Jenkins's novel is one of the funniest books ever written, and THE funniest sports novel. The movie is a total trashing of Jenkins's work. It retains only the title, the names of a few of the characters, none of the book's plot, and none of its humor. The storyline bears absolutely no resemblance to the book. Billy Clyde's diary of the week leading to the Super Bowl, with all its hilarity, has been replaced by a silly look at self-improvement fads and crazes and Gene Autry music. Reynolds and Kristofferson are not believable as professional football players, although Kris would have been a great Elroy Blunt, had that important character been retained from the book. The problem was that Jenkins lost control of the scriptwriting. When the scene in which Billy Clyde and Shake are discussing their rating system for women was written, it used the Dudley Moore scale of 1-10, with 10 being tops. Jenkins informed the director that in the book, the scale went the other way, with a "1" being the top vote. He was informed, "This is the movie!"
I give this one a "1", using the movie's scale.
I give this one a "1", using the movie's scale.