In the wrong hands, Warrior could have been a disaster. If a few beats in Gavin O’Connor‘s family drama missed the mark even in the slightest, the final result could have been a sports parody. Despite playing in familiar territory, the Miracle and Pride and Glory director didn’t make that parody. Instead, the filmmaker strived to be as honest as possible with the material at hand. In doing so, he’s made an underdog of a film that’s, ironically, about underdogs. Like his previous works, O’Connor explores the meaning of brotherhood, family, and overcoming insurmountable odds. The trick for O’Connor was to make those well-known — drama, not sports — tropes believable. Here’s what co-writer and director Gavin O’Connor had to say about striving for realism, telling personal stories in mass appeal films, and love stories among men:

Brian Gibson loves to buy DVDs. Come with him on his weekly journey into the depths of credit card debt as he tells you what to buy, rent and avoid.

With all this talent, these folks managed to make a movie that is about as appealing as two-week-old mayonnaise slathered on a cow patty.

What police drama wouldn’t be complete without stinking drunk Irish cops? Pride and Glory gives us plenty of drunk cops with a little Irish in them. We can’t do anything about your Irish heritage, but we can help you with the drinking part with this game.

Welcome to what is sure to be another depressing week of box office predictions here at the Reject Report. Depressing because, well, we all know who’s going to win. Even if we all go see Saw V several times in a row, we won’t be able to halt the inevitable.

The Fat Guys discuss Neil’s unconventional love for Zac Efron (aka “Zefron” to his fans) while Kevin rants about drunken Irish cops in Pride and Glory.