Haunted by his failure to catch a ball that would have given his college a football victory over neighbouring giants, Robin Williams manoeuvres a re-staging of the entire game in this affectionate comedy about small-town life and ambitions gone sour. Though it's a film whose appeal to the gut emotions wins through in the end, its leading characters (Williams, Kurt Russell) do get a bit tiresome at times and are more than matched by the warmly sexy Holly Palance and chirpily spicy Pamela Reed who play their loving but long-suffering wives. Fans of character actors past and present, though, have a feast in store. M Emmet Walsh, Kathleen Freeman, R G Armstrong (inevitably as a Bible-spouting coach) and Dub Taylor are all in there slugging for the home team. Its subject may not be dearest to the hearts of British audiences, but its sentiments are universal. At times, it's a trudge towards the big game at the end, but it proves to be worth it.

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