prog-58654
I thought the movie was going to be your typical made for TV movie and that's exactly what we got. Not good, not bad just somewhere in the middle. That being said this movie wasn't meant to be uplifting, it was meant to be dark and brooding because of the subject matter. This movie absolutely should have been about Paterno because he is the story here. The most powerful person in the state who could have stopped this long ago but was too worried about his sport, his university and his legacy to lift a finger. Paterno was made out to be a idiot in this movie because when the scandal broke that's exactly how he acted, the portrayal is spot on. He played the old man card in the most transparent way possible, blaming his memory and feeble mindedness when asked questions after it broke that he knew what was going on. I kept expecting to hear him say no habla ingles towards the end. Far as I'm concerned he was portrayed accurately I could care less about his legacy and even the most loyal and diehard Nittany Lion fan should feel the same.
trimixdiver
Both are equally culpable. The attempt of Levinson to portray a pedophile enabler as a person deserving of sympathy is contemptible. The fact that the NCAA reinstated Paterno's wins is yet another example of the misplaced value this country places on sports. Nassar, Sandusky, Paterno, Roy Moore, Michael Jackson, the catholic church and all the rest of the pedophiles and pedophile enablers must be held accountable. This movie was a disgusting failure on all counts.
Kai Stoll
It's unfortunate that now a days movies get blasted for their message or perspective, regardless of how well they are made from a cinematic experience. I see this movie get blasted simply because of the way it painted Paterno, or its confusion of "good and bad guys". While everything is this movie was basically factual and based on actual reportings, it actually indicated Paterno much less than I thought it would. Levinson gives life to the personal workings of a darkness that none of could imagine. The brilliant cinematography, along with a stunning Pacino, somehow humanizes the turmoil and pain of someone worshipped as a god for 60+ years, suddenly facing indescribable demons that challenge everything he has ever stood for. If you really paid attention to the message, as well as any other work done on this particular scandal, you can understand that one not need separate the legacy of Joe from the moral character and human.
hughman55
About halfway into this film you will know that on Feb. 9, 2001, graduate assistant Mike McQueary witnessed a Penn State coach raping a ten year old child in the showers, on the university campus, and did not stop the assault. Though he was a seasoned college football quarterback, and a full grown man of significant size, he did not rush the rapist, beat the crap out of him, and rescue the child. He left because what he saw upset him. He left that 10 year old child defenseless, and still in the clutches of his rapist, Jerry Sandusky. This film shows that that night he only called his father. The next day he called Joe Paterno. Ten days later he told athletic director Tim Curley and vice president for finance and business Gary Schultz. To what purpose? To stop the rape? No, that was allowed to continue on Feb. 9, 2001. To have Jerry Sandusky arrested and put in prison for the rest of his life? No, Paterno, Curley, and Schultz, already knew that Jerry Sandusky was a serial child rapist. They had been documenting his criminal activity since since the mid 90's. To find the victim an get help for him? Make sure his parents knew that they were handing their son over to pedophile rapist? No, they never even bothered, in fact they made certain, that they would never know who the victim was. This film shows that Paterno, Curley, and Schultz, had already asked Sanudsky to stop bringing his victims onto the Penn State campus. They just needed to know what McQueary saw so that they would know what more they needed to cover up. The four full grown men, Paterno, Schultz, Curley, and McQueary, the only men with any power to save this victim, prevent future victims, and bring justice to past victims, went into self-preservation mode to protect themselves. They stood by and did nothing, while children were being brutalized. Why?It is difficult to discuss the significant merits of this HBO film because the story itself is so infuriating. And while I am not certain that the reporter in the film, Sara Ganim, was personally responsible for this - wait for it, the film shows her typing out these words while making a report; "Jerry Sandusky was seen "having sex with a 10 year old boy in the showers at Penn State." I remember reading articles at the time with that exact wording. Who sees, or hears about, a 10 year old child being raped, and then describes it as two people "having sex". Again, it's her character, in this film, typing those words. I couldn't believe it because she's the "good guy" in this mess. This story has been characterized as "complicated". It's not. The "story" is simple. The coverup is complicated. HBO and Barry Levinson do a masterful job of revealing a culture gone mad where pedophiles are protected, victims are chased down school hallways, and college students riot against justice for sexual abuse victims because it might, just a little, harsh their football buzz. They make the Catholic church look like ameture hour. The enduing question in this story, and others like it, is this: why did Penn State, law enforcement, politicians, and Mike McQueary, do nothing? In fact, if they had turned Jerry Sandusky over to authorities in the mid 90's when (as far as we know) they first became aware of his crimes, they would not have lost their jobs or the bloated salaries that accompany them. They would have been hailed as heroes. So it must be something else. What could it possibly be? This film demands that we consider how this story would have played out had the victims been female children. It is really difficult to imagine that if Mike McQueary had found Jerry Sandusky sodomizing a 10 year old girl in the showers at Penn State on Feb. 9, 2001, that he would have just run away like he did when he saw Sandusky sodomizing a 10 year old boy? Had the victims been female I think he would have beaten Sandusky within an inch of his life, called 911, and been given a medal for heroism. So, what do you get for abandoning a, still anonymous, male victim. The answer would be a 12.3 million dollar settlement from Penn State for "wrongful termination". And that anonymous victim? No one knows what happened to him because no one even knows who he was. They didn't want to know who he was. Why?
