Requiem for a Running Back

Released Nov 10, 2017

1h 29m

Documentary

List

86%

Tomatometer

7 Reviews

88%

Audience Score

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Filmmaker Rebecca Carpenter explores the far-reaching implications of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players.

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Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter

A deeply personal investigation into an important subject.

Nov 11, 2017

Full Review

Richard Roeper

Chicago Sun-Times

The end result is a brilliant and brave and beautifully honest film.

Rated: 4/4

Nov 9, 2017

Full Review

J. R. Jones

Chicago Reader

This documentary about brain trauma in the NFL is largely anecdotal, but therein lies its power.

Nov 9, 2017

Full Review

Lisa Trifone

Third Coast Review

As one woman's investigation into her own family history, Requiem gets the job done. But at 89 minutes long, there's a lot of filler for a documentary that doesn't add anything new into the conversation.

May 28, 2019

Full Review

Danielle Solzman

Solzy at the Movies

Any parent thinking of letting their children play football will think twice...

Nov 14, 2017

Full Review

Louis Proyect

Counterpunch.org

The film both makes a compelling case for abolishing football as well as explaining why it was so beloved by the players whose brains it was destroying. First-rate.

Nov 8, 2017

Full Review

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Daniel A

A remarkable, must-see film for all Americans in 2023, now re-cut from the original 2016 version. Director Rebecca Carpenter courageously invites us into a deeply intimate space: that between her and her father. But not just any father. A father who scaled the elite heights of professional sports as a star player, then coach for the legendary Vince Lombardi, and in so doing provided financial means and deep pride for his family, not to mention immense joy to his devoted Packer fans. And then her father began to withdraw emotionally, opening up a mystery that altered Rebecca life in ways she couldn't understand at the time. With the benefit of rapidly emerging science and her own odyssey of unflinching, occasionally wrenching inquiry, we watch her piece together what really happened. Rebecca's illumination presents a moral quandary to all Americans who watch the uniquely balletic and seductive game of football. She studiously refrains from sermonizing or indulging in easy answers. A skilled and subtle documentarian, she leaves that to us. She shines a spotlight on powerful voices like the understated hero Chris Borland, a star middle linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers who was dubbed the "most dangerous man in the NFL" not for his fearsome hits but rather his searing honesty and bold action. Rebecca earns our trust with this unique glimpse into the love, and consequences, underlying one of our most enduring national spectacles.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/11/23

Full Review

Mary B

I've watched this film so many times, and every single time it touches my heart deeply and differently. It's an emotional movie that is filled with so much love, you can feel it! The story is told by Rebecca Carpenter, the daughter of legendary Green Bay Packers running back, Lew Carpenter. I loved all the cameos from famous faces of professional sports as well! You will learn a lot about the highs and lows of a professional football career, but also about the power of love, compassion, and forgiveness. This film truly has it all, and the journey is beautifully composed. I can't wait to watch it again.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

12/01/23

Full Review

Jacob S

Though I was somewhat familiar with some of the issues around football and its risks, this powerful film gutted me. Football has always had a primal appeal to me, but seeing this film, especially the powerful interviews with the families of former players, left me with an understanding of the lethal price of the game's appeal. The stories told here, by football players and their families as well as by researchers and brain scientists, have haunted me ever since watching this film. I now understand the game differently and was not surprised to hear that the NFL doesn't want people watching this film. Highly, highly recommended.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

11/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Powerful movie that is bound to make the NFL take notice. While this movie is about Lew Carpenter, a star NFL player who suffered, unbeknownst to his family, from advanced CTE, it is really about the his youngest daughter coming to terms with realizing her dad suffered from sever brain damage, and how that affected their relationship.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/17/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Excellent! It should be shown in every school in America.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/02/23

Full Review

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Rebecca Carpenter

Director

Sara Dee

Producer

Max Mayer

Executive Producer

Eric Wycoff

Cinematographer

Elisa Bonora

Film Editing

Parker Laramie

Film Editing

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Synopsis

Filmmaker Rebecca Carpenter explores the far-reaching implications of chronic traumatic encephalopathy in football players.

Director: Rebecca Carpenter
Producer: Max Mayer
Distributor: Hydro Studios
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Nov 10, 2017, Limited
Runtime: 1h 29m

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