If you've never seen The Program before, you're missing one of the truly, best bad movies of the 90s - the movie follows the trials and tribulations of the ESU Timberwolves (whose uniforms resemble Florida State) and its head coach played by James Caan. The plot is rather boiler plate for its time (1993), you have the star quarterback trying to handle the burden of his great expectations; the monster linebacker from a poor family ready for his NFL payday; the inner city Halfback Freshman (Omar Epps) at odds with the middle class incumbent (as they compete for the heart of one gorgeous Halle Berry); and finally the steroid using defensive lineman. Had this movie been filmed 10 years later, you would certainly have a closeted player trying to cope with his personal life, maybe in the inevitable, 2013 remake.
Still all of it comes together as James Caan plays the head coach with masterful skill. Every scene he's in, has Caan looking angry or bewildered, always faced with a moral dilemma as he compromises his ethics for the good of The Program. When his daughter gets kicked out of school for helping the backup QB cheat, he lobbies for the backup QB to be allowed back in school after the star QB goes to rehab. When the roided up lineman gets in trouble for attempted roid rage rape, well it's all okay because the girl's father is a booster. Yes the film would have you believe that rape, steroid abuse, cheating is all needed to run a successful football program.
I was 14 and on the freshman high school football team when this movie came out, the initial trailer and theater release had a controversial scene where the players laydown in the highway and let cars zip by them on either side. The purpose of this scene was to show you how extreme these players could be, the adrenaline rush needed to sustain a starting job on a college football squad. The scene was cut after some kids tried the stunt and got run over, but even then we all thought the movie was pretty rad - with us trying to reenact some of the scenes in practice (like barking at a guy after a tackle), most of the stunts resulted in extra laps and getting chewed out, but heck we were all trying to bad like Michael Jackson so it didn't matter. We all wanted to be Alvin Mack and "kill everybody" on the football field
The movie comes to a close with a make it or break it game, as the star QB comes back from rehab and the burden of expectation to try to win the game and get a conference championship and a bowl invite. I won't spoil what happens, but Caan gives a heart warming speech to his fragile psyche'd quarterback, showing that being a coach isn't all cover ups and morally detestable decisions. The final scene has the coach and his assistants off to recruit the next incoming class, because whatever happens The Program has to live.
If you ever played or liked football this is a movie to see right as teams are about to start two a days, NFL training camps begin and the first kick off is just weeks away
