Movie Set In Alabama, "Signing Tony Raymond", Comes Out In Movie Theaters This Weekend

Sweet Home Alabama is at the front and center of the plot for the forthcoming movie, "Signing Tony Raymond", which is being released in movie theaters this Friday. As the promotional blurb for the film states, "A young college football coach is sent to rural Alabama to try and sign the nation's top high school defensive end and soon finds himself trying to outflank rival recruiters, fight off grifting townsfolk and win over the player's wildly dysfunctional family."

Considered a sports comedy – drama, the film has a heavy "fish out of water" concept with the lead character, Walt McFadden as portrayed by the Iowa native, Michael Mosely, being a coach from Louisiana University who is assigned the task of recruiting the nation's number one high school defensive end in Alabama. This is perhaps an oversight in the storyline. For somebody coming from Louisiana with its alligator hunting Cajun culture should not find Alabama to be that distinctive. However, the topic for the film can't be tossed up to yankeefied ignorance, as it was written by an athlete with some experience in Southern culture. With the film's storyline having been written by Glen Owen, an alumnus of the University of Georgia who was a walk-on basketball player for the bulldogs.

In fact, Owen uses some of his insight gained from playing basketball at the collegiate level to show how the NIL money is used to recruit the football player in the film. With the film providing some commentary about the whole NIL capitalist process that may be impacting the passion for the sport. The highly sought after football player in "Signing Tony Raymond" is portrayed by Jackie Kay III. A native of Ocala, Florida. Who states that his upbringing in the small rural town helped him relate to his character in the film. Curiously enough, Tony Raymond's countryfied and somewhat wayward mother in the film is portrayed by Mira Sorvinoa, a New York native and Harvard graduate.

While the motion picture is set in Alabama, the film's scriptwriter, Owen, is decidedly proud that "Signing Tony Raymond" was funded, filmed, and edited in The Peach State with a Georgia based production crew. The running time for film is an hour and forty-five minutes. It doesn't appear to be rated as of yet, but would probably merit a PG – 13 rating.

Luisa Reyes is a Tuscaloosa Attorney, piano instructor, and vocalist.