For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.
(Photo by Ron Phillips, ©2006 Disney Enterprises, all rights reserved.)
WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'RE A GIANTS FAN? Vince (Mark Wahlberg, left), can't believe that anybody living in Philadelphia can be anything other than an Eagles fan. Janet (Elizabeth Banks), however, sticks to the Giants even if it means losing her new boyfriend. |
By the summer of 1976, Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) had just about bottomed-out. The 30 year-old substitute school teacher had been laid-off and was working part-time at a neighborhood tavern, when his wife (Lola Glaudini) left without notice — taking everything in their house that wasn't nailed down. She left a note which told her husband that she was leaving because "You'll never make any money and you'll never make a name for yourself."
While crying on the shoulder of his best friend and bar owner Max (Michael Rispoli), Vince saw a television news report that the Philadelphia Eagles would be holding a tryout that was open to the public. He wondered whether this was a legitimate attempt to improve the prospects of the Eagles, which had had 11 straight losing seasons, or a publicity stunt by the new head coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear).
Egged on by his buddy and by bar patrons, who'd seen him play in sandlot pick-up games, Vince decides to give it a shot. If successful, he'd become the youngest rookie ever to enter the NFL, an amazing feat because he hadn't played football in college. It is this against-the-odds effort which is the subject of Invincible, a Disney sports saga in the tradition of two similar bio-pics: The Rookie (2002) and Remember the Titans (2000).
Unfortunately, this film fails to measure up to either of those films. Invincible's flaw is that first time director Ericson Core takes too many liberties with the truth, which makes Papale's real-life story almost unrecognizable, and reweaves it into an improbable fairy tale.
For instance, the movie makes it appear that Vince had never played organized football before the NFL, when he had, in fact, starred for two seasons with the Philadelphia Bell until the World Football League (WFL) folded in 1975.
So, he wasn't actually an unknown quantity but already something of a local legend. Furthermore, on the strength of his performance in the defunct WFL, he had actually been invited to a private tryout by Coach Vermeil.
Ignoring the revisionist history of Invincible, there remains the question of whether Invincible is a worthwhile film. It is a cleverly scripted, often funny movie, complete with romance. Vince recovers from his bitter break-up with his wife after Janet (Elizabeth Banks) arrives from New York to tend bar for her cousin, Max. She soon becomes interested in her new co-worker Vince. The only threat to their budding relationship is that she is a rabid Giants fan who wears her team's jersey everywhere she goes.
This picture is likely to capture the imagination of kids under the age of ten who are unfamiliar with such formulaic fare. Anybody older has probably seen this tale more artfully told several times before.
Good (2 stars). PG for sports action and mild epithets. Running time: 104 minutes. Studio: Walt Disney.
For more movie summaries, see Kam's Kapsules.