Movie Info

Invincible

Dreams are not lived on the sidelines.

Invincible is the story of Vince Papale and his fairy-tale story of playing for the Philadephia Eagles (an NFL football team). The movie is based on the true story of fan Vince Papale who tried out for the Eagles when then coach, Dick Vermeil, held open tryouts. The tryouts were meant to be more of a media stunt but Papale made it through the tryouts and eventually played football for the Eagles for three years.

This is another one of Disney's feel good movies that they have released over the years. It is definitely a family movie (G Rating) and is meant to spark the emotions in the audience. I would normally avoid Disney movies (haven't seen an animated one since Lion King) and I don't particularly enjoy these feel good movies. However, I was surprised when I came out of the theatre enjoying the movie and not feeling like it was money ill spent.

The primary reason I went to see this movie was because Mark Wahlberg was in it. Wahlberg has really shown since Boogie Nights that he's a great actor that takes on a variety of roles. His portrayal of Vince Papale was good and it really brought the character down to Earth. If some big name star tried to play Papale, it wouldn't have been as good. Wahlberg has this talent of being humble when needed and being a big star when it's needed.

Greg Kinnear as coach Dick Vermeil was a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed how the movie also showed Vermeil's life and how he was handling being the new coach of the Eagles. Vermeil's anger on the field with Papale's first game was unexpected for me although it was nice to see. The supporting cast was pretty good too. I enjoyed Kirk Acevedo's role as Tommy as well as Papale's other friends. It was nice to see Papale get the girl in Janet Cantrell. Feel good right?

The entire movie and events take place in the 70's and the director, Ericson Core, had to make sure it felt like Philadephia during that time. So bring in the big cars and bell-bottom pants. The scenes I really enjoyed were the neighbourhood football games. Man, football is pretty brutal and I'm glad I never played.

A good movie that you should watch with some family or some friends. If you're in the mood for some emotional ups and downs, then watch this movie. If you want Mark Wahlberg to kill everything in sight? Go watch Crank or something else.

Dragoncrypt Sunday, November 19, 2006