Invincible Inspires but Nothing More
Vince Papale (Wahlberg) is a “nobody” in Philedelphia, working as a bartender and substitute school teacher. He and his friends have been playing football together since they were all kids. They are all big fans of the Philadephia Eagles but not so big as Vince himself. Despite all of the football team’s failures, Vince seems to look on the future of his team with hope for at least one victory.
When new head coach, Dick Vermeil (Kinnear) comes on board to coach the Eagles, he asks anyone to come and tryout for a place on the team. His friends are both jealous and supportive of the idea that Vince plays for them. Then, despite his own concerns that he’ll be a complete failure, Vince tries out to be a special teams receiver for the Philadelphia team.
The story is slightly different than the more recent underdog stories. But Vince being an average person, having a similar past and lifestyle as Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, the concept of Invincible feels trite. The film gets the job done – it makes a viewer feel inspired. Who doesn’t enjoy a well-written underdog story?
Other similar films include Cinderella Man, and Glory Road. They all make for similar experiences, but they all seemed to be inspiring at the time. People want such stories. They feel like their own lives aren’t going anywhere, so viewers want to feel inspired to be Vince Papale or Rocky Balboa.
Invincible offers solid performances – especially from Wahlberg and Kinnear. The writing – while well done, feels a little soft-handed, fitting a more prestiguous Disney PG where characters are more inclined to say “shoot” or “freakin” than the more real alternative. But, if it wasn’t for all of the other underdog stories in the history of film and all of the altered cuss words, Invincible could have been a great film.
Looking for some good acting from growing favorites like Greg Kinnear, see Invincible. If you like movies with edited language and an old concept, Invincible is for you. But, if you want to see a truly great underdog story with truly great performances and solid script that feels more real anything you’ve heard in recent films, go to the drama section in your local video store and pick up a copy of Rocky.
