Invincible is a feel-good film of the best kind, maybe the first sports movie in years where I really did want to stand up and cheer.
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Film reviewed by John J. Puccio; Video/Audio/Extras reviewed by James Plath
Now, before you get all riled up and say it's just another inspirational sports movie based on a true-life character, something the Disney folks have been making their stock-in-trade lately (along with direct-to-video cartoon sequels), hear me out. This one's different. I have to admit that the only such sports movies I've truly enjoyed from Disney recently were "The Rookie" (2002) and "The Greatest Game Ever Played" (2005), but now I can add "Invincible" (2006) to the lineup. It's not a great film, mind you, but this account of football player Vince Papale is a fine, entertaining, even uplifting one, whether or not you're a sports fan.
The story of Papale's rise in the world of American football sounds almost like a fairy tale. According to Wikipedia, "In 1974, while working as a bartender and substitute-teaching, he successfully tried out for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League as a wide receiver. He played for the team for two seasons until the league folded in 1975. His performance with that team earned him a meeting with coach Dick Vermeil of the Philadelphia Eagles after general manager Jim Murray got him an invitation to a private work-out held by coach Vermeil.
"Papale, at 6'2" and 195 pounds, eventually made the team, thereby becoming, at age 30, the oldest rookie in the history of the NFL to play without the benefit of college football experience (other than kickers). He went on to play wide receiver and special teams for the Eagles from 1976 through 1978. During that time, he played in 41 of 44 regular season games (regular seasons being 14 games in 1976-1977 and 16 games in 1978), recording two fumble recoveries (including one that led to Vermeil's first NFL victory) and one fifteen-yard reception. He was voted Special Teams Captain by his teammates and "Man of the Year" by the Eagles in 1978 for his many charitable activities. A shoulder injury ended his career in 1979."
Surely, it is the stuff of legends, a common, ordinary guy breaking into big-time sports at a relatively late age. And, just as surely, it is the stuff of motion pictures, because what guy hasn't fantasized about slamming the winning home run in the World Series, throwing the winning touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, dunking the winning basket in the NBA Finals, or hitting a hole-in-one to win the Masters? "Invincible" is a Walter Mitty tale, but a true one, a fantasy come to life.
"Invincible" works not only because it persuades us that unlikely sports heroes exist, but because its stars, Mark Wahlberg as Papale and Greg Kinnear as coach Dick Vermeil, make us believe. Wahlberg looks smaller than the real Papale, but he makes up for it with his enthusiastic pursuit of the man's inner drive. Kinnear, on the other hand, is a dead ringer for the real Vermeil and portrays him with a gentle but firm authority that practically steals the show from Wahlberg.
The story begins in 1975 at an Eagles-Bengals game that the Eagles badly lose. After a losing season as well, the team needs a new coach, and the owner hires Vermeil straight out of coaching UCLA to a Rose Bowl win. Vermeil needs new blood on his team, and to generate a little spark, and no doubt a little publicity, he announces a day of open tryouts for the team. Anybody can come to the field and show the coaches what they've got. Papale, whose wife has just walked out on him and who has just lost his substitute teaching job because of school cutbacks, has nothing to lose. He's been playing in neighborhood dirt-lot games, he's pretty good, and his friends encourage him to give it a try. The press think the whole open tryout thing is stupid, and when Vermeil asks Papale to training camp, the press think he's a joke.
Worse, the Eagles' players think Papale is a joke. He's thirty years old, for crying out loud, and never played ball in college. Here, the movie takes a few liberties by telescoping events, skipping his two seasons in the World Football League. Nevertheless, Papale is an NFL rookie at an age when most professional football players have already retired or are thinking of leaving the game.
The film follows Papale's training camp experiences through his first few NFL games, but it spends as much or more time on his private life during this period. He's a quiet, modest, unassuming guy, honestly startled by his sudden good luck. He never takes his instant celebrity too seriously and thinks any moment it will all end. We also see that practically no one has confidence in him, not his friends, certainly not his teammates. One of the movie's funniest lines comes from Eagles' teammate Denny Franks (Stink Fisher). When the coach assigns Franks as Vince's roommate in training camp, Vince asks him if he's like everyone else. Franks responds, "Do I hate you? Yeah. I'm the center. I hate everybody."
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[release]20294[/release]