The 5th Quarter is the story of the Abbate Brothers.  Luke Abbate (Stefan Guy) is a high school football star who has his entire life ahead of him.  Jon Abbate (Ryan Merriman) is a student at Wake Forest University and is a linebacker on their football team.  When Luke is killed in a horrific car accident, Jon considers dropping out of football but instead, with his parent’s encouragement, he decides to keep playing and to dedicate the season to the memory of his little brother.  Wearing his Luke’s No. 5 jersey, Jon inspires both the team and the fans.

Sometimes you really want to like something but you just can’t.  That’s the way that I felt about The 5th Quarter.  The movie is based on a true story and its heart is in the right place but it’s just too predictable too really work.  It needed more drama and at least a little suspense about whether or not Wake Forest would be able to win all of the games that they won.  I did think that Aidan Quinn and Andie MacDowell (who I thought was Jennifer Garner for most of the movie) were pretty good as Luke and Jon’s parents.  The movie needed more scenes like the one where Andie MacDowell got mad at the woman who asked her how she was doing right after she had buried her youngest son.  Otherwise, The 5th Quarter meant well but it was just too predictable.