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Invincible (2006)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
25 August 2006 (USA) moreTagline:
Dreams are not lived on the sidelines morePlot:
Based on the story of Vince Papale, a 30-year-old bartender from South Philadelphia who overcame long odds to play for the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1976. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
2 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(26 articles)
134 New Names Invited to Join the Academy (From Rope Of Silicon. 1 July 2009, 1:08 AM, PDT)
Eastwood’s Mandela Film Gets Release Date, New Crappy Name
(From FilmSchoolRejects. 5 June 2009, 12:53 PM, PDT)
User Comments:
From A Philly Boy - A Feel Good Story That Does A Good Job Recreating 70's Philly Life moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Mark Wahlberg | ... | Vince Papale | |
| Greg Kinnear | ... | Dick Vermeil | |
| Elizabeth Banks | ... | Janet Cantrell | |
| Kevin Conway | ... | Frank Papale | |
| Michael Rispoli | ... | Max Cantrell | |
| Kirk Acevedo | ... | Tommy | |
| Dov Davidoff | ... | Johnny | |
| Michael Kelly | ... | Pete | |
| Sal Darigo | ... | Mick | |
| Nicoye Banks | ... | TJ Banks | |
| Turron Kofi Alleyne | ... | Ronnie Sampson | |
| Cosmo DeMatteo | ... | Dean German | |
| Stink Fisher | ... | Denny Franks | |
| Michael Mulheren | ... | AC Craney | |
| Michael Nouri | ... | Leonard Tose |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG for sports action and some mild language.Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
105 minCountry:
USALanguage:
EnglishColor:
ColorAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Canada:G | Australia:PG | USA:PG (certificate #42738) | Singapore:PG | Argentina:13 | Germany:6 | South Korea:All | UK:PGFilming Locations:
Franklin Field - 235 S. 33rd Street, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA moreFun Stuff
Trivia:
The boy running in the street with the makeshift number 83 jersey is Vince Papale's real son. moreGoofs:
Anachronisms: When we first meet Janet near the beginning of the film, she's wearing a t-shirt showing the New York Giants' helmet with the underlined "GIANTS" logo. The team did not adopt this helmet logo until the 1976 season (the team wore a unique linear-style "NY" logo in 1975, prior to which it wore the solid "ny" logo, which it re-adopted in 2000, since the early '60s). A t-shirt showing the "GIANTS" helmet logo would not have been available that long before the 1976 season (especially since NFL merchandising was not nearly as aggressive in 1976 as it is today). moreSoundtrack:
Give Us the Funk moreFAQ
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First off - I'm biased. Let me get that out of the way first. I grew up in Center City Philly during the 70's and am a life-long Eagles fan. So, I was pretty excited to see the movie to get juiced for the upcoming 2006 Eagles season while also hoping to relive Philly life from 1976.
The movie starts by giving us some background on the plight of the 1975 Eagles (a pretty bad team) and Vince Papale (a man pretty down on his luck). Little did both the team and Vince know their fortunes were about to change with the arrival of Dick Vermeil, the new head coach of the Eagles.
The basic need of any biographical movie is that it MUST establish a relationship with the audience in order for us to be emotionally connected to the movie. I would say that Invincible only does a "so-so" job with this. For example, I recently saw "Walk The Line", if that movie does one thing well is it makes us really care about Johnny Cash and June Carter. On the other hand, Mark Wahlberg's version of Vince Papale keeps us at a distance while offering only limited insight into what really makes Vince tick. It doesn't help that the script keeps Mark's lines to a minimum. This doesn't seem to jive with the real Vince Papale, a very high energy man who always has something to say. On the other hand, Greg Kinnear does a GREAT rendition of Dick Vermeil. He really nailed Dick in personality and mannerisms.
The best part of the movie are the visuals. The movie does a great job recreating Philadelphia life in 1976, what it was like to be an Eagle fan in the 70's and 1970's NFL life before the mega-millions contracts and cushy locker rooms with every amenity imaginable. These aspects of the movie, I thoroughly enjoyed.
However, there were a couple noticeable misses in this recreation. There was no mention at all of the 1976 Bicentennial in the movie. This was a pretty big miss since the entire city was wrapped up in the celebration. Another thing that puzzled me was the "woes us" attitude from the Phiilly fans in the movie. This really wasn't the case in Philadelophia at the time. Yes, the Eagles were bad, but the Phillies made the playoffs that year, the Sixers went to the NBA finals behind Dr. J, and the Flyers had just won two Stanley Cups. While I'm on the portrayal of the Philly fans, some of it was a little over the top. When the Eagles are losing by several touchdowns late in the game, everyone doesn't stay to boo, and we certainly don't threaten other fans to stay. I laughed at most of it because I knew it was more caricature than real life. But I know there are people out there who think thats how Philly fans really are. From me to you, it's more myth than fact.
Overall, I'm giving the movie 7 out of 10. But, if Vince Papale were a Giant, I'd only give it 6 out of 10.