A cynically contrived Cinderella story about a 30-year-old, part-time substitute teacher/bartender who becomes a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles, this paint-by-numbers fable — which recalls the far better ROOKIE (2002), which is based on a startlingly similar and equally incredible true story about a 35-year-old high-school baseball coach who earned a spot pitching for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays — epitomizes the triumph of inspirational-movie cliches over reality. South Philadelphia, 1976: The combination of a shrinking economy and ballooning inflation has hit college graduate Vince Papale (Mark Wahlberg) as hard as it has his blue-collar friends, whose once-...
Released:
2006
Rated:
PG
Length:
104 mins