Customer Reviews

Paper Lion [VHS]

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This is a review for the film PAPER LION (1968) dby Alex March. The film PAPER LION is a somewhat different version of George Plimpton's mid-sixties best seller about a sportswriter for Sports Illustrated participating in the preseason training camp held by the NFL Detroit Lions football club during the summer of '63.

In the book, more of a memoir than anything else, Plimpton is has a lot of interior monologues, the sort of introspection that just doesn't go well in this film in particular. But what does go well in the book as well as mostly in this film is the jocularity of jockhood and the depiction of how, even though this is a very serious NFL pre-season training camp, there is room for the light hearted stunt of a young sportswriter trying out for third string quarterback amid the behemoths and monsters of NFL mythology.

Plimpton's "tryout" was supposed to be a secret until the articles were published in sports Illustrated but word got around the Lions' camp and most of the established players seemed to think it was a pretty amusing stunt and went along with it at least publicly. All of this lasts until the final pre-season game against the old St. Louis Cardinals when, during the final minute, Plimpton actually gets in the game to call a series of offensive plays against a genuine NFL team. The movie has been building up to this and it is really an enjoyable segment of the film.

But I think the best thing about the film version of PAPER LION is the chance to see Roger Brown, Joe Schmidt, Mike Lucci, John Gordy, Pat Studstill and especially Alex Karras play themselves, very enjoyable especially if you remember them on the field as players. Unfortunately, Mr. Do-It-Yourself, George Plimpton, did not have the chance to portray himself on the silver screen. For that PAPER LION employed the young actor, Alan Alda, who did a very professional job, quite believable in the Plimpton role. And although the role Lauren Hutton played in the film , Plimpton's girlfriend Kate, is something I don't remember from the book, I am very happy she brought that portrayal to life in the film.

I give PAPER LION Four and one half stars, a very entertaining movie.

Alan Alda plays George Plimpton in a comedy about a sports writer who goes to Training Camp with the Detroit Lions. Roy Schrider also appears as well as 'Bosley' from 'Charlie's Angels'. Alex Karras plays himself but he was not there when Plimpton was as he was out for the year after being accused of gambling. A good adaptation.

The Detroit Lions franchise has featured such legendary quarterbacks as Eric Hipple, Chuck "wait" Long, Andre "I can run like a deer & I throw like a deer too" Ware, Scott "I love to throw the ball off my back-foot while back-pedaling" Mitchell, Joey "Blue Skies" Harrington, Charlie "Soft" Batch and John "I could win if only I had a team around me" Kitna.

Added to that pantheon is the late SI sportswriter George Plimpton. In the 1960s, Plimpton pulled some stunts by pitching to the All Stars in MLB. He also went 3 rounds boxing with Sugar Ray Robinson and he tried to make it through camp as the last-string QB with the Detroit Lions.

The "experiment" was less than auspicious. He was lit-up by the baseball All Stars. He was knocked-out by Robinson. And, for the clean-sweep, he led a drive in a pre-season game that went backwards. {Then again, that is precisely what makes him fit-in with the aforementioned Lions Quarterbacks!}

The biggest flaw with this film is that.....well....it's about the Lions. The Lions are officially the sorriest franchise in all of pro sports. Barry Sanders is possibly the greatest runningback who ever played, and yet he was only able to catapult the Lions to semi-relevance. The fact that Plimpton's botched experiment ultimately flopped doesn't exactly make this film a must-see.

Also, the elevator music soundtrack acts as a sedative for the viewer. In truth, this fact cannot entirely be blamed on TPL. The 1960s came before movie studios payed big bucks to soundtrack composers like John Williams, Hans Zimmer & Trevor Rabin to put together worthwhile movie music.

The biggest upside of the film would have to be a young Lauren Hutton. I'd always seen Hutton from her later movies & thought she was a lovely lady who aged very well. She was absolutely smokin' as Plimpton's spouse in this movie!

The ultimate irony of this movie is that, had the NFL's greatest non-winning General Manager in league history (Matt Millen) seen tape on Plimpton, then the sports journalist would have likely been taken in the 1st round of the NFL draft. THAT would be oh-so-typical of the Lions!

EVERYTHING WENT FINE. NO COMPLAINTS. GOOD JOB.
THANK YOU!Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback