Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Greater Blu-ray Movie Review

Rudy redux.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 19, 2016

Note: Greater deals with the real life story of Brandon Burlsworth, which is (not to state the obvious) part of the public record. If you’re unfamiliar with Burlsworth’s tale, you may want to skip down to the technical portions of this review, since a number of facts which will be outlined as part of the film’s summary are unavoidable, but which some may feel constitute “spoilers”.

1993’s Rudy is one of the few sports related films that even non sports loving types have taken to heart. Rudy Ruettiger’s story seemed tailor made for a cinematic treatment, dealing in all sorts of well worn but still powerful ideas like stick-to-itiveness, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds, belief in oneself (despite appearances to the contrary and a general consensus that such belief is delusion), and, finally, unexpected triumph. The whole football aspect of Rudy is almost tangential in a way, since the film’s “real” message is of a more spiritual variety, probably one reason that the film resonated so strongly with audiences back when it was released and continues to do so to this day. Greater wants to follow in Rudy’s footsteps, and kind of oddly it features another alliteratively named real life figure who managed to conquer the gridiron under obstacle laden circumstances. In this case Greater documents the unexpected rise and then tragic demise of Brandon Burlsworth (Christopher Severio), a kid with a dream to play football who wasn’t quite as scrawny as Rudy was, but who still was told he didn’t have “the right stuff”, at least insofar as an athletic scholarship was concerned. Already Greater is on kind of tenuous “inspirational” ground due to the fact that the real life Brandon had already proven himself as a rather capable high school football player, and in fact evidently had been offered athletic scholarships at several small schools. But Brandon’s dream was focused on the University of Arkansas, where the only way he could matriculate to that team was as a so-called “walk on” (i.e., a non-scholarship player). That doesn’t seem like that much of a hurdle to overcome when you get right down to it, but Greater uses it as a launching pad to detail Brandon’s efforts to realize his dream. The film’s real emotional impact may actually come from the sad legacy of Brandon’s unfortunate death at the untimely age of 22.

Part of the subtext of Greater might be summed up by that hoary adage, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” It’s a by now trite formulation that probably is ultimately unanswerable, even to those with a profound faith system which allows them to navigate the treacherous terrain that life sometimes offers. Greater tries to ply this idea for emotional dividends, but the film’s screenplay ultimately is unable to provide any meaningful responses to what is a perhaps unfathomable aspect of existence. Instead the film is content to simply chart the improbable rise and then horrifyingly early death of Burlsworth, leaving the audience without much to show for it other than an understandable sense of loss.

Those of you who bypassed the potential spoiler warning above and who didn’t previously know of Burlsworth’s story may be interested to know that the film itself doesn’t waste any time detailing that Burlsworth died in 1999, at the tender age of 22. In fact the first scene in the film is footage of Burlsworth’s gravestone being delivered to an engraver. That quickly segues to Brandon’s older brother Marty (Neal McDonough, who also co- produced), who is in the throes of pretty serious grief. Also right off the bat are a whole series of “why do bad things happen to good people” dialogue moments, something that continues throughout the rest of the film (in fact at one point Marty himself actually screams at his mother “bad things happen to good people!” as if yelling it will somehow make it make sense).

The bulk of the film plays out as a series of flashbacks that Marty experiences, and here again the film is perhaps strangely divorced from its putative subject matter, with the emphasis being at least as much on the older brother as Brandon (played for most of the film by newcomer Chris Severio) himself. That's actually not an unintelligent approach, for Marty's attempts to reconcile his little brother's almost too virtuous to believe life with his sudden and tragic death give the film its psychological and, ultimately, emotional impetus. Much less effective are several interstitial moments with Marty seeming to debate a projection of his own doubting psyche that plays like B-movie (maybe C-movie) theology a lot of the time.

While there are problems in a number of arenas (football or otherwise) in this film, including Severio’s obvious lack of experience (which is admittedly counterbalanced by some really fine work by McDonough), the biggest issue is that Greater is really a hagiography. Now, Burlsworth may indeed have been as close as we’ve gotten to a saint in contemporary times, but the “obstacles” this particular holy man has to face don’t exactly amount to the level of the Devil tempting Jesus. It makes the film’s overweening religiosity a bit of a chore after a while, though the underlying message of faith remaining resilient in the face of challenges is certainly relevant and will no doubt resonate with a certain demographic.

Greater Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Greater is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. This is a workmanlike, proficient looking visual presentation that is nonetheless unlikely to really consistently impress ardent videophiles. Fine detail is routinely excellent in close-ups, and while some sequences (notably some of the "debates" with the film's Doubting Thomas character) are almost weirdly desaturated, the bulk of the film offers a natural and vivid looking palette. As is sometimes the case with Arri Alexa shot material, some dimly lit interior scenes don't offer a wealth of shadow detail. There are a couple of noticeable instances of banding, tending to be most serious in some segues where light values change suddenly, but otherwise this is a problem free presentation.

Greater Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The disc's audio menu lists Dolby Digital, and the release's slipcover and back cover list a stereo option, but the only audio (aside from the commentary) I was able to find was a good old fashioned DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The track delivers the goods when the film is on the gridiron, with nice immersion and some good "thunks" and "whacks" as tackles are made. There's also the ubiquitous use of "I'll Fly Away" in a number of renditions which spread their wings (sorry) rather effectively through the side and rear channels. Ambient environmental sounds are kind of subtle, but some of the contemporary debate scenes in the bleachers have occasional discrete placement that can be effective. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly on this problem free track.

Greater Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Greater Trailer (1080p; 2:32)


• Blooper Reel (1080p; 6:43)


• Deleted Scenes - (Finished) (1080p; 8:30)


• Deleted Scenes - (Unfinished) (1080p; 4:45) are presented with no color correction or final sound work.


• Audio Commentary with Director David Hunt and Producer Brian Reindl


• Buy the Book is an advertising page hawking two sites (including Amazon) where the book version is available.

One of the nicest supplements is an insert booklet documenting this year's recipients of the Burlsworth Character Award. There are a lot of them, which I think is a good thing.

Greater Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's hard not to have a lump in your throat by the end of Greater, but unlike that similar lump that arises for many when they watch Rudy, this particular one feels manipulated and kind of saccharine feeling, simply because the film wants to beat the viewer over the head with ideas of faith and service, rather than simply letting the characters' lives speak to those elements. Lovers of inspirationally skewed sports films are almost certain to like if not love Greater, and for those folks this release comes Recommended.