"Invincible" - Scores a Safety by Homer Yen (c) 2006
I have to admit, I like vanilla ice cream. No, not the artificially flavored kind or the French vanilla kind. Just give me some good ol' fashion vanilla. I like the familiarity of the natural flavors; I like the I-know-what-it-feels-like creaminess; I like seeing the tiny specks of vanilla beans mixed within. It doesn't really matter if it's Swensen's or Ben & Jerry's or Breyer's or Dove. I have to admit, I like vanilla ice cream.
I also have a similar acceptance for films like "Invincible". It follows in the footsteps of other offerings like "Breaking Away" and "Miracle". Actually, those two films were more riveting. In any case, the amiable genre is a familiar one, if not an overused one. It's the perennial loser with an enormous heart who finds the inner strength to defy all odds. It's the feel-good sports film where the underdog rises when most see him as failing. It's the Disney film, so it's a film that you can take the family.
The film focuses on the unlikely rise of Vince Papale (played by Mark Wahlberg) who worked his way to become an NFL starter for the Philadelphia Eagles. Before he suited up, he was just another South Philly guy who struggled. Economic times were harsh during this time period. Steel mills were losing money while union workers picketed in a futile effort to keep things going. Vince's marriage was on the skids, and the only thing that would provide some fleeting relief would be the suicidal tackle football games in the neighborhood run-down lot. Vince's only source of income was a tenuous teaching job and part-time hours as a bartender. At 30 years old, his future is looking as bleak as the Philadelphia Eagles prospects of having a winning record.
Desperate times call for desperate measures - even for a professional football team. The Eagles announce open tryouts to inject some new life into their waning organization. I don't think that I have to tell you the rest. And it would be dour of me to sway you away from an inspirational movie. And, in fact, the film offers up a few elements that keep your interest level going. One is Greg Kinnear's performance as the Eagles new coach, Dick Vermeil. He's filled with a hunger to turn the team around, but has a certain amount of humility that's needed in fashioning a winning environment.
The film also shows restraint. Vince Papale's contributions are not overstated and the film never portrays him as a miracle. He is not carrying the weight of all of Philadelphia on his shoulders. But, he is carrying the goals and dreams of his local bar buddies. During the end credits, we are given some more information about his tenure with the Eagles and we even see a few clips of him in action on the field. It's always warming to know that ordinary people with an above-average level of desire can do extra-ordinary things.
Grade: B-
S: 0 out of 3 L: 0 out of 3 V: 1 out of 3
Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
-- rec-arts-movies-reviews@robomod.net mailing list http://www.robomod.net/mailman/listinfo/rec-arts-movies-reviews
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews