The Express
Universal Pictures | Release Date: October 10, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 27 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
13
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Chicago ReaderAndrea Gronvall
Rob Brown (Stop-Loss) gives a graceful, understated performance as Ernie Davis. Read full review
80
Film ThreatStina Chyn
Even if you already knew the facts, you won’' be able to help but reflect in awe at how much progress in the fight against discrimination has been made on a societal level. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
While Ernie's on-field accomplishments were extraordinary, it was the environment in which he struggled to achieve them that makes him the worthy subject of a motion picture. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Involving and inspiring in the way a good movie about sports almost always is. Read full review
75
USA TodayMike Clark
Despite appealing performances and kinetic football scenes, the storytelling is mostly conventional. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChroniclePeter Hartlaub
Deserves plenty of credit for exploring racial issues story in more realistic terms. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterMichael Rechtshaffen
Thanks to a rock-solid performance by Dennis Quaid, nice historical touches and energetic direction by Gary Fleder, the tried-and-true formula is given a welcome shot of adrenaline. Read full review
70
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
The Express finesses a cinematic hat trick: It's entertaining, deeply moving and genuinely important. Read full review
70
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
If a movie of this kind didn't traffic in overstatement, it wouldn't be doing its job, which is to provide a strong dose of simple, rousing emotion. Read full review
67
Entertainment WeeklyGregory Kirschling
Has Dennis Quaid really never played a college football coach before? With his handsome, craggy face and likable intensity, he was born for the job, and he's the main attraction in The Express. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleJosh Rosenblatt
Though The Express may stretch the limits of probability, holding up Davis as an athletic superman incapable of losing, it's also that rare sports film that isn't afraid to dabble in personal and social ambiguity. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle Smith
A decent football movie, just about good enough to be the 40th best episode of "Friday Night Lights" . . . which has aired 39 episodes. Read full review
63
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Many inspirational sports movies provide only junk food for thought; this one contains some authentic reflections of sport in the civil rights era. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazinePerry Seibert
Davis led an unquestionably inspirational life, but The Express, however heartfelt, is uninspired. Read full review
60
VarietyJohn Anderson
Crowdpleasing and oh-so-predictable. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
Sports biodramas generally take one of two tacks: gauzily sentimental or scrappy tale of struggle. The Express runs the thin line between the two and, to its benefit, more often than not hits the first mark. Read full review
60
EmpireWilliam Thomas
While never as trailblazing as its subject, The Express is a worthy addition to the lengthy canon of sports biopics Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
It's a fine moral and an admirable statement, but it's the portrait of an icon rather than the story of the person thrust into that position. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianM. E. Russell
Maybe the real Ernie Davis really was this perfect, but the movie plays as if the filmmakers didn't want to offend his family. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Too often The Express sidelines its own main character in favor of the lemon-sucking, jaw-jutting glower patented by Quaid. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
The Express eventually reaches its triumph-of-the-human-spirit climax, but it yanks too hard on the heart strings during the long journey there. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
Long on inspiration, short on specifics. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesMark Olsen
If one will pardon the obvious analogy, The Express ends up feeling like a fumble at the goal line, coming across as simple-minded and melodramatic. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
This movie is especially egregious since it bundles the civil rights era, garden-variety bigotry, and the achievements of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
Any one of these narrative components might have made for a worthy picture. But that would have taken a more imaginative writer than Charles Leavitt and a more sensitive director than Gary Fleder. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
The Express may prove valuable to movie historians since it's a compendium of virtually every sports movie cliché ever contrived. Read full review
40
Village VoiceRobert Wilonsky
Like all formulaic biopics, The Express sacrifices the details for the Big Picture--hagiography without the humanity. Read full review
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