that was the designated Bowl Championship Series (BCS) National Championship Game for the 2002 NCAA Division I-A football season, taking place on January 3, 2003 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The Ohio State Buckeyes, co-champions of the Big Ten Conference, defeated the heavily favored Miami Hurricanes, defending national champions and champions of the Big East Conference, in double overtime by a final score of 31 - 24. The game was only the second overtime result in either the BCS or its predecessors, the Bowl Alliance and Bowl Coalition, following the 2000 Orange Bowl between the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Michigan Wolverines. By virtue of their victory, Ohio State won its first consensus national title since 1968 and became the first team in college football history to finish a season with a 14-0 record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 Ohio State Buckeyes football team</span> American college football season

The 2006 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. The team finished the season with a win–loss record of 12–1, having been defeated by Florida in its final game, the BCS Championship game, and ended the year ranked second.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spread offense</span> Offensive scheme in American and Canadian football

The spread offense is an offensive scheme in gridiron football that typically places the quarterback in the shotgun formation, and "spreads" the defense horizontally using three-, four-, and even five-receiver sets. Used at every level of the game including professional, college, and high school programs across the US and Canada, spread offenses often employ a no-huddle approach. Some implementations of the spread also feature wide splits between the offensive linemen.

Donald E. Scott was a star of American football. He was a two-time All-American quarterback at Ohio State University. As a pilot Scott had already completed nine bombing missions during World War II, on October 1, 1943, while going through a special training exercise in England, Scott's bomber crashed, taking his life at just age 23.

Joseph Berton Germaine is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and the Arena Football League (AFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes and was selected by the St. Louis Rams in the fourth round of the 1999 NFL draft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 Ohio State Buckeyes football team</span> American college football season

The 2003 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team's head coach was Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes played their home games in Ohio Stadium. Ohio State finished the season with an overall record of 11–2 and placed second in the Big Ten Conference with mark of 6–2. The Buckeyes concluded their season with a victory over Kansas State in the Fiesta Bowl.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Oregon Ducks football team</span> American college football season

The 2009 Oregon Ducks football team represented the University of Oregon as member of the Pacific-10 Conference the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was led by head coach Chip Kelly in his first season as a head coach at the Division I FBS level. Kelly was only the third Ducks head coach since 1977 and led the Ducks to a Pac-10 championship and was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year. He took over for Mike Bellotti.

The 2004 Gator Bowl was a post-season American college football bowl game between the Maryland Terrapins and the West Virginia Mountaineers. The 59th edition of the Gator Bowl, it was played at Alltel Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, on January 1, 2004. The game was the final contest of the 2003 NCAA Division I-A football season for both teams, and ended in a 41–7 victory for Maryland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Ten Year War</span> College football rivalry

The Ten Year War was a series of college football games, played from 1969 to 1978, in the Michigan–Ohio State football rivalry that pitted coach Woody Hayes of the Ohio State Buckeyes against coach Bo Schembechler of the Michigan Wolverines. In most contests, the Big Ten conference championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl were at stake, and in some cases, a possible national championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Corso</span> American college football broadcaster and former coach

Lee Richard Corso is an American sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN and a former coach. He has been an analyst on ESPN's College GameDay program since its inception in 1987. Corso served as the head football coach at the University of Louisville from 1969 to 1972, at Indiana University Bloomington from 1973 to 1982, and at Northern Illinois University in 1984, compiling a career college football coaching record of 73–85–6. He was the head coach for the Orlando Renegades of the United States Football League in 1985, tallying a mark of 5–13.

Don Handfield is an American filmmaker, author, and producer.

<i>American Underdog</i> 2021 sports drama film directed by the Erwin Brothers

American Underdog is a 2021 American biographical sports film about National Football League (NFL) quarterback Kurt Warner. Directed by Andrew and Jon Erwin, the film follows Warner's journey as an undrafted player who ascended to winning Super Bowl XXXIV. It stars Zachary Levi as Warner, alongside Anna Paquin as his wife Brenda and Dennis Quaid as his head coach Dick Vermeil.

Corey Michael Dennis is an American football coach who is currently quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator at the University of Tulsa, under head football coach Kevin Wilson.

References

  1. ↑ "Touchback (2012)". The Numbers . Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Touchback". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  3. 1 2 "Touchback". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  4. ↑ Serba, John (11 April 2012). "'Touchback,' the West Michigan movie starring Kurt Russell, to be celebrated with local opening-night party". MLive. Michigan Live LLC. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  5. ↑ Billing, Bryant (19 April 2012). "'Touchback,' strikes chord with Ohio football fans". TopBillingSports.com. Top Billing Sports. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  6. ↑ Handfield, Don (2012-04-13). "Touchback" . Retrieved 2016-03-18.
  7. ↑ Leydon, Joe (16 April 2012). "Touchback". Variety .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.