Invincible: Movie, DVD, Blu-ray disc Review (2006)

(Originally published 2006)

Ericson Core's "Invincible" is based on the true events that led 30-year-old Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) to leave behind a life that leaned toward failure and disappointment for a life that underscored hope and promise--and not just for him.

As Core explores in this formulaic yet solid film written by Brad Gann, the success achieved by Papale, a substitute teacher and bartender struggling to make it on the south side of Philadelphia after his wife leaves him, wasn't just necessary for him. It also was critical for his friends, all blue-collar men who came to live vicariously through Papale, as well the city itself, which at that point needed to get behind somebody who embodied the best elements of themselves.

The movie is set in 1976, with the nation steeped in the throes of economic uncertainty, the energy crisis gearing up, factory workers striking, and the memory of the Vietnam War still too close for most to have had time to heal.

Enter Dick Vermeil (Greg Kinnear), whose first year with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles was something of a test, particularly since the Eagles, at that point, were coming off an embarrassing previous season, in which they lost every game.

With Eagles fans more than happy to criticize the team, Vermeil's idea was to toss at least part of the solution back to them. He decided to hold open tryouts, thus allowing anyone a shot at being part of a losing team--or perhaps a part of its solution.

Urged by his friends to try out, Vince decides to go for it. Self-doubt plagues him, but the reality is that he is a gifted, natural athlete who is right for the game. His considerable charm is that he doesn't know it, which is attractive to Janet (Elizabeth Banks), an unfailing Giants fan who timidly starts a romantic relationship with Papale just as he rises publicly through the ranks for a spot on the team.

Following Gavin O'Connor's 2004 film, "Miracle," which was based on the U.S. Olympic hockey team's spectacular 4-3 win over the Soviet Union at the 1980 Winter Games, Core's challenge was to create a movie that gripped and moved us in spite of being hindered by a well-known outcome. He and Gann succeed. Following O'Connor, they also aren't eager to give the movie over to inspirational melodrama. Instead, they respect the story and audience's memory of it, only plucking our heartstrings toward the end, when they've earned the right to do so.

Wahlberg and Kinnear also prove instrumental in keeping the schmaltz at bay. Wahlberg, in particular, is very good, his lined face a mask of inward turmoil that seems ready to collapse as the pressure to succeed mounts. If Vince Papale was the heart and soul of Philadelphia during the mid-1970s, Wahlberg brings those same qualities to "Invincible," a movie served considerably by them.

Grade: B