SYNOPSIS
It might have won the MTV Movie Award for best kiss, between Mark Wahlberg and Elizabeth Banks. But there's little else to commend cinematographer-turned-director Ericson Core's strictly by the numbers, strained feel-good American sports biography. In a lifeless and sanitised whitewash, although Wahlberg does a reasonable job capturing his famous character's modest decency, Vince Papale is the Rocky-like underdog, plucked from unemployed marital-strife obscurity in the mid-1970s, and offered a chance to play with the NFL Philadelphia Eagles by incoming rookie coach Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear). The publicity stunt was devised to make disgusted locals engage more with their consistently losing football team. Nice period detailing, good soundtrack selections and uniformly well performed Banks' spunky love interest, Kinnear especially magnetic - it's the unexpectedly abrupt downer ending, and lack of any real sports action, that drains the cliche inspirational message clean away.
Photos
