Invincible starring Mark Wahlberg is the next installment in a long series of inspirational sports movies. Fans of Rudy and Remember the Titans will enjoy the true story of Vince Papale, a Philadelphia bartender who in 1976, became the NFL’s oldest rookie at age 30. Those who are not dazzled by the sports-film formula will be in for a boring 2 hours of predictability. It’s not that I dislike films that are meant to be positive and inspirational, but it seems that every single one falls into the same rut. All of these movies suffer from an overabundance of soundtrack, predictable plot twists and lots of slow motion, but I’ll set those complaints aside and focus on the film itself and not the genre.
Invincible is based on a true story, but the movie visually defies reality. One of the major themes in the film is supposed to be how Eagles football is the hope of a downtrodden Philadelphia, but director Ericson Core’s apparent tendency to shoot everything on sound stages strips the story of a lot of potential soul. With the exception of the opening credits montage and a Rocky-esque “running around the city” scene there wasn’t any effort to include Philly herself into the cast of characters. Even the stadium scenes lacked something experiential. There were a couple of cool computer generated scenes that swooped in over Veterans Stadium, but the game scenes failed to recreate the overwhelming excitement of a pro football game. There actually isn’t much visual style at all, and much of the character development takes place in the form of montage.
On a more positive note, Mark Wahlberg and Greg Kinnear turn in likable performances as the film’s two parallel heroes. My favorite part of the movie was the dynamic between Wahlberg and Kinnear who are portrayed as similar characters. Vermeil and Papale are both unlikely rookies, one a young coach, the other an old athlete. The exchange between Papale and Vermeil sums it up nicely, Vermeil: “mind me asking how old you are?” Papale: “if you don’t mind me asking how old you are, coach”. The rest of the supporting cast is significantly less interesting. Papale’s friends, a horde of beer-drinking football-loving Joes all tend to run together rather than develop individual personalities and Elizabeth Banks explores new levels of boring as an all-too-typical love interest. The positive relationship between Vince and his father, however, was a refreshing diversion. Also, being a Cowboys fan I was treated to a nicely shot scene on-location at Texas Stadium in which the ‘Boys beat the stuffing out of the Eagles in the first game of the season.
All in all, Invincible is a mediocre film that doesn’t bring anything new to the table; however it does deliver a solid story that is respectable for its positive message and relative lack of smut. If you enjoy predictable inspirational stories, then go see Invincible and prepare to be pleasantly unsurprised.
