Movie Review: “Safety” was very good and worth your time

Disney+ released Safety to their subscribers Friday.

As everyone knows, Safety was the Disney version of former Clemson football, Howard football, and Mars Hill football player Ramon “Ray Ray” McElrathbey.

Safety overall was good, not great, but definitely good. Disney has produced a lot of really good sports movies, which is why they could have done a better job with Safety. When you compare it to other Disney produced or owned movies, it felt a little hokie at times.

Let’s take a look at the different aspects of the film.

Writing – C

Any time a movie is made, the movie is not going to be 100 percent true and we all know that. However, it was weird to see how they portrayed certain guys – like coach Swinney.

Like a lot of other movies made, Disney didn’t want to pay Dabo to use his actual name but he was definitely in the movie – as a defensive coach. The first time you see him in the movie, he is reminding the movie’s main character that his scholarship is renewed yearly and has to be earned if he is going to stick around.

We all know that is not something that even as an assistant coach, Dabo would have ever said to any player.

There was also no need to write Ray sneaking his brother into the dorm rooms at Clemson. If you lived on campus while attending school, you know that people came and went all the time with someone that lived in the building and no one would have stopped him – especially a football player.

One of the most comical aspects was a nine-year-old seeing something during a film breakdown that coaches and players never saw. Yes, the movie is lighthearted and told a great story, but that just seemed too far out there, especially for those that have been around the game at that level.

Filming – A+

The filming of this movie took place both on location at Clemson as well as at Georgia State and Clayton County, GA. It was great that they included all the iconic places on campus and showcased what Clemson students love about campus.

The best part was the fact that Disney was able to use a real Clemson game and crowd to showcase instead of either using CGI or paying a bunch of extras to half fill a fake stadium. That extra element added a lot to the feeling of the movie.

I was an extra 20 years ago in the movie Remember the Titans – I was on the field in a football uniform for one of the games. My son and I were also in the stands against Charlotte and I can tell you the difference between a legit crowd and one that Hollywood put together and the element this added was light years better.

We see all the time movies filmed on prop sets and not where the story takes place and filming this in Clemson made a huge difference.

Acting – B

If you are a fan of tv show All American on CW, then you know Jay Reeves – who played the main character of Ray McElrathbey. While I never met Ray and cannot attest to whether the actor portrayed him appropriately, he seemed to do a great job.

Jamie Foxx’s daughter Corinne Foxx and Thaddeus Mixson did a great job with their characters, Kaycee Stone and Fahmarr McElrathbey, respectively, as well.

However, Matthew Glave, James Dale, and Hunter Sansone were all terrible. They played Tommy Bowden, Coach Simmons (fake Swinney), and a third-string kicker, respectively,

Typically, direct to DVD or TV movies aren’t known for great acting, but overall this area was not too bad and it certainly was not bad enough to take away from the Saftey storyline.

Overall – B-

Overall, Safety was good. I wish they would have come closer to the truth in the movie to tell the entire amazing story and that they would have shown you just how great he was in the classroom. The story of Ray and Fahmarr is truly one of the best stories to tell and Disney should have used their platform to truly show the hardships and successes.

Yes, they should have shown the conversation he had after graduation where Bowden took him off scholarship and offered him a GA job as well and Ray deciding to relocate to DC and attend Howard. That is tough enough for any young adult, but he did that with Fahmarr as well.

That said, this was a good movie and one most of us will watch more than once.