Posted: 09/10/2006

Invincible

(2006)

by Hank Yuloff

Sitting behind me in the theater were three women wearing Eagles jerseys. After the movie, during which they applauded several times, I asked them, “So, is you’s guys, ah, Eagles fans?”

It was a split decision which they liked more, “da Eagles” or Mark Walhlberg. He stars as Vince Papale in Ericson Core’s feature-directing debut, Invincible, which depicts Papale’s transition from South Philly regular working stiff to member of the team that gives the City of Brotherly Love a reason to not fly south for the winter.

I have not asked my friend and lifetime Eagles fan, Earl Johnson (there ya go, Earl, a shout-out in one of my reviews) if he thinks Invincible is the best football movie ever, so I will still have to stick with Rudy as my best of the genre (followed by Brian’s Song, Friday Night Lights, and the original The Longest Yard), but it is at least the equal of Remember the Titans.

As mentioned above, Invincible follows the true story of Vince Papale, who answered an open tryout by new Eagles coach Dick Vermeil (played by Greg Kinnear from Little Miss Sunshine). The team had been terrible in 1975 (though my buddy Earl insists they won the Super Bowl that year…and every other one) and Vermeil, fresh off a Rose Bowl victory with UCLA, was hired to shake things up. Papale was the only one of hundreds of would-be Eagles invited to training camp. A big deal is made of the fact Papale did not play college ball, and only one year of high school football. It adds to the drama. But what isn’t mentioned in the movie is that he had played for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League in 1974 and 1975.

I liked the movie but it took me awhile to figure out why I didn’t love the movie. I liked it because it captures the feeling of Philadelphia at the time—high unemployment with low prospects. And the guys all have their neighborhood bar that doubles as their tree house fort from childhood. So what is it? There it is… The star!

I liked Mark Wahlberg as the thief in The Italian Job. I even liked him as a thief in Three Kings. I bought it. But for the same reason I didn’t love Rock Star, I don’t love Invincible… I didn’t buy Wahlberg as a rock god, and I really didn’t buy him as an NFL player. He was great in the pickup games with the guys—we all have friends who are great in the park—but in real life, Wahlberg is much closer in size to co-star and love interest Elizabeth Banks (The 40 Year-Old Virgin, Slither). I would have believed co-star Kirk Acevedo (Oz and Law and Order) far more in the part of Papale instead of best friend Tommy. For the record, Wahlberg is 5’ 8½”, Acevedo is 5’ 10”, Banks is 5’ 11½”, and Papale is 6’ 2”. I also didn’t really believe Kinnear as a football coach.

The movie also has a certain amount of emotional sap that must be dealt with. The best example happens the day before camp opens when Wahlberg decides to run—for the better part of the day and evening—around Philadelphia. I pictured him passing Sylvester Stallone—another diminutive actor—in Rocky and waited for “Gonna Fly Now” to start playing and for Wahlberg to run through some street pick-up game and catch a touchdown pass.

The effects are pretty good. You can tell, a la Titanic, that much of what you are seeing in the action shots are computer-generated, but if you can let go and just watch the film (okay, so I couldn’t), then the sound the pageantry of NFL football takes over and is quite enjoyable. I would give special congratulations to Kevin Conway (Oz, Gods and Generals), who plays Papale’s father, and Michael Rispoli (Mr. 3000, The Sopranos), who plays Max Cantrell, the bar owner who gives Papale a helping hand along the way.

Despite the number of “Ya gotta just go with it”s that Invincible requires, I would recommend that you see this one. It’s a good story of hard-working-man-makes-good, and it shows the human spirit of You Can Do It if You Dream It, which is always a worthwhile lesson.

Hank Yuloff is a film critic and co-founder of Film Monthly. He resides in Los Angeles.

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