“Thanks, Cheesecake.”

From Greater.

Growing up, Brandon Burlsworth (Christopher Severio) dreamed of only one thing: playing football for the Arkansas Razorbacks.  He was raised by his mother (Leslie Easterbrook) and older brother, Marty (Neal McDonough), in the absence of his alcoholic father (Michael Parks).  As a child, Brandon struggled to excel at the sport, but never gave up committing completely to training and practice.  Even through years of hard work, Brandon is unable to earn a scholarship to the University of Arkansas and cannot afford the tuition otherwise.  In order to make her son’s dream come true, Brandon’s mother takes out a second mortgage to pay for his freshman year; earning a scholarship as a walk-on will be up to him if Brandon wants to continue at the school after his first year.  Even when scorned by his teammates (Grant Cook, Josh Emerson, Connor Antico, and Texas Battle) for his faith and status as a walk-on player, Brandon doesn’t allow the negativity to bring him down, but instead works with his coach (Fredric Lehne) to hone his skills like never before.  Over time, Brandon becomes a stronger player and earns a chance to continue his education at Arkansas.  By never sacrificing his beliefs or dedication to bettering himself and his game, Brandon begins to earn the respect of his team, coaches, and the whole sports world.

While this movie does struggle some with flashbacks that do not always make sense at the time, it really is a complete movie that covers the events of a complex life.  The largest point of confusion will most likely come from an unnamed character that works only for religious audiences, but otherwise, the movie will be enjoyable to all viewers.  Severio does a wonderful job of showing Burlsworth’s commitment to his faith, family, and sport while also engaging the audience in the story’s development.  This movie highlights the accomplishments and sacrifices that often must blend to create great moments in sports history.  Greater tackles one of the lesser-known, but still greatly inspiring story of the football legend.

| Rated: PG | Running Time: 130 minutes |Genre: biography/sports/faith |

||Family Viewing||Cursing: 3 of 10|Nudity: 0 of 10|Sexuality: 0 of 10|Gore: 1 of 10

|AVAILABLE FOR HOME VIEWING|