Rudy (1993) on Netflix

PG19931h 54mBiography Drama Sport

Rudy Ruettiger dreams of playing football for Notre Dame. He grows up in a steel mill town, and he has neither the grades nor the size for major college football.

Netflix3.9/5
IMDb7.5/1075,636 votes
Rotten Tomatoes78%

Trailer

Plot summary

Daniel Eugene Ruettiger, called Rudy, grows up in Joliet, Illinois, in the 1960s. He wants to play football for Notre Dame, but he lacks the grades and the money to enroll and the size and talent for major college football. After high school he works at a steel mill with his father and his brothers. When his friend Pete dies in a mill explosion, Rudy decides to chase the dream. In 1972 he visits Notre Dame and learns he cannot enroll, so Father John Cavanaugh, a former university president, helps him enter Holy Cross College.

Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Rudy (1993)

Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.

The school had not allowed its campus to be used as a film location since 1940's Knute Rockne, All American, and the filmmakers had just two days to secure permission; the administration, led by executive vice president Reverend William Beauchamp, changed its stance after reading Pizzo's script.
SPOILER
In reality Coach Dan Devine had announced days earlier at practice that Ruettiger would dress for the Georgia Tech game; the scene of senior teammates laying their jerseys on Devine's desk never happened, and Devine, who had agreed to be the film's “heavy”, called it unforgivable and untrue.
SPOILER
Joe Montana, an active member of the team when Ruettiger played in the Georgia Tech game, told The Dan Patrick Show in 2010 that the crowd wasn't chanting and nobody threw in their jerseys, although Ruettiger did get into the game.
Sean Astin experienced “head-to-toe bruises” during the filming process, and his stuntman sustained injuries that meant knee surgery by the conclusion of the shoot.
In 2008 Senator John McCain used “Take Us Out” as an official anthem during his presidential run, playing it after his acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention and after he announced Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate in Dayton, Ohio.
Kobe Bryant was a huge fan of Rudy, saying that the film motivated him to work harder then he ever had before; after seeing it in theaters in 1993 he watched it “a hundred” times on tape.