The film “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” has been released in the USA and focuses on the story of the Hall-of-Fame quarterback. The biopic shows the path of the undrafted Warner, who first stocked supermarket shelves and then won the Super Bowl.

Munich – Kurt Warner’s life story reads like a Hollywood movie. The legendary quarterback was passed over in the 1994 NFL draft, he remained without a team for years. Warner played arena football, stocked shelves at the supermarket and tried his luck with the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe. It wasn’t until four years later that he threw his first passes in the NFL as the third-string quarterback of the then St. Louis Rams.

But then everything happened very quickly. Just one year later, the now 50-year-old won the Super Bowl and became MVP. Warner has been in the NFL Hall of Fame since 2017. As I said, the story reads like a fairy tale. Making a film out of it was an obvious choice. On 25 December, “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” was released in the USA.

It is not yet known when and how the film will be shown in Germany.

American Underdog: Zachary Levi plays Kurt Warner

Warner will be played by Zachary Levi, known from Marvel’s Thor films among others. Twelve-year-old Beau Hart embodies the quarterback in his younger years. “I did everything I could to make it the best it could be,” Levi told People, “With the essence of who Kurt was and who he still is, I tried to do him justice in the football scenes. I definitely got to the point where I could throw some dimes.”

However, stunt doubles also helped make the football scenes as impressive as possible. After all, the 41-year-old Levi should not be exposed to the linebackers who also chase the quarterback in the film. The focus of the biopic, however, is not the football action, but Warner’s inspiring life story.

Dennis Quaid once again takes on a role in a football film

The role of Warner’s wife Brenda was taken by actress Anna Paquin, Coach Dick Vermeil is played by Dennis Quaid. Quaid is known to have experience with football films, in the 1999 cult film “On Every Damn Sunday” he played quarterback Cap Rooney.

Ultimately, “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” has become a typical sports drama whose storytelling follows the familiar recipe. An underdog never loses faith despite setbacks, prevails against all odds to become a shining hero in the end.

Warner’s faith is addressed in the film

What worked brilliantly for “Rocky” also works for the Kurt Warner biopic. The reviews for the film are mostly good. Warner itself also likes the film and is heavily promoting the sports drama directed by brothers Andrew and Jon Erwin on its Instagram account.

Besides football, one of the film’s motifs is Warner’s Christian faith, which, along with family life, is above all else for the two-time NFL MVP. These two constants are what keep Warner believing in himself as he toils for $5.50 an hour in the supermarket, when the Green Bay Packers don’t give him a chance and when he finally recommends himself for the NFL via the diversions Arena Football and NFL Europe.

As I said, it’s a story like something out of a fairy tale. Except that it actually happened that way. We can only hope that “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story” will soon be available for viewing in Germany as well.