Written by Mitch Cyrus

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There are only five numbers retired by the Cleveland Browns.  One of them is number 45, for Ernie Davis, a man who never played a down for Cleveland.  Why would that be so?  Many people may not know the whole story, as Davis died 45 years ago from leukemia at age 23.  “The Express” tells the story in such a way as to leave no doubt as to the correctness of that decision by Art Modell.  Mitch loved this film, and reviews it for our readers in his latest.

There are only five numbers retired by the Cleveland Browns.  One of them is number 45, for Ernie Davis, a man who never played a down for Cleveland. 

Why would that be so?  Many people may not know the whole story, as Davis died 45 years ago from leukemia at age 23.  “The Express” tells the story in such a way as to leave no doubt as to the correctness of that decision by Art Modell. 

“The Express” is not just the story of one extraordinary man, but also  a look back at a very different America, and a very shameful time in our history.  Change to ingrained attitudes required the hard work of many courageous people.  Three of those are highlighted in this film; Davis, Syracuse Head Coach Ben Schwartzwalder, and Cleveland Browns legend Jim Brown. 

As the film opens, Coach Schwartzwalder is seeing his legendary runner Brown head off to the NFL.  There is a bit of a “good riddance” attitude from the coach, as Brown, well played by Darrin Dewitt Hensen, was a headstrong young man who did not suffer gladly the injustices shown to him by the almost exclusively white university. 

Legends are hard to replace, and Syracuse did not perform well in the running game in 1957, the first year after Brown left.  So Schwartzwalder asks Brown to help him recruit Ernie Davis, a young man who is completely different from Brown in both demeanor and talent.  Where Brown was a bruiser, Davis was flash and speed.  Where Brown was confrontational and verbose, Davis was quiet and deferential…but still very aware of the injustices seen by the Black community. 

As is standard for a biographical movie, we see scenes of the younger Davis, focusing in on the 12 year old Ernie as he was tutored by his beloved grandfather (played by Charles S. Dutton) until his mother remarried (Ernie’s father had died), and was able to take him to Elmira, New York.  There, he was able to develop and showcase the talents that earned him 11 sports letters and the attention of 50 colleges offering him a scholarship.  After Brown assured Davis that Schwartzwalder would make him an even better player, Davis accepted the offer to play for the Orangemen, eventually even getting Brown’s number 44. 

The bulk of the film follows Davis during his freshman year, when he was not allowed to play varsity (hard to believe that was once the rule), and his sophomore year as Syracuse was pursuing a national championship. 

This movie was one of the best biographies I have ever seen, as well as being one of the best football movies.  The script moved the story along very well, and was exceptional in not just focusing on Davis, but giving people a true look at a very different country.  Jim Crow was still quite alive and well during that time, and the successful passage of the Civil Rights Act was still several years away. 

Rob Brown does an outstanding job as Davis.  He looks the part of a top level athlete, and is magnificent in portraying the outrage and frustration Davis was feeling behind his calm eyes and relaxed demeanor.  Showing a man’s inner dignity is a tough thing to do when the character is very low key.  Brown excels at the job. 

Dennis Quaid, as Schwartzwalder, is amazing, playing a man who was as much of an old school coach as Woody Hayes, and about as crotchety.  But like Woody, there was no doubt how much Schwartzwalder cared for his players, and Quaid brings out those qualities in spades.  The trick with the character is that Schwartzwalder might be considered bigoted by today’s standards, especially given his speech to Davis about staying away from white women, but one must remember that the times were very different, and Schwartzwalder was a bit of a trailblazer, having three blacks on his squad when many teams refused to recruit them.  Quaid captures the essence of a great coach who was also a great man perfectly. 

One thing that was quite accurate was the football sequences, and I must say that they were some of the best I’ve seen.  What I liked most was the fact that they didn’t dumb down the chalk talk.  You got talks of unbalanced lines, shifting gaps, and disguising coverages.  As someone who also does written analysis and breakdowns of NFL games, I definitely appreciated this. 

I always fact check “true” stories after viewing them, and I was somewhat surprised to see that the overt racism and the dirty play depicted by the Texas Longhorns in the 1960 Cotton Bowl game was actually reported to be true.  However, an earlier scene showing fans at West Virginia throwing bottles at Davis has been stated to be a dramatic license.  Another change for artistic sake was the changing of Davis’ best friend John Brown to Jack Buckley and changing his personality to being a bit slow intellectually.  The real John Brown also ended up playing for the Browns, which was shown in the movie…so I have no real idea why they would make that switch. 

Another disappointing re-writing of history came regarding the climatic Cotton Bowl game.  While the final score they show is almost accurate (the score they showed was a point off), the sequence of scoring was completely altered for dramatic effect…something that always drives me nuts in these films. 

As a Browns fan, I certainly got my early dander up about the inclusion of Art Modell, the owner of the Browns into such a prominent role.  I was bothered mostly due to the inaccurate depiction of Modell signing Jim Brown out of college.  Brown was drafted in 1957, and Modell did not buy the team until 1961. I also don’t understand why Paul Brown was not shown, or even mentioned. 

However, Modell is portrayed as a very good man, one that loves his team, loves the spotlight, and in the end, when Davis’ illness was discovered, went far above what he had to do in taking care of Ernie.  As much as Modell is the most reviled person in Cleveland sports history at this point, I cannot find fault in this characterization.  Art Modell was a good man, a very caring man.  And if in the end it turned out that he cared more for his “legacy” and his greed than the fans of the Browns, that doesn’t negate the good he did back then.  I’ll also give credit to Saul Rubinek for his work as the man we Browns fans consider to be Satan incarnate. 

Despite my misgivings on the few inaccuracies, this was still an absolute joy to watch.  It hits all the right moods and emotions in showing someone who was a hero not because he died, or because he led others, but because he showed class and courage in the face of a society that didn’t want to see him succeed strictly because of the color of his skin. 

Why this movie took 45 years to make; I have no idea.  But I’m very glad it is out there now. 

My Rating – Brian Sipe (3 ½ footballs)