"North Dallas 40" is a sports movie with different messages

"North Dallas 40" is a sports movie with different messages

How big can the difference be between the ideas of a book and its film adaptation?

There aren't that many sports movies that can show us that the game turns into a business and nobody cares that much about the fun side. Most focus on the battle between the underdog and the favorite, on the search for sensation, a dramatic turn of events, or a personal story of a poor child who is not able to reach his full potential due to life problems. "North Dallas 40", or in English "North Dallas Forty" is quite different from the cliché, or more precisely, from the usual film productions created around sports history.

It is a film based on Peter Gent's book of the same name. Gent is a former player for the American football team Dallas Cowboys. He is trying to convey the messages that the fun in sports takes a backseat to the money, to the business, that the players are pawns manipulated by the owners and coaches.

Instead of letting these main points of the book develop in the film, director Ted Kotchef and screenwriter Fran Jablans, working with Gent, reinforce their impact with extremely powerful speeches that follow one another at certain points.

Nick Nolte is stepping into a veteran role for the North Dallas Bulls, who has spent most of the season on the bench. The coaches, played by Charles Durning and JD Spradlin, dislike his attitude and unorthodox behavior off the field. Unlike his teammate Seth Maxwell, played by Mac Davis, he hasn't learned how to ignore people higher up on the team. In the end, the head of Nolte's character Phil Elliot is clouded by his girlfriend, played by Dale Haden. She convinces him that there are other opportunities outside of football.

Despite the flaws in the script and the caricatural dimension of the coaches and team owner played by Steve Forrest, "North Dallas 40" boasts some good scenes. Yes, it is a fact that the seriousness of the book is lost and it cannot affect the viewers as seriously as it would affect the readers, it cannot convey the message of Ghent, but still the value of the film should not be overlooked.

Mac Davis makes a notable acting debut as Nolte's first friend to keep him on track. Bo Svensson and professional player John Matushak also impress with their performances in the production. Both of them are unexpectedly good, and it's as if the main actors take a back seat.

Still, for a 1979 movie based on a book, we can't give North Dallas 40 a particularly bad review. It shows something that is not so popular at the time. The differences with other sports movies may make people look at it with a less critical eye.

If you're wondering if this Kotchev production is worth watching, the answer can only be yes, unless you're a football fan. Then a lot of the scenes can go wildly out of your expectations. Otherwise, you will learn some things from the kitchen and see how novice actors in the cinema can do well with, at first glance, overwhelming tasks.