Konterr Brilliant and touching

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

SeriousJest This one gets by with me based on the awesomeness of the true NFL story. I also like that it effectively portrayed some issues without over- explaining them, like the racial undertones. Other than that, I was severely underwhelmed. First, the cinematography was extremely low- budget. I haven't seen the 1971 original, but I'm guessing there's not much of a difference in camera quality. Also, the acting from just about everyone, even Phifer during his "shy" scenes, seemed forced. Both Phifer and Maher were pretty charismatic, at times, however. And although I know that this movie isn't really about football, they really skimped on the football scenes! I don't know what they thought they were doing with that blurry first-person view, but it wasn't working. I have a feeling that if I was to see the original flick, I would downgrade my rating of this remake.For more reviews and a kickass podcast, check out: www.livemancave.com

Robert Nielsen (robertwnielsen) Because they're so different. James Caan and Billy Dee Williams WERE Pic & Gale. These two new guys, well, they just don't cut it. It'd be like re-casting "Star Trek" with total unknowns as the Enterprise bridge crew. Oh, wait. That already happened, and IT actually worked. This remake, however, didn't.The main reason the original "Brian's Song" was so good was the way that Billy Dee Williams (Sayers) & James Caan (Pic) interacted, with Pic bouncing racist remarks off Gale left & right. This new, PC version waters the racism down almost to the point of non-existence.Also, scenes that made the original so funny were completely omitted; for example, early in the film, the Piccolos & Sayers were at a pizza parlor, & Brian described a play gone wrong, ending with, "So, anyway, all the linemen go this way, and it's like I am lookin' at a team portrait of the Los Angeles Rams....Hey, Deacon! Merlin? How's the family, Rosie?" Then Gale pipes up, "It's like, I'm roomin' with a colored player again!" Again, I'm sure this scene was omitted due to its racial undertones, but it took away from the humor of the film.I found this new version to be much darker, focussing more on Brian's illness and the consequences than on the relationship between he & Gale Sayers, which was the main thing that made the original so special. If you can find the original on VHS or DVD, get it. But, stay away from the remake.

dtucker86 Maher and Phifer do a terrific job of bringing Piccolo and Sayers to life. Brain's Song was in a way the grandaddy of them all, one of the first made for television movies; and in the eyes of many one of the best. I think it would take a person utterly without feelings not to be moved by the original and this one (surprise, surprise) is just as good. I thought it would be a word by word remake (like that ridiculous Psycho movie in 1998) but this one is different. I guess to be politically correct, it shows more of the relationship between the players wives as well. What makes it a little chilling is the makeup job on Maher as he is becoming sicker and sicker, they pointed out that you couldn't show death on tv that way in 1971. I think that they should have used the exact same music as in the original, it was just too perfect and it would not have mattered (didn't they use the same music in all of the Rocky films?). I hope that we see more of these two young actors as both did a terrific job and I hope they remember them at Emmy time. An added treat, that old raascal Ben Gazzara is on hand as grouchy Coach Halas and he does a wonderful job of theatrical larceny. A story of courage found and the power of friendship, but ultimately a tragedy. A an added footnote, today medical science has made great advances in treating the kind of cancer that killed Brian Piccolo.

rocio_011 I think Brian's song is the best movie about friendship anyone could ever watch.Brian and Gale thought that they didn't have nothing in common it just shows that they did all along.It has a good point on life and the meaning of friendship.