Don’t waste your time on Angel Studio’s new movie “The Senior.” You’ll have more fun watching the Tennessee Titans play the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. These mediocrities of the NFL will put on a better show than this feel-good sports story.

“The Senior” is meant to be filled with healthy messages and second chances, but is a daydream catered to older men who live in the past, obsessing over their “glory days.” It features very little character growth and romanticizes a failure to move forward. 

Based on the true story of Mike Flynt (Michael Chiklis) the film is about the 59-year-old man who went back to Sul Ross State University in Texas to finish his fourth year of school and football. 

During this time he is meant to undergo great character development, realizing the importance of both forgiveness and family. 

Flynt had been kicked off his college’s team for excessive fighting, and three decades later, as a construction worker in Texas still could not get over his lost season. After going to his football team’s reunion, he is inspired to return to the field and finish what he started. 

Throughout the movie, everyone insists that “football was more than a game.” When telling his wife his plans, Flynt claims that he “had to do this.” For him, returning to the game was an essential part of changing his life. 

This does not disparage the achievements of the man himself. Returning at 59 to play with college athletes is extremely impressive. Even in the movie, the character clearly had bucket loads of grit and determination. 

But, throughout the entire movie it was never clear exactly why he “had to do this.” In fact, it seemed obvious that he shouldn’t. 

A very important part of life is learning to let go. It’s something everyone has to do at every stage. 

We let go of high school and move on to college. We move on from college to join the work force and raise children. Parents have to let go of their children and allow them to become their own people. 

Every new part of life will mean leaving something behind. And this includes sports. 

Football for Flynt was something that he was unable to let go. At the beginning of the movie he said that he thought of the moment he was kicked off the team every single day. That’s every single day for over three decades in which he had a wife, a son, and grandchildren. 

Flynt’s decision to go back on the field was not heroic in any way. Impressive, yes. But heroic? Romantic? Absolutely not. 

It’s a tiresome reflection of the boomer mentality of “back in the summer of ’69.” It’s a desperation to be back in the glory days. 

His son told him it was selfish, that he might get hurt and even paralyzed. Flynt refused to listen. He preferred to risk paralysis than to move on. He doesn’t even process how that could affect his family. 

Flynt tells the team later that his coming back wasn’t about ego, but the movie showed that it was. The writing failed to convey an inspiring message, giving no good reason that Flynt’s actions were not selfish and inward facing. The makers put inspiring music over lazy writing to try and make a pathetic character seem noble. Regardless of talent, the actors had no chance at salvaging the movie.

The level of importance that Flynt placed on his sport is unreal and unhealthy. When a teammate is told that he may never be able to play football again, Flynt helpfully informs him that whether or not he plays again is entirely up to him. Because for Flynt, not playing is not an option.  The reality is that injury can destroy careers. There are many moments when things are taken away from you and it is in fact not in your hands. People need to be able to let sports go. The movie seems to make the opposite point. That dishonesty makes a bad film.

The movie romanticized chasing after old regrets. It showed a man obsessed with the past and portrayed it as an underdog come-back story. And in the end, it simply wasn’t worth the watch.