Genre: Sports/Biography
Director: John Lee Hancock
Writer: Jacob Jones
Cast: James Franco, Tim Robbins, Michael Douglas, Noah Emmerich, Trai Byres, Kevin Owens, Cameron Britton, Justin Hartley, Charlie McDermott, Brandon Mychal Smith, Alan Ritchson
Plot: January 3, 1993:
Inside the Astrodome, Houston Oiler fans begin to leave the stadium in absolute disarray and aggravation. Some stick around, watching in disbelief as the Buffalo Bills celebrate their OT come from behind victory of their Houston Oilers. Head coach Jack Pardee (Noah Emmerich) checks the scoreboard one final time before heading to the locker room. The final score? 41-38. As the Oilers enter their locker room, the feeling becomes morose as some players vent their frustrations and misery on each other while a few can barely contain their tears. Franchise quarterback Warren Moon (Trai Byres) gives a quick interview for the press before sitting down, sulking in agony over what happened.
Bud Adams (Michael Douglas), owner of the Houston Oilers sits inside his plane, stewing in his own thoughts. For the sixth year in a row, his team had failed to reach the AFC Championship. To make matters more complicated, the free agency market was to be implemented in a few months. He also thinks of his most recent demands for a new stadium. This, in spite of getting upgrades to the Astrodome several years ago. As all the thoughts, fan pessimism and failures come flooding in his memories, something becomes clear. The Oilers cannot continue down this path. The next few weeks blow through like a whirlwind as Bud brings in a new defensive coordinator, the legendary Buddy Ryan (Tim Robbins). When asked why Buddy explains that he knows that Houston has a Super Bowl caliber team and that using the draft and new free agency rules will help cement this thinking (he even gets complete control of the defense and his players).
Upon joining the team, Buddy immediately makes his opinion known on what cost the Oilers. The run-and-shoot offense (or as he calls it, the “chuck and duck”) ran by offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride (James Franco). Kevin tries his best to ignore the constant complaints but it becomes clear that it wears him down. Things become even more complicated when it turns out Jack Pardee was unaware of Buddy’s hiring in the first place. A few months later, Bud Adams makes it clear to his team that if they are unable to reach the Super Bowl, he’ll dismantle the team and ship their best players elsewhere. Unnerved by this bombastic ultimatum, the Oilers are nonetheless determined to finally reach the next level.
During training camp, Buddy Ryan again makes his feelings known about the run-and-shoot offense, calling it accident prone among other comments any chance he can. While Kevin remains quiet throughout most of it, he does respectfully disagree with his opinion and promises to show how great the offense can be. The training camp proves to be quite tense as both offense and defense work against each other, leading to several skirmishes. One thing that becomes notable is that despite Buddy’s claims about the run-and-shoot being ineffective, his defense finds it rather hard to stop. Eventually, Buddy decides to call plays that aren’t on the card, infuriating Kevin to no end. As the two get into an argument, Jack Pardee is forced to settle things. Unimpressed, Buddy takes his defense and sends them to the locker room. As Jack watches the two coaches storm off, he begins to worry about the regular season.
Despite the tension, sports analysts consider the hiring of Buddy Ryan to be an excellent move and consider Houston a top contender for the Super Bowl and as the season begins, the team silently reminds themselves of the expectation set. Unfortunately for them, the team struggles against the New Orleans Saints. The defense is still getting used to the 4-6 defense made famous in Chicago and Warren has a rather off day, leading to a disappointing loss. One day, during a booster club meeting, wide-receiver Ernest Givens (Brandon Mychal Smith) gives his own comments on the Buddy Ryan saying that he needs to keep his comments to himself and work with everyone, including his head coach. Buddy responds by admitting that he doesn’t even know who Ernest is. A short confrontation has the two introduce each other for the first time. In response to Buddy’s comments, Ernest has an excellent game against the Kansas City Chiefs, who are noticeably without star QB Joe Montana (Alan Richson). The team also begins to flash the potential they have when they work as a unit.
The next week, Warren Moon sits in the lockers, thinking about his team’s plight and his legacy in the CFL. He wonders whether or not he can be the guy to take the team to the Super Bowl before going out for the game against the Chargers. He proves ineffective as he throws four interceptions and is eventually benched for highly-paid backup Cody Carlson (Justin Hartley). With his help, the Oilers rally to the best of their abilities only to come up short. Another bad showing against the Rams and an absolute massacre against Buffalo send their record spiraling to 1-4, leaving fans and pundits to wonder if the window has closed. All the while, Jack Pardee and Warren Moon begin to face questions regarding the safety of their jobs.
During the bye week, Jack Pardee calls Warren into the office and tells him that he’ll be starting Cody Carlson for their game against the New England Patriots. Despite his disappointment, he understands why it’s happened. The day of the game, Warren watches as Cody takes center-stage, impressed at how well he is running the offense and also notices the absence of star offensive tackle David Williams (Kevin Owens). Suddenly, after running for a touchdown, Cody feels a pain in his hamstring and Warren is thrust back into the starting role. Not only does he play well, he leads the team to a much-needed victory against the Patriots. However, Warren’s redemption is soon dwarfed with a new controversy involving Bud Adams and David Williams.
As it turned out, David Williams had to miss his flight to New England because his wife had given birth to a baby boy. It results in a fine of $111,111 with Bud Adams claiming that David had ‘misplaced’ priorities. The drama becomes a media circus as talk shows and news media cover the controversy and backlash. Thus, the term ‘Babygate’ is born. Despite all the outcry, David has no regrets on what happened and knows that deep down, he did the right thing. Not only that, fortunes on the field begin to greatly improve for the Oilers as the offense and defense finally begin to click together. It starts with a routing of the lowly Bengals followed by a dominating defensive win over the Seahawks. Another blowout with the Bengals then comes, this time worse than before. It doesn’t end there as Buddy watches as the defense and running game take down the Browns. The next week, it’s the Steelers who face their wrath as Warren has a strong passing day and the defense lets loose on QB Neil O’Donnell. Finally, Atlanta gets destroyed defensively with QB Bobby Hebert throwing a woeful six interceptions while being sacked three times.
During this time, however, the cracks of the offense and defense begin to show again, especially as Buddy watches several of his men go down with injuries. This he feels is again an example of the shortcomings of the run-and-shoot offense, one that often stalled out and sacrificed a ground game for big yardage through the air.
After another win over the Cleveland Browns, reserve defensive lineman Jeff Alm (Cameron Britton) receives good news regarding an injury he suffered earlier in the season. Rehab was going well enough that he could potentially return during the final games of the season. Thrilled with the prospect, he calls up best friend Sean Lynch (Charlie McDermott) so they can spend some quality time together. That day, the two celebrate a successful rehab by going to a local steakhouse and entering a club. At 2:30 AM, an inebriated Jeff drives across Texas with his Cadillac El Dorado when all of a sudden, he loses control of his car and smashes into a guard rail, causing Sean (who did not have a seatbelt on) to be ejected and thrown onto the pavement, killing him in an instant. In a panic, Jeff attempts to call 911. Upon finishing the call, he becomes distraught, frantically looking around for an object in his car’s trunk, finding a gun. With it, he fires three shots in the air before putting the gun by his mouth...
Cut to black.
The feeling in the locker room the next day is one of sadness and despair as everyone from players and coaches mourn the loss of their friend. On that day, Jack gives a speech regarding Jeff's death, remaining calm and poised while addressing the tragedy. The way he handles it is praised and propels the Oilers to a division clinching win over Pittsburgh. After the game, Warren gives the game ball to Jeff's parents. During the trip home to Houston, they are swarmed by their fans, cheering them on for their success.
The final game of the season arrives, the Houston Oilers taking on the New York Jets. With the score 14-0 early in the first half, Kevin decides to be aggressive and let Cody Carlson try to score another touchdown. Buddy watches with trepidation, feeling that the defense would not have to go on the field again when all of a sudden, Cody fumbles the football. Something inside him snaps and he storms up to Kevin, yelling at him to look at him. A confused Kevin turns around and gets decked by the angered coordinator. The two coaches are separated as the half ends. Despite the feud finally boiling over on national television, the Oilers finish the season with an excellent 12-4 record.
That evening, Kevin tries to find his truck and get out of here while the press swarm him with questions regarding the fight. In the days leading up to their playoff game against Kansas City, Buddy continues to stoke the flames, declaring that Kevin will be selling insurance in a year. Despite the feud between coaches starting up again, the Oilers are determined to finally prove they can win when it matters against the Chiefs, this time with a healthy Joe Montana.
At the Astrodome, Warren Moon helps get the team to a strong start against Montana's crew, pushing the score to 10-0 as the defense does their job pressuring Montana. By the second half however, the offense begins to struggle to keep up with the pass rush. Despite this, the defense manages to keep things steady until a crucial touchdown sees wide-receiver Keith Cash spike the ball onto a poster with Buddy Ryan's face.
Later on, Warren throws a deep ball that gets intercepted by the Kansas City defense. The game continues to go back and forth as Joe throws a rare interception of his own. He eventually redeems himself in the fourth quarter as he leads the team to another two touchdowns. One thing that becomes telling is that Buddy had lost confidence in his 4-6 scheme. Just when it seems all hope is lost for Houston, Warren Moon leads a beautiful drive ending with a touchdown by Ernest Givens. All that was needed was one drive to secure a win.
The first two downs see Kansas City make decent gains before entering a third and one. Montana steps back to pass and lobs a ball to Keith Cash, watching as he goes deep into Houston territory. Not long after, running back Marcus Allen scores the game-clinching touchdown. Kevin watches as life in the Astrodome is sucked away. He looks up at the booth seeing Bud Adams shake his head in disappointment, realizing what is about to come next.
Several years later:
Now a part of the Minnesota Vikings, Warren Moon sits down watching TV when he discovers that Bud Adams is moving the Houston Oilers to Tennessee. Seeing Bud Adams's face as he excitedly talks about the move, a tinge of regret grows on his face as he wonders what could've been.
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