Go Tigers! (2001)
Triple Play Pictures

Description

Welcome to Massillon, Ohio, where high school football is nothing short of religion. For the 33,000 people who live there, football is life--a veritable "cradle to the grave" experience that begins in the maternity ward where coaches make visits to scout for talent.

Tags

Sundance award winner, USA, Ohio, American football

Collected reviews and ratings

10 Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

Beautifully edited, ''Go Tigers!'' is an enthralling look at the drama that can transpire in the autumn of one small town on any given Friday.
Read full review (Cinema)

9.0 Amazon user reviews

High school football rules in Massillon, Ohio. In this blue-collar community, dubbed "Touchdown Town" in a 1951 newsreel, the Washington High Tigers are a cradle-to-grave passion. Team boosters visit maternity wards and bestow footballs to newborn "little Tigers." A mortician offers customers Tiger theme caskets.
Read full review (DVD)

9.0 Variety | Joe Leydon

Arguably the best sports-oriented docu since "Hoop Dreams," pic offers a largely sympathetic but not entirely uncritical view of high school football in an Ohio town where gridiron heroics are fanatically revered.
Read full review (Cinema)

9.0 DVD Verdict | Bill Gribon

Where Hoop Dreams showed a system out of control and its immediate and long term effects, this movie spends a little too much time on the rah-rah and the drama, and not enough on the blatant unrealities of this town.
Read full review (DVD)

8.0 New York Times | Stephen Holden

For all its skepticism about the value of pouring so much emotion and so many resources into high school football, ''Go Tigers!'' is never disrespectful. It leaves you liking and even admiring the people of Massillon for their spunk and their passionate commitment to carrying on a hallowed tradition.
Read full review (Cinema)

8.0 PopMatters.com | Michael Christopher

Go Tigers! is amazing and disturbing. It ranks among the top of the best sports documentaries ever made, and like its predecessors, such as Hoop Dreams, it not only encourages the audience to cheer on its subjects, but also shows their vulnerabilities.
Read full review (DVD)

8.0 efilmcritic.com | Eric Snider

The viewer makes up his own mind as to the relative importance of football. In the meantime, there's some great sports footage, some colorful characters, and a great insight into the mind of a Midwestern football town.
Read full review (DVD)

8.0 DVD Town

... if only the energy and passion of an army 33,000 strong could be turned toward the betterment of society, what a wonderful world it might be.
Read full review (DVD)

7.5 Chicago Sun-Times | Roger Ebert

"Go Tigers!" is a documentary about a town of 33,000 so consumed by football it makes South Bend and Green Bay look distracted.
Read full review (Cinema)

7.5 ReelViews | James Berardinelli

The best way to view this film is as a fairly traditional sports movie. It certainly has all the elements, and Carlson has pieced it together in such a way that it represents a genuine crowd-pleaser.
Read full review (Cinema)

6.7 The Onion A.V. Club | Tasha Robinson

Carlson clearly respects his subjects, and expects viewers to get caught up in their quest for victory at any cost. He himself may realize that they're working for the wrong victories, but they certainly don't, which makes it just about impossible to sincerely echo the movie's titular cheer.
Read full review (DVD)

6.0 filmcritic.com | Christopher Null

I can partially forgive the bias, but the worst part of the film is the production itself. Carlson ekes out some interesting shots, but the limitations of shooting on video make most of the film look like, well, a home movie of some kid's football game.
Read full review (Cinema)

5.0 DVD Talk | Gil Jawetz

Go Tigers! isn't a very in-depth documentary. It partially opens a number of cans full of worms that it isn't quite prepared to fully explore.
Read full review (DVD)