With the football season now in full swing, this week’s dandy is &#8220We Are Marshall,” based on the true story of the 1970 plane crash that killed most of West Virginia’s Marshall University football team.

&#8220Marshall” is such an emotionally charged subject matter that the film works – even if it doesn’t always click.

&#8220Marshall” begins with the plane crash then shifts to the aftermath, with some doubting whether the program should continue, while others fight to play as a way to honor those who perished in the crash.

Eventually, the school’s administration opted to continue the program. The reins are turned over to Jack Lengyel (Matthew McConaughey), who soon learns that the task of rebuilding is even greater than he imagined.

The biggest problem is with director McG. I’m not sure who thought it was a good idea to have the man best known for two awful &#8220Charlie’s Angels” movies direct this project, but that is the case.

I will give McG credit: He does seem to be very respectful of the subject matter, even if he resorts to way too many sports clichés to move the plot along.

One of the examples is a subplot involving the father and fiancee of one of the players killed on the flight. That story is pretty inconsistent and doesn’t work as well as the filmmaker probably hoped it would.

What helps lift &#8220Marshall” is the raw emotion that even McG can’t screw up. McConaughey is actually good as Lengyel – capturing the essence of an outsider who probably never understood how devastating this tragedy was to the town, but proved to be the right man at the right time for Marshall University.

The film also features several rousing moments – including the obvious big game finale that proved to be the high point of the 1971 Marshall football season.

There are better sports films out there, but &#8220Marshall” deserves praise simply for the fact that it is a story of tragedy that still resonates in the small West Virginia town – and every other small town that’s ever experienced any sort of tragedy.

&#8220We Are Marshall” is rated PG for emotional thematic material and mild language and will be available Tuesday on DVD.

– Sportswriter/movie reviewer Micheal Compton – who, when mentioning recent westerns that shined, apparently forgot about a young Russell Crowe’s performance in the Sharon Stone-Gene Hackman classic &#8220The Quick and the Dead” – can be reached by e-mailing mcompton@bgdailynews.com.