THE '50S SOCCER MOVIE YOU HAVEN'T BEEN WAITING FOR.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic SPORTS sentimentalists David Anspaugh David Anspaugh (born on 24 September 1946 in Decatur, Indiana, U.S.) is an American director. Some of his credits include Rudy, The Game of Their Lives and Hoosiers. and Angelo Pizzo are at it again with ``The Game of Their Lives,'' an underdog story about the 1950 U.S. World Cup soccer team that pushes all the same buttons that the filmmakers used in ``Hoosiers'' and ``Rudy.'' Unlike their previous collaborations, ``The Game of Their Lives'' has little to recommend unless you're jonesing for a generic period piece boasting lots of slow-motion sports montages set to swelling music. ``Hoosiers'' had Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper; ``Rudy'' benefited from a tight focus on a single character. Here, you have a bunch of guys A Bunch of Guys (BOGs), or Group of Guys (GOGs) are terms used by counter-terrorism officials to refer to small, self-organizing terrorist cells.[1] BOGs typically have little to no contact with global terrorist groups like al Qaeda, so they independently plan and you never really know playing a sport that many in the States care little about. It's a snoozer of a combination. Apparently, this particular World Cup soccer team pulled off a bigger miracle than the 1980 Olympic hockey squad. You don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. about it because ... well, again, nobody here gave a rip about soccer then. So while director Anspaugh and screenwriter Pizzo have the element of surprise on their hands, they follow such a well-worn path in delivering their story that you know every outcome before it transpires. There's the goalkeeper (Gerard Butler from ``Phantom of the Opera'') who tries out for the team even though it may keep him from running his family's funeral home (you gotta do what you gotta do), the weepy groom (Louis Mandylor) who doesn't want to leave his new wife (again: do what you gotta do) and the Haitian kitchen worker (Jimmy Jean-Louis Jimmy Jean-Louis is a Haitian actor and model best known for his role as The Haitian on the NBC television series Heroes. Born in Petionville, Haiti, he moved to Paris at a young age to pursue a modeling career. ) who gives the team a cute foreigner with wacky ways. We see the tryouts, we see the inevitable conflicts, we see the team come together. The Big Game itself is as thrilling as any match can be that has a total of one goal scored. (In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently , not very.) The action is narrated in a looking-back voice-over from Patrick Stewart This article is about the actor. For the American soldier, see Patrick Stewart (soldier). For the actor who is sometimes credited as "Patrick Stuart", see James Patrick Stuart. Patrick Stewart , cribbing cribbing see crib-biting. his tone from the stodgily stodg·y adj. stodg·i·er, stodg·i·est 1. a. Dull, unimaginative, and commonplace. b. Prim or pompous; stuffy: earnest work of Miller beer's High Life Man, who, come to think of it, would probably like this movie. Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com THE GAME OF THEIR LIVES - Two stars (PG: mild language, thematic elements) In a nutshell: The third - and least effective - movie from the sports Starring: Gerard Butler, Patrick Stewart, Wes Bentley, Jimmy Jean-Louis. Director: David Anspaugh. Running time: 1 hr. 36 min. Playing: Selected theaters. In a nutshell: The third - and least effective - movie from the sports sentimentalists behind ``Hoosiers'' and ``Rudy.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The World Cup performance of 1950's U.S. soccer team gets the sports-movie treatment in ``The Game of Their Lives.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion