Hollywood Reviews and Movie Trivia

"Invincible", takes us back to that magical moment in history, in 1976, when the recession was on, the nation needed a hero, and one man rises to the challenge and scores a B...

In 1976 I was 30 years old, times where tight because of the recession, and those of us who were, and still are, into sports, remember that time when a winning college coach took his first job coaching in the NFL (National Football League) and the one in a million chance that one man had to go after a dream.

In 1976, in Philadelphia, PA, we only got glimpses of the two central characters through the news coverage of the event, in "Invincible" we are drawn into the lives of the two men with a high public profile and the personal battles they each had to conquer.

Based on the true story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old school teacher, has been reduced to substitute teaching status because of school board cuts and works evenings in the local neighborhood bar as a bartender. Things are tense for Vince and the rest of his neighborhood friends because of the recession.

The relationship with his wife is quite strained. Vince (Mark Wahlberg) is finally laid of as a substitute teacher. After a terrible day Vince comes home to find his apartment empty, his wife has left him, taking everything and leaving behind a note that says he's nothing, and always will be nothing. Vince finds solace with his friends at the bar. These same group of friends are avid Philadelphia Eagles fan. These same friends play what I call sand lot football (and played with my friends in Chicago, well into adulthood!). Although he never played in school, Vince can play football. He plays it better than anyone in his neighborhood. When Vince shows up in the muddy lot where he and his friends play, his team always wins. With the rest of his life in a mess, it's the pick up games that and his friends have to release the tensions of their lives, and, they have their beloved Philadelphia Eagles.

At the same time, the Philadelphia Eagles owner (Michael Nouri) wants to take the team in a different direction and hires Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear) as head coach, who has an outstanding record as a college coach. Realizing that there are loyal die-hard Eagles fans, and as a way of generating excitement in the city, at a press conference Vermeil announces an open tryout, purely as hype. With his life in shambles and after a lot of prodding from his friends Vince, who has never even played college ball, decides to give it a shot. The Eagles' open tryouts turn out to be a joke. The head coach puts the rag-tag assortment of pudgy, beer swilling Eagles super fans that show up through the paces anyway. After watching fat guys run the 40-yard dash for the better part of a day, Vince catches the coach's eye. He's fast. He's impressive. Vince, assuming he won't make the cut, finishes his workout and walks out to his car. Vermeil follows him and suddenly, a nobody from the neighborhood is on the squad. With NFL teams starting training camp, it's also the elimination process until the final team members are selected to play for the season. Vince has a chance to stay on the team, but to do it he'll have to beat out dozens of professionals in training camp. Vermeil, the other players, and even the press covering training camp give him no chance at of making the team.

Wahlberg is very convincing as Papale, and has firmly established himself as a consistent performer . Also notable is Elizabeth Banks ("40 Year old Virgin"), as Vince's new love interest, brings a lot of heart to her role and the perfect counter balance to all the Eagles' fans because her character is from New York, moves to Philly, and is a Giants Fan!

"Invincible" is more than just the average sports movie, or 'feel good' film because unlike Rocky, Rudy, or any of the other classic sports movies, because it's the true story of a real person who, during one magical of 1976, made his dream come true. It doesn't get more real than that...