Excellent retread

Rating: 7/10 (13 October 2004)

(Spoilers ahead) Ironically, the spoiler is that the outcome of the big game is not what you would expect, and one of the major credits of this film is the unexpected but totally believable ending. I am so sick of manufactured plot twists that an unexpected but justified ending is especially satisfying.
Notice that the reason the Mojo lost the game was a bad call which had nothing at all to do with their talents. The decisive point was a mistaken conclusion that the other team had accomplished something when in fact they had failed. Unrecognized failure in the other team was the reason for the loss--and everyone knew it.
Some of the plot elements are familiar, such as the dutiful son sacrificing his future to take care of an ailing parent (I Never Sang For My Father is one example); and a son failing to live up to the expectations of a domineering father (The Great Santini comes to mind), and an adult who is trapped in his adolescence (Lifeguard, for instance). All of the themes were familiar, and possibly were done better in other movies. But regardless of the familiar territory, I can't deny that this film was powerful, exciting, and touching.
I don't know the "true" story, and can't comment on the film's fidelity to it. It seemed true to me, regardless of the actual facts, and that is what counts in a non-documentary.