MovieChat Forums > Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (2016) Discussion > Lack of cooperation by the Dallas Cowboy...

Lack of cooperation by the Dallas Cowboys?

posted 8 years ago by fgoodwin
7 replies | jump to latest

I haven't seen the movie or read the book.

I did see some still pix of Faison, and the uniform she was wearing was clearly not a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniform, although it was obviously meant to suggest their traditional uniform.

Also, I read a comment in an online discussion forum, and the commenter said that, although the Cowboys are mentioned by name in the book, the team in the movie was never referred to as the Cowboys, and the team colors were not the familiar silver, blue, and white of the Cowboys.

This suggests that perhaps the Cowboys chose not to cooperate with the production of the movie. I'm guessing they are not listed in the credits.

Does anyone know the scoop?

[–] fgoodwin 8 years ago

Here is the forum comment I referred to:

http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14464#p564222

[–] A_Real_Hip_Dude 8 years ago

Unfortunately it says the topic does not exist when I clicked it. I would be curious to know if there's anytging to it, though.

"I am on intimate terms with the desert..."

Anyone know the reference?

[–] fgoodwin 8 years ago

Not sure what's wrong -- the link works for me; anyway, here is what he posted:

My theatre didn't have those capabilities, so I saw it at 24 fps. It's my understanding those a dozen or fewer theatres in North America that can show it as intended (and I wasn't about to drive Toronto for something like this). I also understand Ang Lee's next project is a Joe Frazier biopic shot at that same speed, so maybe more theatres will have the technology by then.

Also interesting: the majority of the reviews I've read of the film refer to the team as the Dallas Cowboys. They're the Dallas Cowboys in the book, sure, but they are very obviously not the Cowboys in the movie. They're never refered to as the Cowboys, the team has different colours than the Cowboys, neither JJ Watt nor Richard Sherman play for the Cowboys, and Steve Martin is not playing a Jerry Jones stand-in at all. So why was this detail lost on the majority of reviewers? Did they care so little for the film that they didn't even pay attention, and just recited facts based on the original source novel?

By the way, one of the reviews I read was Armond White calling it Ang Lee's masterpiece, which says tells you all you need to know.

[–] fgoodwin 8 years ago

I still haven't read the book, but I finally saw "Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk" a couple of days ago. If you want to see the movie to see how Jerry Jones, the Cowboys, and the DCC are treated (as I did), save your money.

The NFL and the Cowboys did not assist in production of the film, so the team colors are changed, the team itself is never called the "Cowboys", the two actual football players in the movie (JJ Watt and Richard Sherman) are not Cowboys, the cheerleader uniform in the movie is not the iconic DCC uniform, and the stadium is called Lone Star Stadium, although it does look like Texas Stadium from the outside (the story is set in 2004, before AT&T Stadium was built).

In fact, except for a few very brief action shots, and a brief scene in the locker room, the football team isn't featured at all. The owner character (played by Steve Martin) overdoes it with his Texas twang, but I expect that out of Hollywood, they think Texans are all rednecks. The owner is made to look like a greedy cheapskate.

Bottom line: as an anti-war film, it makes its point very well. But if you want to see scenes of the Cowboys and DCC, skip it.

[–] optims129 8 years ago

ya basically the whole film implies it is the dallas cowboys but they are clearly not.

the team is called the dallas starlites or something the traditional blue star is there (all be it a slight mod to the star) but there are letters at each point of the star that make out a word. because its so fast there is no way you can stop and try to put together the word thats on all the promo material, advertisements and stuff thats all over the stadium.

they changed enough of the DCC, the cowboys organization and the team themselves to not get their asses sued off but enough was there for us to know they ment that the team is the cowboys. sherman and watt are only in the film for a few mins as a bunch of uncooth players who want to know if the soldiers killed anyone any what kind of guns bravo handles and what thats like.

heck even beyonce and destiny's child are all shot from the back its painfully obvious they are just actresses hired to be destiny's child

[–] MaxRenn2 8 years ago

You can do things in a book that you can't do in a motion picture, such as mentioning or having a famous person or entity involved. In a movie it's quite different. Considering that the Cowboys and the Jerry Jones-based character Norm Oglesby (Steve Martin in the film) aren't portrayed in a very positive light, obviously they wouldn't give their consent for their huge organization to be showcased.

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"Walker told me I have AIDS."
--Haley Joel Osment

[–] miamicocount 8 years ago

i think the movie company worries that if they use the Dallas Cowboys and AT&T stadium name even with the cowboys permission, the NFL could still sue them for using the name.