Not Invincible, but a great story

Rating: 10/10 (19 January 2007)

I am surprised at the voting for this movie. I admittedly believe it is perhaps the best football movie I've ever seen. I have grown so tired of the sports movies where even the high school players' hits or actions are so beyond the realm of possibility as to make them ridiculous resulting in my checking out with a snort of disgust. This movie by contrast felt realistic enough with the sports action while at the same time being character driven enough(though perhaps lacking strong enough supporting characters) to completely draw me in to the story and to actually care what happens to this guy. What I also appreciated was that this story was about a pedestrian enough character who wasn't saving the world or winning some championship game, he was just attempting to barely make the Eagle's special teams. His personal journey was the focus of this story and the struggling city that saw him as a symbol for inspiration made his struggle matter. Why do positive stories get the cold shoulder while movies about the depressing self-implosion of a character get raving reviews? My one glaring criticism of this film is the title which makes no sense whatsoever to me. This character was anything but "Invincible" which is exactly what the movie was about, his vulnerability and refusal (with the encouragement of his friends, father, and city) to quit. This is my first comment here and hope I haven't spoiled anything, I didn't check it because I felt my comments were innocuous in that sense.