Frank was realy mean and a B---ch to Rudy in this movie.
Why did he always put down Rudy, and think low of him??
The Dad was not any better!!
The Dad never believed in Rudy either.
It was not untill Rudy's famed tackle that Frank (his brother) and Father were proud of him.
What are the purposes of signatures!!..
Frank was jealous of Rudy. He was afraid Rudy would actually play for Notre Dame and be a hero and he would be the wimp of the family.
shareFrank was a putz, and he was jealous of Rudy.
The dad, well, he was old school. Rudy had a learning disability (dislexia) which at that time was often mistaken for stupidity or ignorance. I think he thought Rudy didn't have what it took, that it was just a pipe dream, and that him going to college was going to cause him to crach and burn.
I felt that Rudy's dad, felt it was safer for Rudy to stay at the factory/refinery, get married, settle down, and live a dull boring life. I don't think he relished seeing his kid bomb.
Of course, Rudy proved them all wrong in the end. Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! lol
Or his dad felt that Rudy would leave and never come back.
"The only person you need to prove to is your self."
I belive, in real life Rudy's family encourage him to chase his dream, but I'm not sure to what level.
>>get married, settle down, and live a dull boring life.
You need to gain some perspective.
IMDB, like youtube, the land of ignorance and stupidity.
According to Scott Benjaminson, who played Frank, the real Frank Ruettiger is a loving, caring man who was supportive of Rudy's dream and not the mean spirited, jealous person as portrayed in the film.
shareFrank is a jerk because his life sucks, and he gave up on his dreams a long time ago. When Pete mentions that Frank, too, was once a pretty big Notre Dame fan, Frank responds, "I used to collect baseball cards too." A long time ago Frank realized that it's impossible for someone like him to do anything greater than work at a steel mill. When he has to constantly listen to Rudy, who hasn't given up on the dream of doing something better, keep talking about Notre Dame, it pisses him off. He thinks, "Hey you and I came from the same family, the same background, the same intelligence, the same athletic ability. I decided long ago that I could never do something like play football at Notre Dame. If you think that you can do it, then that either means that you think that you are in some way better than me, or that you're not better than me, and I could have done it too, but I missed my opportunity, and now I'm in a dead-end job at a steel mill."
You can even see how, as a child, Frank already knew what his course in life was going to be. When Rudy says that after high school, he's gonna play football at Notre Dame, Frank laughs it off and says, "and I'm gonna buy a mansion on Lakeshore Dr". I think it's sad that as a kid (of what looks to be around 12), both of these things already seem like they're impossible to him.
So Frank's understandably insecure, so when Rudy talks about these dreams of his, Frank takes it as an insult to himself (You can do it, but I can't? Or I could have done it, but I didn't?), so he responds with anger and insults. The first few hundred times I watched this movie, I really hated Frank. But now I think I pity the guy more than anything.
Actually, Frank was a warm, caring man.
And his couch, Dan Devin, was a warm, caring coach, whom considers Rudy today a friend. In fact, it was his entire idea to play Rudy in the last game of the season. He even gave the filmakers permission to make his character a douchebag to add to the dramatic effect
Devine was not very happy with his portrayal. From ESPN:
According to the Houston Chronicle, Devine was furious about the scene. "The jersey scene is unforgivable. It's a lie and untrue. Coming on the heels of 'Under the Tarnished Dome' (a book critical of the university's football program). I don't think it's a very good thing for Notre Dame."share
And Ruettiger knew he would dress for the final home game. "Dan made the announcement that I'd be playing at practice and everybody cheered," he told the New York Times. Linebackers coach George Kelly added, "There's no question he was on the dress list. It was posted on Thursday."
Devine took a bad rap he didn't deserve. "The coach (Devine) hollered, 'Has everyone been in?' " remembered former assistant coach George Kelly. "Someone tapped me and said, 'Rudy,' and I put him in."
In his autobiography, "Simply Devine," he wrote, "I told Angelo (Pizzo) that I would do anything to help Rudy, including playing the heavy. I didn't realize I would be such a heavy," and added that he had planned to have Rudy suit up and play all along.
Pizzo responded to Devine's criticism: "I told Devine, 'You're going to be the bad guy in a sense, but I'm not going to make you evil. You're going to be an obstacle to Rudy playing.' And he said, 'That's fine.' In a recent conversation, I reminded him of this, and he said, 'I didn't think I'd be the worst guy in the movie.' "
So how did Rudy finally get to play? Some players simply mentioned Rudy's situation to an assistant coach, who relayed the message to Devine, who allowed Rudy to suit up.
http://espn.go.com/page2/s/merron/021202.html
Eh, sorta. Frank just never believed in his dreams aka himself. The Ruetiggers actually supported Rudy in his quest and believe it or not dreamers from blue-collar families are sometimes supported.
shareWhy? Because it makes for a more dramatic movie if no one believes he can do it.
shareDramatic license, eh? Wonder how the real life Frank Ruettiger feels about being made to look like such a small-minded jerk? Must be kinda grating on the poor guy; everywhere he goes he must run into strangers who pop off, "Oh, so YOU'RE Rudy Ruettiger's creepy older brother!"
Maybe they shoulda just created a fictional brother for Rudy as his foil, named him "Ralph" or something, instead of vilifying one of his REAL brothers, who, by the info I've learned in this thread, was actually SUPPORTIVE of Rudy.
Yeah I heard that too, that the real Frank is actually a nice guy who supported Rudy's dream and not the mean spirited a--hole the film made him out to be. Must suck for the real Frank and the others who were misrepresented in the film.
shareAccording to an article linked on Wikipedia, there IS NO FRANK. At least, there was no older brother, supporting or demeaning Rudy. He was in life the oldest male child in his family.
Frank, like other characters, was there for dramatic effect.
The whole movie is crap. The only reason it got made is because Rudy spent 10 years pimping his own story to movie execs. So it wasn't even like one of them saw it and found it so uplifting they had to make it, to inspire others. Rudy though his own life story was so interesting and uplifting that he had to alter it, than sell it for so long to studios till one finally caved in and made it to shut him up.
He turned that fictional movie and his one career sack into a book, movie and a motivational speaking career. He needs to catch ass cancer and die
Please click on
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudy_Ruettiger
for the current link about the real Rudy. Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger was the third of fourteen children. So there could have been an older brother. The Ruettiger family was not nearly that large in the movie. Rudy joined the United States Navy after high school, serving as a yeoman on a communications command ship for two years. Then he worked in a power plant for two years. I don't think the movie ever mentioned his service in the Navy. And I don't know if his best friend was really killed in an industrial accident.
If there are differences between the real Rudy and the movie I am not sweating it. It is a MOVIE, not a documentary. And even documentaries use some creative license.
Maybe Frank was so mean because he had to settle for Rudy's sloppy seconds. Frank stole Rudy's girl Sherry. But Rudy got her first. I wonder if that was true. Other than Sherry Rudy did not seem to show much interest in girls. I know Rudy was focused on football and school, but he could have found a little time for dating during four years of college.
shareFrank didn't steal Sherry, his brother Johnny did
shareNo older brother. From Rudy's own website:
"Rudy grew up in Joliet, IL. He is the first boy and is the third of fourteen children."
Yes, quite a bit of dramatic license in this film. It doesn't distract me from the message at hand, though...hard work and focus CAN pay off, even when the goal seems impossible.
"I cry because others are stupid and it makes me sad."
[deleted]
Just like the character of Dan Devine, the character of Frank was needed for an antagonist. In the FAQ/trivia, it is said that "Frank" is the conglomeration of all of the people that said that Rudy couldn't go to Notre Dame.
shareFrank was jealous of Rudy's determination. At the bar Rudy mentioned that Frank had the potential to be an All-Conference player in high school but was too afraid to get dirty and bruised.
Frank knew this, that he wasn't mentally tough as he should've been, reaching his potential, and saw Rudy as the anti-thesis to him: small, not particularly bright, but had a work ethic that was unrivaled when pursuing his ND dreams.
If Rudy accomplished what he did, someone who would flat out be rejected by Notre Dame if he applied his senior yr of high school even if his dyslexia was straightened out, what could've Frank done? He might've had a small football scholarship to a DII school and maybe work at a job affording decent place in the city of Chicago instead of working at a refinery in Joliet. Who knows. He didn't have the heart of Rudy.