‘The Senior’ Review – Yes, Michael Chiklis Is Better Than ‘HIM’
If you are looking for a football movie that’s an alternative to HIM, and that can wash the awful taste out of your mouth, in case you saw the Jordan Peele-produced horror by chance, don’t worry. Ben Grimm is on the turf to be your ‘Shield’. Michael Chiklis is the latest name of note to take on an inspirational true story brought to you by Angel Studios.
And The Senior is a true story, as hard as it might be to believe. Chiklis is Mike Flynt, a real-life Texas construction worker who goes back to college quite late in the game to finish his Senior year and rejoin the university football team. It’s a crazy idea, but once he learns he can do it legitimately, according to school by-laws, he is determined to make the cut.
Flynt has a lot to prove to himself and others. However, he also has old wounds that need healing and other sundry scars to address. You see, the reason he never finished his higher education is that he got kicked out of school, and off the team, for fighting. Policing some of his teammates who were out partying back in 1971, Flynt got nose to nose with one, and the other guy got his nose broken.
This is part of an arc about the power of closure and redemption through forgiveness, though it also speaks to generational trauma. Mike has a penchant for getting into fisticuffs because of the chip on his shoulder that was left there by his father. The old man kept calling him a runt and made him feel like a failure from the time the poor guy learned to walk.
Mike repeated the pattern with his own son, straining their relationship, and adult Mike carries the burden of that, implicitly resenting his father for the way he was raised. He carries the load, not knowing dear old Dad wrestled with the regret of not being more loving and easygoing. Mike finds this out when he goes through a box of his dad’s belongings and discovers a beat-up Bible. Written inside is the short prayer “Lord, give me the strength to forgive others. And myself.”
From the small passage, an awakening begins in Mike that is captured in some of the movie’s most moving scenes. Chiklis does not even do or say much; he just emotes like a pro. This is his movie through and through, and he has an easy time standing out as the best thing in it.
While sorting out his family life, Mike still has to take to the field, which he makes look easy for his age. One or two people don’t like having him on the team, but opportunities for tension and a contentious subplot don’t go far. He also suffers a predictable injury, but overcomes it within a few scenes.
If you are expecting him to do that and score the winning touchdown, your logic fumbles. The Senior isn’t that cliche.
Instead, Flynt becomes the elder statesman who motivates the team with speeches about regret before the big game. He is like the glue, but on the field, he’s more like the backup defense that tackles whoever to clear a path to the endzone. He never tries to outshine anyone, although he doesn’t have to. The script and its interchangeable, nondescript players do that for him.
Every year is a mixed bag for Angel Studios, where they have one or two films that stand above the rest in terms of attention, reviews, and success, and then one or two that, while remarkable, sadly come and go. This year, their releases that fit those categories are King of Kings and Sketch, respectively. The Senior falls right in the middle with Rule Breakers and The Last Rodeo.
It’s not a bad TV movie like some are saying (it would make a pretty good TV movie, if I’m being honest), and though there are dozens of similar selections on streaming somewhere, it’s still an inspiring little film with a great performance from Chiklis. It’s a movie you could take your family to, but I think it’s better-suited for bringing dads and granddads along to. You might enjoy and bond over it – much like Last Rodeo. Football is a guy thing, after all.
NEXT: Fantastic Fest 2025 ‘Deathstalker’ Review — A Barbarically Potent Masterpiece
The Senior
PROS
- Michael Chiklis
- Strong themes of forgiveness and redemption
- The interactions between Chiklis and the rest of the team as an old guy fitting in
CONS
- Rob Corddry and Mary Stuart Masterson are in it, but you'll probably forget within a day
- The father-son subplot between Chiklis and his son (Brandon Flynn) could have more weight
