Given what happened at Northwestern this summer, and the similarities to what happened at Penn State in 2011, this weekend’s meeting between the two programs provides the perfect time to re-examine the 2018 HBO film Paterno, which chronicles the when the nation learned what a monster former Penn State Defensive Coordinator Jerry Sandusky is.
Here is our review and analysis, which originally ran Apr. 8 2018.
SATURDAY, September 30, 11 a.m. CT
#6 Penn State vs. Northwestern | Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois
Although the entire plot of Paterno centers around Sandusky’s criminal and deplorable actions, his actual presence is reduced to just a few cameos and only a couple lines of dialogue. Paterno is actually the story of two main characters, former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno and also Harrisburg Patriot-News/now CNN reporter Sarah Ganim.
Paterno is played brilliantly by Emmy and Oscar winner Al Pacino while Ganim is portrayed perfectly by Riley Keough. The only other character who is truly fleshed out here is the brave beyond belief victim number one, Aaron, played by Benjamin Cook.
The Paterno family as a unit get a fair amount of screen time, but as you can see from the statement above, sent by attorney Scott Paterno, they’re not too keen on how the story was told by screen writers Debora Cahn and John C. Richards and director Barry Levinson.
The last time Pacino portrayed a football coach, in 1999’s Any Given Sunday, he was in the heart of his WHOOOO-HAAHHHH! phase as an actor, a period of extreme over-acting, which naturally lent itself to much deserved lampoon.
That phase of his career is long over, and his effort here is basically the anti-thesis of that.
Pacino, now only seven years younger than Paterno was at the time that’s depicted, portrays an extreme workaholic with blinders on by design.
The film is told through the eyes of a man in an MRI machine reflecting on a life defined by the belief that it’s best to let other people handle the bigger issues; and you just stay in your lane.
His son, Jay Paterno, is portrayed with having the same single mindedness, and obsession with football, but none of his dad’s charisma, calculation or acumen.
In this film, Paterno the younger is depicted as simplistic, with flaws that sometimes evoke the worst traits of both Eric and Donald Trump Jr. at the same time.
The film also conveys a few elements that preluded the rise of #MAGA.
Scott Paterno, with the exception of one scene (we’ll describe it in a bit), is certainly not a sympathetic character, and most people giving feedback on this film believe the filmmakers totally nailed it.
Mary Kay is the only Paterno depicted with a strong moral compass, although Sue is also a sympathetic character to some extent. As for Joe himself, this movie is neither a hagiography, nor is it a condemnation.
The JoeBots would have been angry regardless of how this was done
He’s portrayed with nuance and subtlety, and the plot twist ending makes sure that overall justice is done to his legacy.
You wouldn’t think it possible to have a plot twist in a movie about real life events from seven years ago; recent enough to remain generally familiar to most people. However, Levinson, who won an Oscar for Rain Man, and whose credits include Donnie Brasco, The Perfect Storm, Wag the Dog, Good Morning Vietnam and The Natural, pulls it off masterly.
It’s a film with an unconventional format- two protagonists, no antagonist (as the entire situation and background is as antagonistic as possible) and no real hero.
Ganim is the other lead character, in a film that depicts a young journalist getting ahead in the world from doing hard work and doing it well (instead of nepotism and cronyism? Wow, this is fiction!). Ganim was the first to break this huge news story, and was then rewarded for it with a Pulitzer prize and later a much higher profile gig at CNN.
Yes, a journalist advancing in this world via meritocracy…clearly this movie is pure fantasy!
Seriously though, Ganim, who worked as a paid consultant on the film, is perhaps the last person who comes to mind when you think about a famous journalist who got ahead on the basis of merit.
Media is a very unique profession in that advancement and pecking order are very much in full public view and Ganim is one of the last individuals that we’ve seen actually earn their way up the ladder.
There are many reasons why the journalism industry is broken beyond repair.
However, the factors deciding how an individual gets ahead: what family you were born in to, your connections, how truly devoted you are to playing a “character artist” on television, and what you’re willing to sacrifice in order to do it, are as deserving of blame for the current dumpster fire media industry as any.
During the Penn State riot scene, we see the mob chanting “F*** THE MEDIA!” and it reminds us of Trump and his acolytes shouting “FAKE NEWS!” incessantly. Indeed the PSU truthers were certainly the Make America Great Again crowd long before a single red hat was produced.
Both are groups in which a patriarch is a demigod, who can never do any wrong; regardless of what basic facts show.
In the midst of the riot, Ganim asks a PSU student: “what do you think about what happened to Joe Paterno?
“Kids got abused and he didn’t tell the police, you go to jail for that!”
Ganim asks “can I quote you?” and she responds: “No, because I don’t want to get fucking killed in my bed.”
Which brings us to the most powerful and meaningful scene of the film. When the Penn State rabble show up at the Paterno house, all they do is chant “Joe Paterno” and it’s literally the only words the mob can say. Scott Paterno tries talking to them, he brings up the children who were raped, and the mob responds with only the Paterno chant.
For anyone who’s ever had to deal with PSU truthers online or drunken members of Nittany Nation on an autumn Saturday, you’ll appreciate this scene. (That said, fans of every single team suck- it’s definitely not just a Penn State thing).
However, this is not a sports movie. The only actual football portrayed comes in the cold open and it’s just one game.
Fun fact: the University of Illinois Fighting Illini were the final opponent for both Paterno and Bear Bryant. The Illini lost both games, and their blown second half lead at Beaver Stadium, which gave Paterno win #409, opens the movie.
While it’s not a football movie, it’s also not a journalism film like Spotlight or All the President’s Men either. It’s really a movie about a heinous crime and the equally heinous cover-up that followed.
It’s a drama about a family and a school administration trying to do damage control long after the situation crossed any threshold where that could have been possible.
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now. Follow the website on Twitter and Instagram.