Invincible 2006
There aren’t a lot of surprises here, but it is still a great story, with good characters, and acting. Though the filmmakers took a lot of liberties with the truth (as always, it seems), this “inspired by a true story” is about a bartender Vince (Invincible, get it?) Papale, who gets a tryout with the Philadelphia Eagles and their new coach, Dick Vermeil, who would eventually lead them to the NFC championship. Papale eventually makes it on the team. What is even better about this story is that the rest of the guy’s life is falling apart and he’s able to put all the pieces back better than before. He doesn’t do it by “believing in himself” which would have been hogwash, but by doing the best that he can.
Don’t read about the true story until you see the movie and enjoy it for what it is. But I would recommend looking it up afterwards and seeing what they changed or overlooked.
The movie does a good job of portraying a blue-collar rustbelt neighborhood in the 70’s with all the music and fashions you might expect, but without bad language. They throw a lot of elements other than just football into the mix, including a significant part about the coach and his home life. It’s a good, clean movie. B.