Invincible - well, not quite. Reality outscores interest.

Rating: 7/10 (25 August 2006)

I know nothing about the book written by Vince Papale other than what I believe to be true after seeing the movie. The movie appeared to be factual and thats why this movie was less than great. So much time was put into making Invincible look real that spectacle, glamor and intrigue seemed to be mostly overlooked.
I can relate somewhat to the movie as Papale tried to overcome hard times while just trying to stay alive - without hope for any future. Opportunity made the difference for Papale and intense desire carried him to a great future. Even if I had the opportunity, I do not know if I could have ever been one to stick with the goal he had made for himself. So, being able to relate; being able to understand his place in life, you might think I would say I loved this movie. I wanted to but I came away slightly disappointed. I didn't see any spectacle, glamor and intrigue.
He got what he wanted and the movie was over, or so it seemed.
I was OK with the acting - nothing really spectacular there. The story dragged for so long that it was easy to get ahead of myself. I don't think replaying relationships needed to be done so often. No wonder instant replays are limited in the NFL, they really DO slow things down.
I apologize to fans of 1970's music, but damn, they could have used a lot less in the movie. I understand they wanted the movie to look real but overusing the music cheapened the affect of the movie.
No matter, the movie was good enough to see and good enough for a couple chuckles and a few tears. Add this to the list of good sports movies but do not expect it to get inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Greg Kinnear was an excellent Coach Vermeil(Vermeil is my all-time favorite coach). Mahlberg scored with his performance as well. Elizabeth Banks just gets better and better but can still be even better - and I am sure she will.
I gave this movie a 7 of 10. The overall story was good, though they could have played it out much better. If the objective was to get people into the theater, they accomplished their goal but it didn't win the game. They needed to try harder. It will make a lot of people glad they saw the movie but will not make the masses stand up and cheer. It just doesn't have that heart-warming that most great sports movies have.