The true story of an American football player who fought for a spot on the Chicago Bears team with a black teammate. The film will also appeal to die-hard opponents of sports-themed stories. Victory of a Lifetime is about togetherness, cohesion and, above all, love between friends. It is a demonstration of how illness and impending death can open people’s eyes and they begin to better see what is essential and meaningful in their lives.

The main character Brian Piccolo is a big jokester and a great runner. Despite his playing qualities, he is the number two man on the team, so he warms the bench during the games and black player Gale Sayers plays in his place.

Piccolo takes it hard and there is a great rivalry between the two players. Piccolo regularly picks on Sayers and dumps him, Sayers quietly takes it with a straight face. They are very different in nature. Sayers injures his knee one day during a match.

When Piccolo comes to visit him in the hospital, he tells him that he’s anxious to get back to the shape he was in before, so that Piccolo won’t be talked about as having taken Sayers’ place. He wants him to get back to 100% so he can beat him with pride. Their wives are getting on well opposite them although there is some bonding going on at this stage even between the two rivals.

However, Brian begins to have more serious health problems as time goes on. He regularly has a cough, starts to lose weight and performs increasingly poorly in training. After being kicked off the team, he undergoes tests, where it is discovered that he has cancer – embryonal carcinoma, which he has had since birth.

Cast: Sean Maher, Mekhi Phifer, Ben Gazzara, Elise Neal, Aidan Devine, Dean McDermott, Michael Boisvert, Morgane Slemp

Crew: Richard Marvin

USA, 2001

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