Simply In-VIN-cible

The new football film about the football star Vince Papale called Invincible is a good but not great football film. More and more sports films are being made and the art of making a great sports film is being lost. Great sports films like Miracle about the USA Olympics Hockey team or coach Carter which preaches dedication, schoolwork and hardwork are classic films. InVincible tries its hardest to emulate the life of a great football player but it comes up short on action and dialogue which is cheesy at best.

The film does have its moments like when it tries to emulate his bonding with his friends in a football game played in the mud in the pouring rain when his friends need his support to win the football game which means nothing. Pappale does this all so that his friends won't get mad at him while risking his NFL contract. In one particular scene he buys everyone a round of beer at the bar to celebrate his achievement of making the Eagles football team. Another scene which seems horribly fake is the scene between Papale and his coach Dick Vermeil. Papale thinks he is being called into the coach's office to be cut and instead Vermeil tells him he has made the team. There is a huge lack of emotion in that scene that bothers me.

Still, the acting done to play the part of NFL coach Dick Vermeil is simply horrible and nothing like the young coach and his style of coaching.

The action in the film is pretty good especially when it zooms in on the football field and the open field tackles. I think that overall this football story was not big or great enough to be made into a movie because it lacked that punch needed to make the film a hit. There are no big name actors to attract box office tickets and nothing in the film to make you inspired or to say that you want to go and see the film again because it was so good. Do you want to pull for the football player to make the Philadelphia Eagles team? Sure. But it seems really fake the film and some of the highlights mixed into the film from old football clips and teams just seems out of place and phony.

If you are a football fan I would tell you to go see the film but don't have your expectations too high or you will be disappointed.