The Senior (2025) Angel/Drama RT: 99 minutes Rated PG (thematic content, violence, language and a suggestive reference) Director: Rod Lurie Screenplay: Robert Eisele Music: Larry Groupe Cinematography: Tucker Korte Release date: September 19, 2025 (US) Cast: Michael Chiklis, Mary Stuart Masterson, Brandon Flynn, James Badge Dale, Rob Corddry, Corey Knight, Terayle Hill, Christian Becerra, Chris Setticase, Shawn Patrick Clifford, Taylor Fono, Gail Cronauer, Audrey Lingle, Rachael Cole, Jackson Sheldon, Steven Van Tiflin, James Hansen Prince, Coy Sevier, Demetrious Murray.
Rating: ***
After the punishing exercise that was Him, I was more than happy to take in this weekend’s other football movie, the fact-based drama The Senior. It tells the uplifting story of Mike Flynt who, at 59 years of age, returned to college to play ball. It turns out to be a life-changing experience.
Mike, played convincingly by Michael Chiklis (When the Game Stands Tall), has many regrets in life. The biggest is not finishing college. His violent temper got him expelled in his senior year. We learn that he got his temper from his abusive father who constantly berated him, calling him “runt” and threatening to whip him if he ever backed down from a fight. It cost him not just his future, but also his relationship with his own son Micah (Flynn, 13 Reasons Why), an academic type who mostly avoids contact with his dad. They just don’t get each other.
Mike gets his second chance to finish his senior year after learning of a technicality that still makes him eligible to play for his old team, the Sul Ross State Lobos. He meets with the coach, Sam Weston (Corddry, Ballers), and asks to try out. The bemused coach can hardly believe his ears. He thought Mike was after a coaching job. He agrees to let Mike try out with all the other hopefuls, all of them more than half his age. Not surprisingly, he makes the team. Now it’s a question of if or when Weston will let him play.
Directed by Rod Lurie (Resurrecting the Champ), The Senior is your standard underdog story. It’s completely predictable and ridden with clichés. It contains all the usual plot elements- e.g. the try-outs, a competition with teammates, an injury with a difficult recovery, family conflict and a rousing speech at just the right moment. It has all the standard characters like the supportive wife (Masterson, Benny & Joon), the teammate who becomes his best friend (Knight, We Are Who We Are) and the rival teammate (Setticase) who hates him for whatever reason. We’ve seen all of it before and while Lurie doesn’t make it feel fresh, he succeeds in making it work.
Chiklis is quite good in the lead role. He plays a man filled with regrets trying to fix his life. He starts with finished what he started way back in 1971. Being that this is an Angel Studios film, religion is involved. He finds his father’s Bible, reads the words he wrote in it and tearfully reflects on things. The good news is The Senior doesn’t get all preachy. Lurie largely keeps the religious stuff to a minimum so as not to alienate secular audiences. It’s a good creative choice on his part. But I’m getting off topic here. The point is Chiklis gives a good performance.
Masterson is equally good as the wife from West Texas meaning she never backs down when things get tough. She’s not afraid to call her husband out when he steps out of line. She’s a toughie, this one. Flynn is also good as the son who thinks his father is being selfish in chasing his dream. Sure, we’ve seen the rocky father-son relationship things countless times, but it makes for effective drama here. Corddry is dryly funny as the coach who compares Flynt to Rudy from the same-named 1993 movie.
As much as I like The Senior, I have to say that it’s not a perfect game. It feels like it has missing parts. A few story threads, like Flynt’s relationship with his mother (Cronauer), aren’t developed fully. It barely touches on Flynt’s academics even though it makes a point of showing him taking a difficult chemistry source. We never find out if he passes or not.
If you like inspirational sports dramas, I think you’re going to like The Senior. It is what it is. It doesn’t even try to be important. Lurie just wants to tell a good story and he mostly succeeds. And for the love of the game, see this one and not Him. Trust me, you’ll thank me for the warning.
