“Well you know what my dad always said; having dreams is what makes life tolerable.” This was said by Pete in Rudy (1993) to inspire Rudy to follow his dreams. Rudy Ruettiger was a small town dreamer. He grew up in Joliet, Illinois with his large, happy, Catholic family. His biggest dream was to play Notre Dame Football. When he finally got a chance to try, he never gave up. The movie Rudy is about life-lessons that everybody can use in their own lives.


Initially, the characters in the movie Rudy display an effective example of theme. In this movie there are many inspiring characters. Pete, one of Rudy’s best friends was one of the most influential people in his life. He was the only person from his past that motivated him. Later in Rudy’s life more encouraging people came around. In the movie Pete ends up part of a tragedy that will affect Rudy and his life goals forever. Pete helped change Rudy by always encouraging him to stick to his goals. When Pete was no longer around Rudy, he decided it was time to do what he said and fulfill his dreams.


Another example of theme in Rudy is the conflicts that the football player creates and the adventure. Some people in Rudy’s family didn’t think he would ever make the team let alone get into the school. They didn’t think he could make it out there alone. Along Rudy’s journey D-BOB, Pete, and Fortune were the people along the way who supported him the most. Mr. Ruettiger, Rudy’s dad, and his sons didn’t believe that he would ever make the team or ever play in a game. Through all of this, Rudy just listened to the positive people and kept on working at his dream with all of his heart.

For the finale of Rudy, the resolution of the film demonstrates the lesson of always following your dreams. Rudy worked really hard with his Dyslexia and grades to get into Notre Dame so that he would be eligible for the football team. He learned that when you are persistent you can overcome just about anything. Rudy made it onto the football team by sticking to his dreams and never giving up on himself even though his father already did. Everybody in the movie learned how hard Rudy had worked to accomplish his dreams.


Everybody can use life-lessons from the movie Rudy in their own life. Rudy is a hard working, persistent young man who just wanted to fulfill his life-long dream of playing Notre Dame Football. From this story anybody could get that it’s important to stick with your dreams as much as possible. This story teaches all of its viewers that sticking to your dreams is very important. Rudy went through a lot of hard work to get to where he ended up. His story made me want to always follow my dreams and have others do the same.