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NORTH DALLAS FORTY
Directed by Ted Kotcheff; with Nick Nolte, Mac Davis, Charles Durning,
Dayle Hadden, Bo Svenson, Steve Forrest, Dabney Coleman, and Guich Koock
1979
he
way Texans feel about football one would think they wouldn¼t be very
happy about how the game is portrayed here: North Dallas Forty
is based on Peter Gent's book about labor abuse in the NFL, depicting
the sport as a giant corporation more interested in money and success
than in the human beings that battle it out on the field. Nick Nolte
as a recently-benched wide receiver and Mac Davis, the personable star
quarterback, are the conscience for the entire team, and at times are
reduced to cynical, limping messes who pop pain killers like candy and
are scolded like wayward children. Still, this film heralds the start
of Dallas Cowboys' long tenure as "America's Team," and if
it doesn't offer a romantic view of the gridiron, it does direct audience
sympathies to the toll such a weekly beating takes on our professional
athletes. Though much has changed in the NFL since North Dallas Forty
was released, a state so devoted to the sport should know about this stuff,
not to mention all the partying going on.
he
way Texans feel about football one would think they wouldn¼t be very
happy about how the game is portrayed here: North Dallas Forty
is based on Peter Gent's book about labor abuse in the NFL, depicting
the sport as a giant corporation more interested in money and success
than in the human beings that battle it out on the field. Nick Nolte
as a recently-benched wide receiver and Mac Davis, the personable star
quarterback, are the conscience for the entire team, and at times are
reduced to cynical, limping messes who pop pain killers like candy and
are scolded like wayward children. Still, this film heralds the start
of Dallas Cowboys' long tenure as "America's Team," and if
it doesn't offer a romantic view of the gridiron, it does direct audience
sympathies to the toll such a weekly beating takes on our professional
athletes. Though much has changed in the NFL since North Dallas Forty
was released, a state so devoted to the sport should know about this stuff,
not to mention all the partying going on. 
