Sentiment stirrer

 ‘The Express’
Director: Gary Fleder
Cast: Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid
Rating: PG
Grade: 4 Globes

REVIEW. Even for the sports-allergic, football biopic “The Express” is hard not to like. Based on the life of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, the film covers the football star’s brief run as a Syracuse University star player in the early ’60s. While its narrative style is nothing new, the film offers a palatable cast of characters that are easy to connect with. A good deal of the film’s likability is due to a glowing performance by Rob Brown, who effortlessly portrays Davis as a noble, humbly heroic man whom the audience can root for. Quaid does an adequate job of giving a third dimension to what could be a flat cliché, effectively revealing the nuances of a man conflicted by a racist environment and the talent of his star player.