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Brian's Song

Play trailer Poster for Brian's Song TV-PG 2001 1h 36m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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Tomatometer 4 Reviews 77% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
Although they both play for the Chicago Bears, Brian Piccolo (Sean Maher) is white, a joker and mostly rides the bench while Gale Sayers (Mekhi Phifer) is black, serious and a rookie superstar. Neither likes the other much, but when coach Halas (Ben Gazzara) makes them the first interracial roommates in the NFL, the two gradually form a sincere friendship. Piccolo helps Sayers overcome an injury, and Sayers later gives Piccolo much needed support when he's diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Critics Reviews

View All (4) Critics Reviews
John Leonard New York Magazine/Vulture It's just as much a weepie now as it was then, and just as sweet too. Feb 2, 2018 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Jan 9, 2006 Full Review Emanuel Levy EmanuelLevy.Com Rated: 2/5 Aug 6, 2005 Full Review Ryan Cracknell Apollo Guide A heart-warming story of camaraderie, courage and manipulated tears. Rated: 70/100 Oct 21, 2002 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (67) audience reviews
stw2323 This film shouldn't have been remade. The original is a masterpiece Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/05/23 Full Review Audience Member In my opinion the updated version of Brian's Song does a good job at what it was trying to accomplish which was highlight the friendship between Brian and Gale but wasn't as good as the original. It had good acting and the same great story but the character portrayals weren't as likable this outing. B Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review Audience Member What an incredible story I've never heard before. Must see movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/25/23 Full Review bill t OK, so Mekhi Phifer isn't Billy Dee Williams and Sean Maher isn't James Caan, still, there's a lot more going for this version of Brian's Song, that infamous 70's chestnut weepie. They've fleshed out the story a lot more here, taken a lot of unneccesary elements out, and strengthened up a lot of the female characters. Plus, this is a wee bit more believabke in showing us what a sick disease Cancer is (in the original, Caan doesn't really look like he's dying at all). This is the better one. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Gets N0 love, there's already been a Brian's song with James Caan & Billy D. that was great, so this movie was a waist of time. I'll give u a half star just cause M. Pfeiffer was n it! I take that bacc cause putting Dean Spelling n it gives it 5 negative stars. Dean SUCKS!!! Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars 02/15/23 Full Review Audience Member A Very Touching, Deeply Moving & Heart-Felt Story Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Brian's Song

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Cast & Crew

Movie Info

Synopsis Although they both play for the Chicago Bears, Brian Piccolo (Sean Maher) is white, a joker and mostly rides the bench while Gale Sayers (Mekhi Phifer) is black, serious and a rookie superstar. Neither likes the other much, but when coach Halas (Ben Gazzara) makes them the first interracial roommates in the NFL, the two gradually form a sincere friendship. Piccolo helps Sayers overcome an injury, and Sayers later gives Piccolo much needed support when he's diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Director
John Gray
Producer
John M. Eckert, Dave Mace
Screenwriter
John Gray, Allen Clare
Production Co
Columbia TriStar Television, Storyline Entertainment
Rating
TV-PG (L)
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Jan 22, 2002
Runtime
1h 36m