Every year, right on cue, there is a feel-good movie about team work and the power of the human spirit overcoming the odds. That movie is usually starring a well known actor or actress and a diversified cast of young men who seem difficult to teach at first, but who ultimately have a heart of gold. There are cliches. There are contrivances. There are corny speeches about how you must never give up! There are dramatic moments with more corny speeches on how you're good enough, smart enough and doggone it people like you! Oh wait, that's Stuart Smalley. But you get the idea.

We Are Marshall is the latest reincarnation of this classic movie formula, which has been around for decades, though I would be hard pressed to find the movie that started it all. Personally, I would point the finger at 1976's Rocky--which showed the power of the human spirit overcoming the odds as a Best Picture prestige movie, though it stressed the idea as an individual fighting instead of a team. I believe the 1970s were set aside as a period of cynicism, hence the idealistic and klutzy Rocky film broke the mold--at least in the contemporary age. Anyway, the list goes on and on of which movie actually inspired this tired formula.

We Are Marshall follows the lives of members of the Marshall University football team after a disastrous plane crash which wiped out the most prominent players. The movie follows the team's new coach, the surviving members of the team, and some of its biggest fans and supporters. Obviously, there is nothing new or groundbreaking in We Are Marshall. However, the film does admirably attempt to avoid the most comfortable cliches of the genre. The team doesn't "win", as much as people give their best, demonstrating their team spirit. Matthew McConaughey's interpretation of head coach Jack Lengyel is particularly interesting--he plays him as a die-hard-trying teacher crossed with an oily car salesman. He admits at one point to everyone's chagrin, but with a strong level of honesty, that he's just here to coach a football team. He felt sorry for the devastated team, as the world did, and decided in a whim to apply for the coaching position. As scenery chewing as McConaughey's 1970's huckster accent is throughout the film, this is a relatively understated performance--and a good one. The rest of the cast complements McConaughey's best, making the film watchable even while not really standing out.

To be honest, I didn't expect to like this film as it seemed overly familiar. Honestly, by the time Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock is in line to star as a head coach, shouldn't the entire genre be retired? But We Are Marshall, despite being about 30 minutes too long, will not bore you nor will it totally insult your intelligence. It's a movie with some heart, though its love for football overshadows the human drama taking place. That is a quality I cannot completely sympathize with--even someone who loves the sport would surely prefer a tribute to honor the plane crash victims than see yet another sports movie made out of the team's survivors.

We Are Marshall reminds you in calm loving whispers, that "you can do anything you set your mind to, dammit!" Yes, so we've heard a hundred times before. Grade: B-